How to use Copilot in Microsoft Outlook

Draft emails with Copilot in Outlook

Many people hesitate when deciding how to write or respond to an email. Let Copilot in Outlook help craft a strong message. To draft an email with Copilot in Outlook:

1. Select Home > New Mail to start a new email or select an existing email you want to respond to.
2. Select the Copilot icon from the toolbar, then select Draft from the dropdown menu.
3. Add your prompt to the Copilot box that appears, or select and edit a message based on the suggested prompts in the dropdown menu.
4. Select the Generate arrow and Copilot will draft a message for you.

• Not a Microsoft 365 Subscriber?
• Try Copilot in Microsoft 365 with a free trial

• Current Microsoft 365 Subscriber?
• Try Copilot in Outlook now

Try these or your own Copilot in Outlook prompts:

• Type a response confirming that I will attend the party.
• Respond and ask if I should bring anything to the picnic.
• Draft a message asking my employee if they can come into work on the 19th at 3 PM.
• Ask the restaurant if they have availability on the 12th for a party of four in their outdoor seating area.

Once Copilot writes your email, review it to ensure you like it. If the message is too short or too long, ask Copilot to adjust it. To adjust the length of your email:

1. Highlight the text you need to edit, then select the Copilot icon.
2. Input a prompt like “make it shorter” or “make it longer” in the Copilot box.
3. Select the Generate arrow to have Copilot revise the message.
4. When you’re satisfied with the result, select Keep it. If you aren’t satisfied with the result, ask Copilot to revise.

Change your tone with Copilot in Outlook

Copilot in Outlook also modifies the tone of your message. For example, if you’re emailing a client, you may want your message to be formal, while a casual tone is appropriate for emailing your neighbors. If you’re having trouble perfecting your tone, turn to Copilot in Outlook for assistance. To modify the tone of your email:

1. Highlight the text that needs editing, then select the Copilot icon.
2. Describe your desired tone to Copilot.
3. Select the Generate arrow to revise the message with Copilot.
4. If you’re satisfied with the result, select Keep it. If not, repeat the above steps to continue revising.

Try these different tones in your emails:

• Casual: Perfect for messaging friends or family.
• Formal or professional: Ideal for work-related or school-related messages.
• Enthusiastic: This tone is also ideal for messaging friends or family. An enthusiastic tone may be appropriate in some professional settings, like congratulating a coworker on a promotion or a student on a college acceptance.
• Concise: Write with this tone if you want your message to get straight to the point. A concise tone is useful for writing short messages without sounding harsh.
• Confident: Try this tone to convey authority or to persuade someone.

Achieve the extraordinary with

Copilot in Microsoft 365

Seamlessly tackle your to-dos and track budgets, projects, and calendars with AI-powered features in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more.

Learn more

Get email coaching

Through coaching, Copilot in Outlook boosts your confidence in drafting emails. Coaching by Copilot provides suggestions on tone, clarity, and reader sentiment, or how the reader might interpret your email. This Copilot in Outlook feature takes your email and provides suggestions, making it slightly different from the AI drafting tool. To try Coaching by Copilot:

1. Select Home > New Mail > Mail and add your email message.
2. Select the Copilot icon from the toolbar, then select Coaching by Copilot from the drop-down menu.
3. Copilot reviews your message and provides suggestions on how to improve the tone, clarity, and reader sentiment.
4. Select the Apply all suggestions button if you like Copilot’s recommendations. Copilot will re-generate your email message. Incorporate suggestions individually by manually selecting them.

Summarize emails

Copilot in Outlook summarizes emails, whether you’re dissecting a single, long email or a lengthy email conversation thread. AI-generated email summaries keep you informed if you’re rushing to catch up on messages or feeling overwhelmed.

Getting a Copilot-generated email summary is easy. To get started:

1. Select the conversation that you want to summarize.
2. Select Summary by Copilot (it also might say Summarize in your version of Outlook) at the top of the email thread.

Copilot looks for key points in your message (or messages) and creates a summary. Your summary will appear at the top of your email and may even include numbered citations.

Email drafting, coaching, and summarizing are all powerful productivity features in Copilot in Outlook. Learn how to stay productive in other Microsoft 365 apps, like Word and Excel, with Copilot.