Microsoft Copilot for triaging Outlook emails and writing responses
- Graziano Stefanelli
- Sep 15
- 4 min read
Copilot integrates deeply into Outlook to summarize threads, prioritize your inbox, and generate replies.
Microsoft Copilot offers a multi-functional interface inside Outlook across all clients—including New Outlook, Outlook on the Web (OWA), classic desktop, and mobile. As of mid-2025, users can access Copilot via multiple entry points:
The “Summarize by Copilot” button appears at the top of email threads.
The “Prioritize My Inbox” command helps sort messages by urgency and relevance.
“Draft with Copilot” enables quick reply or new message generation.
“Coaching by Copilot” gives tone and clarity suggestions before sending.
These features are part of Microsoft 365’s enterprise Copilot offering and rely on Microsoft Graph to access and act on a user’s email context.
Copilot summarizes complex conversations and identifies key action items.
The Summarize by Copilot feature scans entire email threads and extracts essential information, presenting it in a concise markdown-style format. Key points include:
Main discussion topics
Action items or due dates
Decisions taken or pending
Questions still unresolved
Each point is often linked back to the corresponding message using inline citations, allowing users to verify context quickly.
In threads longer than 300–400 messages, Copilot may truncate content, focusing on the most recent or relevant exchanges. To avoid summary omissions, users can prompt Copilot to summarize just the last 20 or 30 messages.
This summary function is especially useful for executives, project managers, or anyone returning to a thread after time away.
Copilot prioritizes incoming mail based on user intent and context.
The “Prioritize My Inbox” feature, available from July 2025 in public preview, enables Copilot to actively rank incoming emails based on inferred importance. This includes:
Recognizing senders (e.g., leadership, clients)
Parsing urgency cues (e.g., “ASAP,” “end of day”)
Matching ongoing projects or meetings from the calendar
Users can guide this behavior by interacting with Copilot’s initial classifications and by defining explicit preferences (“Flag any emails from the CFO,” “Always highlight vendor issues”). Although initial classification may be imperfect, the model improves after 24–48 hours of use.
This helps declutter the inbox and ensures high-impact emails are seen first without relying solely on Outlook’s static rules.
Copilot drafts contextual email replies with adjustable tone and structure.
The Draft with Copilot feature allows users to write a short instruction (“Thank John and ask about Friday’s report”) and receive a full response draft. Options include:
Tone selection: professional, friendly, concise, detailed
Length control: one-liner, full paragraph, or bulleted outline
Auto-fill of names, prior messages, or key attachments
The drafts respect the original thread tone and format unless otherwise instructed. For example:
Prompt: “Draft a follow-up thanking the client and requesting next steps by Tuesday. Tone: professional, 80 words max.”
Copilot will return a short, well-structured message that aligns with the thread’s history, ready to send or edit.
Coaching helps refine your emails before sending.
Coaching by Copilot analyzes the user's manually written draft and suggests edits to improve tone, clarity, inclusivity, or engagement. The system will not rewrite the email entirely unless prompted, and all suggestions are optional.
This is particularly helpful for:
Non-native English speakers
Customer service or HR teams
Anyone preparing sensitive or high-stakes communications
The coaching suggestions appear inline and are presented with explanations, allowing the user to accept them individually or apply them all at once.
Smart scheduling and actionable intelligence are embedded into Copilot workflows.
Beyond replies, Copilot can detect when an email thread is discussing scheduling. It then proactively proposes calendar slots, meeting titles, and recipient lists for confirmation. These proposals can be added to Outlook Calendar with one click.
This smart behavior extends to proposal reviews, travel coordination, or expense approval chains—where Copilot learns common language patterns and automates next steps accordingly.
Prompt structure improves Copilot accuracy and responsiveness.
For better results, users should give Copilot clear, role-based instructions. Examples:
Summarize and draft a reply:
Summarize this thread for the Director. Keep under 120 words. Identify any unresolved points and draft a polite response accepting the meeting proposal.
Start a new message with specific goals:
Write to the Finance VP requesting a Q3 budget increase. Tone: assertive and factual. Include 2 justifications: higher marketing costs and new hires.
Including audience, tone, length, and structure improves the quality of generated content significantly.
Security, licensing, and organizational controls.
To access Outlook Copilot features, users must have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license ($30/user/month for Business/Enterprise). GCC and DoD tenants currently lack Copilot availability pending FedRAMP certification.
Microsoft Copilot has become a practical assistant within Outlook, streamlining triage, drafting, and follow-up through direct integration and secure contextual understanding. With clear prompts and proper governance, it becomes a high-leverage tool for managing email with speed and precision.
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