To use Copilot in Outlook, open a new message, select the Copilot icon, choose Draft, and describe the email you want. In an existing conversation, select Summary by Copilot or Summarize at the top of the thread. You can also ask for feedback on a draft or use Copilot chat to find a meeting time. These tools are most useful when you provide a clear goal and relevant details, then review the result before sending or scheduling anything. This guide is for Outlook users who want practical help with drafting, summarizing, coaching, and calendar tasks without handing final judgment to AI.
Get started with Copilot in Outlook
Before looking for a hidden setting, confirm that you are signed in to the correct Outlook account. Some Outlook features are limited to work or school accounts with a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription, according to Microsoft’s comparison of new and classic Outlook. Availability can therefore depend on the account and subscription your organization provides.
In new Outlook, the documented drafting path is:
- Select Home > New mail.
- Select the Copilot icon above the blank email.
- Choose Draft from the menu.
- If the toolbar icon is absent, look for the Copilot icon or Draft with Copilot inside the message area.
These steps follow Microsoft’s current Draft with Copilot instructions. For summaries, both new Outlook and classic Outlook use Summary by Copilot or Summarize at the top of a conversation, although the displayed wording may differ.
Copilot works with a user’s primary Exchange Online mailbox. It is not available for archive, group, shared, or delegate mailboxes, or mailboxes not hosted on Exchange Online. It also cannot access emails encrypted with S/MIME or Double Key Encryption, as detailed in Microsoft’s Copilot in Outlook FAQ. Those boundaries are important when an expected button or result is missing.
Draft better emails with specific prompts
Copilot can generate a full email draft from a prompt, using the thread context and organizational information available to it. In supported experiences, typing / and selecting Draft with Copilot is another documented way to begin, according to the Copilot in Outlook FAQ.
A useful prompt identifies the recipient, purpose, facts to include, desired tone, and requested next action. Compare these examples:
| Task | Example prompt |
|---|---|
| Follow up | “Draft a concise follow-up to the project team. Thank them for today’s review, mention that the revised document is due Friday, and ask each owner to confirm their section.” |
| Decline politely | “Write a warm, professional reply declining the invitation because of a schedule conflict. Thank the sender and ask to be considered for the next session.” |
| Request a decision | “Draft a direct but courteous email asking the manager to approve option B by 3 p.m. Include that approval is needed before the vendor meeting.” |
| Handle urgency | “Write a calm, urgent message to the operations team. State the issue, ask for an update within one hour, and avoid blame.” |
The framework matters more than elaborate wording: audience + objective + essential facts + tone + action. If the first draft misses the mark, correct the prompt rather than making a vague request such as “make it better.” Say what must change: shorten it, soften the opening, preserve three named facts, or make the requested action more explicit.
You can also build a draft in two passes. First ask for a plain version that contains every required fact. After checking its substance, request a tone or structure change without altering those facts. For example: “Keep the deadline, owner names, and three action items unchanged. Make the opening warmer and reduce the message to 150 words.” Separating content from style makes it easier to spot an unwanted change.
Choose between Copilot and manual writing based on the work involved. Copilot is a sensible starting point when the message follows a familiar pattern, the source information is clear, and you can easily inspect the output. Write manually when a few carefully chosen words carry most of the meaning, such as a personal apology or a delicate personnel conversation. A hybrid approach often works best for complex but structured messages: outline the non-negotiable points yourself, ask Copilot for a draft, and then rewrite the opening and close in your own voice.
AI-generated text is a starting point. Microsoft specifically advises users to review, edit, and verify generated content. Check names, dates, commitments, attachments, links, and the emotional tone before sending. For sensitive or high-stakes communication, compare the draft with the original thread and rewrite anything that could be misunderstood.
Summarize threads and improve a draft with coaching
To summarize a conversation in new or classic Outlook, open the thread and select Summary by Copilot or Summarize at the top. Copilot scans the conversation for key points and creates a summary, following Microsoft’s documented summary workflow.
Treat the summary as an orientation layer, not a substitute for the underlying messages. A short workflow keeps important details from getting lost:
- Read the summary to identify the topic, decisions, and apparent next steps.
- Open the messages containing any deadline, approval, amount, or commitment you will rely on.
- Confirm who said what before replying or assigning work.
- Draft your response only after resolving any ambiguity in the thread.
For an email you have already written, coaching offers a different kind of help. Copilot can review the draft and suggest improvements to tone, clarity, and likely reader sentiment; the Regenerate option requests fresh feedback. That capability is described in Microsoft’s email coaching guide.
Use coaching when the facts are settled but delivery is difficult—for example, a delayed-project update, a boundary-setting message, or feedback that must be direct without sounding hostile. Then decide which suggestions serve your intent. A more polished sentence is not automatically a more accurate one.
Summarizing and coaching solve different problems. A summary helps you understand received information; coaching helps you improve a message you are preparing to send. If you join a long project conversation late, summarize first, verify the decisions in the original messages, draft your reply, and use coaching last. That order reduces the chance of polishing a response built on a mistaken reading of the thread.
Schedule meetings with Copilot chat
For calendar assistance, select the Copilot button to the right of the ribbon and enter a scheduling request in chat. Copilot can suggest available times and help organize meetings and appointments. It can also check attendee calendars and recommend a mutually convenient time, as described in Microsoft’s meeting-scheduling instructions.
A practical prompt could be: “Find a 30-minute time next week for Alex, Priya, and me to review the launch checklist.” Make the duration, attendees, purpose, and date window explicit. When Copilot proposes a time, verify the attendee list, time zone, duration, location or meeting link, and invitation text before completing the event.
Use Copilot when calendar availability is the main constraint. If the meeting requires negotiation about priorities, travel, or optional attendees, a direct conversation may be clearer than repeated automated suggestions.
Troubleshoot missing or weak Copilot results
If Copilot is absent or unhelpful, work through the likely causes in order:
- Check the account. Confirm that Outlook is using the intended work or school account and that the account has the required subscription access.
- Check the mailbox. Move the task to your primary Exchange Online mailbox if you are working in an archive, group, shared, or delegate mailbox.
- Check encryption. Copilot cannot read S/MIME or Double Key Encryption encrypted messages.
- Check the interface. In new Outlook, look both above the blank message and inside the message area for the Copilot or Draft control. In a thread, look for either Summary by Copilot or Summarize.
- Improve the input. Add the audience, objective, necessary facts, tone, and desired action. If a generated email is wrong, name the exact correction and try again.
- Verify the source material. If a summary seems incomplete, read the relevant messages. If coaching changes the meaning, keep your original wording or revise it manually.
These checks separate access problems from prompt problems. If the feature is unavailable after the account and mailbox checks, contact the administrator responsible for your organization’s Microsoft 365 setup rather than repeatedly changing the prompt.
When a result is technically correct but not useful, diagnose the prompt one element at a time. If the draft is generic, add concrete facts. If it is too long, set a length or ask for a short structure. If it sounds wrong, define the relationship with the recipient and describe the tone in ordinary language. If it omits the intended action, state exactly what the reader should do and by when. Finally, if a revision loses a critical detail, tell Copilot which details must remain unchanged. This method gives you a clearer signal than repeatedly regenerating the same underspecified request.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Copilot with my shared team mailbox?
Why does the button say “Summarize” instead of “Summary by Copilot”?
What should I do when Copilot generates the wrong email?
Can Copilot make an urgent email professional?
Use Copilot responsibly and take the next step
Microsoft states that Microsoft 365 Copilot follows organizational permissions, sensitivity labels, retention policies, auditing, and administrative settings. The exact controls vary with the underlying subscription. Microsoft also states that prompts, responses, and Microsoft Graph data accessed by these Copilot experiences are not used to train foundation models; the details appear in its enterprise data protection documentation.
Those protections do not remove the user’s responsibility. Follow your organization’s rules for confidential information, avoid adding unnecessary sensitive details to prompts, and inspect every output. A compact final checklist is enough:
- Is the correct Outlook account and mailbox in use?
- Does the prompt state the goal, context, tone, and next action?
- Have names, dates, facts, recipients, and meeting details been checked?
- Does the final wording sound like you and match the situation?
Start with one low-risk task: summarize a long thread, draft a routine follow-up, or ask coaching to review an email you have already written. Readers who want to build broader practical familiarity with AI tools can Explore Coursiv AI lessons.