Learn how to optimize your Outlook routines with Copilot, an AI-powered virtual assistant. Uncover the secrets to automatic email drafting, intelligent summarization and perfecting your emails with smart coaching.
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the never-ending flood of emails? Enter Copilot in Outlook - a virtual assistant that helps you manage your emails more efficiently and effectively. But what exactly is this Copilot magic, how does it work, and what benefits does it offer? In this article, we'll explain everything you need to know about Microsoft Copilot in simple terms. So, sit back, relax, and discover how Copilot can transform your Outlook email experience!
Copilot in Outlook is a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms. Its primary objective is to assist users in handing emails, scheduling meetings, and organizing their daily workflow. Copilot is designed to learn from your interactions and adapt to your work patterns, providing a personalized and productive email experience. It's worth noting, however, that AI is built to support you in your work, not to replace you.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is available in the new Outlook (for Windows and Mac) and in Outlook on the web.
Since June 2024, Copilot is also available in classic Outlook for Windows (Win32 desktop app) for users in Current Channel or Monthly Enterprise Channel.
Important note! At this time, Outlook Copilot only supports work and school accounts as well as Microsoft accounts registered to the following email addresses: outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, and msn.com. If your Microsoft account is associated with an email provider from a third party, like Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud, you won't be able to access Copilot features in Outlook.
Enabling Copilot in Outlook is a straightforward process – there are no settings to configure. To activate Copilot in Outlook, you'll just need to purchase the required Microsoft subscriptions and install the supported app:
That’s it - integration complete!
Note. For the Copilot icon to appear in the new Outlook, you’ll need to restart it and sync your Microsoft 365 settings. If you’re using the Outlook web app, simply refresh the page to see the Copilot icon.
Currently, Outlook Copilot introduces three key features:
Summarize emails - automatically creates a summary based on the content of an individual email or an entire email thread. This feature helps you comprehend the core information and quickly grasp the key points.
Draft emails - writes a comprehensive email draft based on the original email you’re responding to or your own prompt when composing a new email. You can use the generated content as-is or tweak the tone and length settings to create a new draft that's just right for you.
Improve emails (coaching) - analyzes your email drafts and provides feedback on tone, clarity and reader sentiment, accompanied by specific suggestions to improve various aspects of the email. This feature is particularly useful for obtaining feedback on crucial emails, allowing users to fine-tune their text before sending.
These main functionalities offer a variety of practical applications, including:
In summary, Copilot is an amazing tool that is actively developed. So, you can anticipate even more incredible features in future. Just as Microsoft shows in their promotional videos, it will be able to prioritize your emails and tasks, provide suggestions for follow-up actions, and search for information from other Office apps to include to your emails. And that’s just the beginning!
Getting hands-on with Copilot is intuitive and straightforward. Typically, wherever an AI feature is accessible, you'll see its icon or a prompt guiding you along the way. Let’s explore how to use Copilot in typical scenarios that Outlook users encounter daily.
When a lengthy and intricate email gets in your inbox, Copilot steps in to save the day. The AI swiftly analyzes the content, extracts the key points, and presents them in a brief summary in simple and easy-to-understand language. Here's how you can make the most of this feature:
As an illustration, check out how Copilot jazzed up its own welcome email with a delightful summary:
For those extensive email conversations, Copilot will provide a quick rundown on decisions made and actions suggested by others.
Drafting with Copilot is the ideal solution to overcome the “blank page” syndrome and save precious time.
When responding to someone's message, Copilot displays a variety of suggested replies based on the original email's content. Choose a suggestion that fits your needs. Or, if none suits you, click Custom and provide a prompt for a tailored draft response.
When you're writing an important message and want it to hit the right notes, Copilot has your back with helpful suggestions on how to improve the email’s tone, clarity, and reader sentiment.
Curious how well it works? I’ve tried this feature on an email written by Copilot itself. As you can see, there's always room for a bit of improvement :)
In the latest versions of Outlook, Copilot is even more intuitive and effective, letting you communicate your needs directly via the chart. Here's how to activate it:
For example, you you've misplaced an important file that was emailed to you, you can ask Copilot to locate it. As a result, Copilot will give you a clickable reference to the email containing the requested file, so you can quickly retrieve and review the document.
Another useful feature is getting a summary of recent emails from a specific sender, which is incredibly handy for catching up on conversations. Copilot will not only provide a brief summary of the emails along with references to the original messages, but also suggest a couple of additional questions you may want to ask, such as clarifications or follow-ups.
Here are a few examples of other possible prompts that you can use with Copilot:
These prompts will help you complete routine work faster and focus on your most critical tasks.
As of now, Copilot is integrated into the classic Outlook app for users of the Current channel or Monthly Enterprise channel.
The summarization, drafting and coaching tools work exactly the same as in the new Outlook and web version.
However, Copilot for Microsoft 365 chat has a slightly different interface in the classic Outlook app. Clicking the Copilot icon in the left app bar opens a full-size Copilot window rather than a pane. In this window, you can interact with Copilot to access information, summarize discussions, track emails, and perform various tasks across your work data directly within Outlook without switching applications.
Note. The Copilot chat feature began rolling out for classic Outlook for Windows in June 2024 for the Current channel and will become available in August 2024 for the Monthly Enterprise channel.
While Microsoft Copilot in Outlook offers many advantages, it’s important to be aware of its limitations and challenges. Some of these include:
Now that you’ve learned about the amazing things Outlook Copilot can do, let’s dive into the technical specifics and answer some frequently asked questions.
From a technical perspective, Copilot operates on the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms. It uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand the content of your emails and other data, and then applies predictive analytics to anticipate your needs and provide useful suggestions.
Copilot learns from your interactions and adapts to your work patterns, giving you a personalized email experience. It also works with other Microsoft 365 apps and services, like Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive, to make your work even more efficient.
While there is a free web version of Copilot available, to unlock its features within Outlook and other Microsoft 365 applications, you’ll need to have a subscription. This means there is a fee associated with using Copilot’s full range of features within these apps.
At present, there are two subscription options to choose from:
For the sake of clarity, Copilot cannot be purchased exclusively for Outlook. With either subscription, you’ll have it integrated with all your Microsoft 365 apps such as Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
At this time, the customization options for Outlook Copilot are limited. There aren’t any global or general settings that you could configure. You can only choose the tone and length of your content when using the Draft with Copilot feature.
Copilot supports several languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. Microsoft intends to grow the number of supported languages in 2024.
The AI features in Outlook aim to provide accurate content and summaries based on available data. However, keep in mind that the output might not always be spot-on, as it relies on language data patterns and probabilities. And Copilot candidly alerts users with a transparent warning that “AI generated content may be incorrect”. So, it's always good to use your own discretion and verify the facts before making decisions or acting on the generated content.
As we wrap up our exploration of Copilot in Outlook, remember that this smart companion is always learning and improving. So, keep an eye out for its prompts to sprinkle more magic into your inbox routine and have your emails running on autopilot :)
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