Key Takeaways
- To use Copilot in Outlook, you need to have access to the required Microsoft 365 subscription as well as a Copilot Pro or Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription.
- Give Copilot a prompt describing the email content, and it will generate a response based on your input. You can also control the tone and length of the email.
- To draft an email, click on the Copilot icon and select “Draft With Copilot.” Enter your prompt and make changes to the response by giving follow-up prompts. To save it, click “Keep It.”
Do you struggle to find the right words for your emails? If so, consider buying and integrating Copilot into Outlook. With Copilot, you can draft emails from scratch by providing a simple prompt. You can also select a tone and length and have Copilot revise the content until you’re satisfied.
Prerequisites for Using Copilot in Outlook
To use Copilot to draft emails in Outlook, you need to have Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Business plans and a Copilot Pro or Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription—the latter being more suited for small businesses and organizations. Both subscriptions must be linked to the same email account.
To use Copilot in the Microsoft Office Web apps, log in to the Microsoft account associated with both subscriptions, and the AI assistant will automatically be enabled. Copilot is compatible with the New Outlook app for Windows and Mac, but you’ll need to sync your Microsoft 365 settings to use it.
How Copilot Assists With Drafting Emails
To draft an email using Copilot, provide instructions on what the email should contain in the form of a prompt, similar to how we use ChatGPT. Copilot will generate a well-crafted response based on your prompt.
If you want to modify the initial output generated by Copilot, you can provide additional prompts to refine the response. If you’re not satisfied with the output at all, you can discard it and generate a new response from scratch.
Once the response meets your desired quality, you can save it, make any necessary manual changes, and send it to the recipient.
Selecting the Email Tone and Length
Copilot lets you write emails in different tones and choose the length of the email. You can select from four different tones: direct, casual, neutral, and formal. Here’s when to use each:
- Direct: Use a direct tone when requesting information, making decisions, communicating issues, or clarifying something.
- Casual: Use the casual tone for internal team communication, friendly updates, networking, and invites.
- Neutral: Use the neutral tone for general inquiries, routine communication, reporting something, or meeting minutes.
- Formal: Use the formal tone for major announcements, formal requests, external communications, and documenting issues.
You can also choose the email response to be short, medium, or long, depending on how concisely or in detail you want Copilot to answer your query.
Steps to Draft Emails With Copilot in Outlook
To use Copilot to draft emails, start by composing a new message in Outlook. Then, click on the Copilot icon in the Ribbon and select “Draft With Copilot.”
Enter your prompt in the provided space. To tailor the tone and length of the email, click on the filter icon in the bottom-left corner, make your selections, and then click “Generate.”
Copilot will generate a response based on your input. If you need to change anything in the email, provide another prompt. If you don’t like the response and want to start from scratch, click “Discard.” To give Copilot another chance to write a response based on the same prompts, click “Retry.” If you like the response as is, click “Keep It.”
That’s how you can easily draft an email using Copilot in Outlook. Do note, however, that the output generated by the AI assistant can be incorrect or contain elements you don’t want to send in the email. So, carefully double-check the email content and make necessary adjustments before hitting the send button.
Copilot can assist with many other tasks besides drafting emails, too, so don’t be afraid to experiment.
