Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Outlook

Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with Outlook data to help you stay productive in the workplace.

Summarize:

• The system summarizes email threads (also known as conversations), pulling out key points from multiple messages. When the “Summary by Copilot” entry point is selected, Copilot automatically provides a summary based on the message bodies of the thread. Common use cases are summarizing a long email to see what decisions have been made and what actions have been suggested by others on the thread.

Draft with Copilot:

• Draft with Copilot takes a user-supplied prompt and generates a potential full-length email. The user can then add the generated content to their email draft body or change the prompt or tone/length settings and generate a new one. You can also use Draft with Copilot to reply to a message, and Copilot will use the context of that thread in generating a potential reply. Copilot will also use information about your organization to improve the quality of the output draft. Common uses are generating an email that communicates a decision clearly or generating an email that communicates in a specific tone and length.  

Coaching by Copilot:

• Coaching by Copilot takes a user-crafted email draft and generates a short summary of feedback based on that draft. It presents feedback on tone, reader sentiment and clarity, and also provides specific suggestions for how you may rewrite parts of your email to improve these aspects. Common use cases are getting feedback on a particularly important email and adjusting your text before sending.  

Copilot in Outlook is currently available through Summary by Copilot, Draft with Copilot, and Coaching by Copilot.

• Summarize: Users can manually access Summary by Copilot by selecting the “Summary by Copilot” box in the reading pane view of a conversation. Summarize is not supported on signed or encrypted emails, on emails with IRM, and some MIP labeled emails.  

• Draft with Copilot: Users can manually access this by selecting the “Draft with Copilot” button in the toolbar while composing a message. Draft with Copilot is not supported on signed or encrypted emails, on emails with IRM, and some MIP labeled emails.  

• Coaching by Copilot: Users can manually access this by selecting the “Coaching by Copilot” button in the toolbar while composing a message. Coaching by Copilot is not supported on signed or encrypted emails, on emails with IRM, and some MIP labeled emails.  

Copilot in Outlook was evaluated through extensive manual and testing on top of Microsoft internal usage and public data. More evaluation was performed over custom datasets for offensive and malicious prompts (user prompts) and responses. In addition, Copilot in Outlook is constantly evaluated with user online feedback (thumbs up and down feedback function).   

In the case of a very long thread, Summarize may not use older messages in the conversation, as there are limitations of how much can be passed into the LLMs. Users may see a warning that the summary doesn’t represent the full thread.  

In the Draft with Copilot scenario, currently there is not a limit to how long the prompt can be. When using Draft with Copilot to reply to a message, Copilot will also use the context of the message or thread to inform the content it generates. In the case of a very long thread, not all messages may be used, as there are limitations of how much can be passed into the LLMs.  

In Coaching by Copilot, users will not be able to use Coaching on a draft that is less than 100 characters. 

Copilot scenarios in Outlook are only available on a user’s primary mailbox. They are not available on a user’s archive mailbox or group mailboxes, shared and delegate mailboxes that they have access to. Copilot scenarios are not supported on mailboxes that are not hosted on Exchange Online.   

Outlook Copilot cannot currently be customized. For Draft with Copilot, users can choose what tone and length settings Copilot uses to generate content.

Visit Copilot for Microsoft 365 supported languages to learn more. 

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is built on Microsoft's comprehensive approach to security, compliance, and privacy. Your data (including prompts, responses, and the business data Copilot uses to formulate its response) isn’t used to train the foundation large language models (LLMs) that Copilot uses.

For more information, see Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365.

Outlook Generative AI features strive to provide accurate generated content and summaries based on the data available. However, content may not always be accurate as it is generated based on patterns and probabilities in language data. Use your own judgment and double check the facts before making decisions or taking action based on the generated content or sharing generated content via email.  

While these features have mitigations in place to avoid sharing unexpected offensive content and take steps to prevent displaying potentially harmful topics, you may still see unexpected results.  We’re constantly working to improve our technology to proactively address these issues in line with our responsible AI principles.

If you find a generated response that is incorrect or if you encounter harmful or inappropriate content, please provide that feedback by clicking thumbs down in the feature and include additional comments in the feedback form. This feedback helps us to improve and minimize this content in the future.