Draft an email message with Copilot in Outlook
Applies ToOutlook for Microsoft 365 Outlook for Microsoft 365 for Mac Office for business Outlook on the web Microsoft Office New Outlook for Windows Outlook for Android Outlook for iOS

Important: ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Copilot in Outlook only supports work or school accounts, and Microsoft accounts using outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, and msn.com email addresses at this time. Email accounts from third-party email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud can use Outlook, but won't have access to Copilot features.

If you're unable to access Copilot in Outlook, check with your IT admin.

Important: In New Outlook and web versions of Outlook, Draft with Copilot doesn't support messages composed in plain text format. To compose messages in HTML instead of plain text, go to Settings > Mail > Compose and reply. Select HTML from the dropdown.

  1. In new Outlook​​​​​​​, select Home > New mail.​​​​​​​

  2. To start a new message, select the Copilot icon Copilot Icon from the toolbar above the blank email, and select Draft from the dropdown menu. If you don't see the icon in the toolbar, select the Copilot icon Copilot Icon or the Draft with Copilot text in the email message area.​​​​​​​ Shows the New Outlook mail page, with a box around the Outlook icon. The icon is the one directly above the empty email.​​​​​​​

  3. In the Copilot box, type your prompt—or select and edit one of the suggested prompts from the dropdown.Shows the New Outlook mail page with a prompt window open where you'd normally start typing your email.

  4. When you're finished, select the Generate arrow. Copilot drafts a message for you.

  5. Review the message. If it's not quite what you want, do one of the following:

    • Choose one of the options in the dropdown to modify length, tone, or try the same prompt again.

      Shows the New Outlook mail page with a draft created by Outlook. Below the draft are options to keep, discard, or change the draft.

    • Enter a new prompt and select the Generate arrow again.

  6. When you're satisfied with the result, select Keep it.

  7. Edit the draft as needed, and then select Send.

Tip: By selecting text in an email message, clicking on the Copilot button, and selecting one of the available options, you can use Copilot to modify the selection.

Editing existing text

Note: This feature is currently available on all versions of Outlook except Classic Outlook. It will be coming soon to Classic Outlook.

If you want Copilot to help you with some text you've already written in an email message, simply select that text, then select the Copilot icon next to your selected text.

Some text in an email message selected, and the Copilot menu expanded to show options for what you can do with that text. 

Learn more

Summarize an email thread with Copilot in Outlook

Email coaching with Copilot in Outlook

Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Outlook

Microsoft Copilot help & learning​​​​​​​

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