Copilot It is a magnificent tool to apply all the functions and advantages that Artificial Intelligence offers us within the ecosystem of Microsoft 365. In this post we are going to look at a very specific aspect: everything that it allows us to do Copilot in Outlook, taking the role of personal assistant to write efficient emails.
In a few words we can say that Copilot has arrived to make our lives easier. It is responsible for managing our inbox and automating the most common actions to free us from tasks and thus be able to dedicate more time to communication itself.
Advantages of using Copilot in Outlook
These are some of the advantages and main uses of Copilot in Outlook. There are many tasks that can be simplified, automated or improved:
Smart writing
Copilot can help us find the best formula for what we want to express or communicate at all times, using the tone and language indicated for each purpose. AI offers us automatic suggestions when writing an email, which represents a valuable saving of time and a greater degree of precision in the message.
Apart from this, it also incorporates a grammar and spelling errors detector that we can correct in real time, something of utmost importance.
automated tasks
One of the most practical utilities of Copilot in Outlook is to perform automated tasks, with the consequent time saving what this means for the user.
For example, we can configure the AI assistant to classify the emails we receive based on a series of criteria, highlighting the most important ones and generating quick responses with different degrees of complexity, depending on the case.
Smart summaries
It's a real pain to have to go through those long email chains in search of information (and many times we overlook things). AI comes to our rescue at this point thanks to the possibility of generate summaries. That can be a big help when it comes to quickly determining the key points of the conversation without having to read all the messages one by one.
Integration with other Microsoft 365 tools
As we said before, Copilot is present throughout the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, so coordinates all its actions with the other tools in the packagee, such as Teams or OneNote. This generates a simpler and more fluid work system.
Furthermore, thanks to this it is possible to analyze the most relevant information from emails that come with attached data or documents.
Access Copilot from Outlook
From its official website, Microsoft warns that, for now, Copilot will only be available in Outlook work or school accounts, as well as in Microsoft accounts with outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, and msn.com email addresses.
En general, All Microsoft 365 accounts have the AI tool already integrated into Outlook. It is these accounts that display the now famous Copilot icon in their toolbar (as shown in the image above).
Finally, we must also mention one of the main limitations of Copilot in Outlook: You cannot access encrypted emails.
How to use Copilot in Outlook
Before you start using Copilot in Outlook, you need to configure the tool. To do this, you must go to the Outlook options menu and set the desired options, such as the frequency with which we want to receive suggestions or what type of tasks we want to automate. Once this is done, we can now use the AI normally.
It should be noted that Copilot is a magnificent assistant, but it is always the user who ultimately decides whether to use its recommendations and suggestions or ignore them:
- Writing Tips, which will appear as we are composing a new email. To accept them, just press the key Tab or click on the suggestions themselves.
- Automatic responses that will be generated every time we receive a new email, showing at the bottom of the screen. The user can decide whether to use them (by clicking on them) or ignore them.
- Reminders. In certain emails that contain information about events or appointments, Copilot will ask us if we want to add them to our to-do list or our calendar.
- Categories and tags. Copilot will also analyze the content of each message and suggest saving or labeling it appropriately. You can even suggest creating new categories.
- Advanced search: We can always ask Copilot to perform intelligent searches for messages, files or contacts. We just have to enter the search terms and let the AI do the work.
Conclusion
The arrival of Copilot to Outlook gives us a new way to use email and obtain much greater performance from it. Faster and more efficient management. And with many configuration possibilities so that its work adapts perfectly to our needs and preferences.