You may remember that Microsoft introduced a new Outlook app for Windows 11 (and Windows 10) late last year, although many users have held off and stuck with the ‘classic’ Outlook email app. If you’re not willing to move to the new app but don’t want to be left behind, don’t worry: Windows Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, is finally coming to the older app.
Yes, this is an important feature that diehard old Outlook users won’t miss. According to a blog postMicrosoft stated that the classic Outlook app will get a trio of Copilot features: Summarize, Coach, and Drafts.
The Summarize option is available in the top right corner when you have an email thread open. As you might guess, Copilot makes sure to summarize the main points of that thread.
Coaching offers tips on how to write the perfect email and find the right tone in the message, as well as considerations such as clarity of the text. That’s about tightening up an email you’ve already written, while Draft lets Copilot take the reins and create the entire email based on a few prompts. You can then edit the results naturally if necessary.
With these AI-powered features, you can still stick with the original Outlook app without missing out on some very useful time-saving functionalities.
In the blog post, Microsoft also noted that there are plans to add more Copilot features to the classic Outlook app for Windows in the near future. We assume these incoming features will appear first in the new Outlook app, then possibly in the Mac version and even in the mobile app, before reaching the classic Outlook app.
The reason for this is undoubtedly to convince people to switch to the newer app by waiting to introduce new features on the old client. So if you plan to stay rooted in classic Outlook, you may be in for a long wait as new features are rolled out in the other app versions.
Microsoft says new Copilot features are expected to arrive in the classic Outlook app in the next three to twelve months, so you at least have something to look forward to in the next year or so!