# Back from holiday? Let Copilot help you catch up on email

Find the messages that need your attention, build a reply list, then tidy up specific emails in Outlook.

Evidence: experimental | Updated: 2026-10-25 | Edition: codex

Tool focus: copilot | General applicability: Not tagged

## Start with “what needs me?”

Coming back to a wall of email is a good reason to try Copilot. Ask for a short catch-up list: what changed, what needs a decision, and who is still waiting for you.

Give it your holiday dates and a project or customer name. “Important” is easier to judge when you explain that a customer deadline matters more than a general announcement.

## Which Copilot do I need?

Open **Copilot inside Outlook**, signed in with your work or school account. Microsoft currently describes inbox and calendar questions for eligible accounts without a Copilot add-on. With the add-on, it can bring in broader work context such as chats and documents. Your organization controls availability.

The free consumer chat at copilot.microsoft.com does not automatically have your work mailbox. If your Outlook has no Copilot button, ask your IT contact whether this experience is enabled. You can still use our [general Copilot tips](/en/explore/?tool=copilot) with text you are allowed to share.

## Ask for a list before cleaning up

Use the prompt below and replace the bracketed details. It asks for message links, reasons and next actions, so you can open the originals rather than trusting a vague “all caught up.”

Then ask: “For the first three items, draft replies for me to review.” A message marked urgent two weeks ago may already have been resolved; check the newest reply in the thread.

## Then tidy the emails you have reviewed

Copilot email triage can flag, categorize, move or archive messages where available. These commands can change the mailbox immediately. Microsoft currently documents those actions in English, so use a narrow instruction such as **“Flag the second email in the list”** after checking which email that is.

If you want newsletters out of the way, first ask it to identify them for review. Then name the approved messages to archive. “Clean up everything unimportant” leaves too much for it to guess.

## Make the next morning easier

Keep the resulting reply list and work through it. Next, [turn rough notes into a follow-up message](/codex/en/write-like-yourself/), or see [how agents take on several steps](/codex/en/agentic-ai-explained/).

This is a suggested holiday catch-up workflow; we have not yet published an afaAI mailbox demonstration.

## Here’s one way to try it

1. Open the right Copilot: Sign in to work Outlook and open its Copilot button. Start with a date range and one project.
2. Ask what needs you: Request urgent decisions, deadlines and unanswered requests, with links to the emails and a reason for each priority.
3. Open the important threads: Check the latest reply before acting; a later email may have resolved the issue.
4. Tidy a reviewed batch: If triage is available, name the exact messages to flag, categorize or archive. Inspect the mailbox afterward.

## Something to type

I was away from [start date] to [end date]. Review emails from that period about [project/customer]. Make three lists: needs my action today, needs a reply this week, and updates I can read later. For each, include the sender, subject, date, a link to the message, why it matters, and my next action. Check later replies for anything already resolved. Tell me the date range and sources you could access. Give me a review list only; do not send, move, archive, delete or mark messages as read.

## Worth a quick look

- Mailbox features depend on your account and administrator. A consumer Copilot chat is not the same as Copilot inside work Outlook.
- Microsoft currently documents email triage actions in English.

## References

- [Microsoft: chat with Copilot in Outlook](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/copilot-outlook/chat-with-copilot-in-outlook)
- [Microsoft: triage email with Copilot](https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/outlook/triage-email-with-microsoft-365-copilot-in-outlook)