Copilot

Never miss an email with this Copilot hack

Use one scheduled Copilot prompt to find the emails that need your reply and draft the emails

Summary

This scheduled Copilot chat prompt reads your inbox, lists the emails that need a reply from you, and drafts each response.

Overview

You miss an email that needs your reply.

A client waits. A decision stays open. A teammate asks a question and you never answer.

Most of us check our inbox many times a day and still miss these emails.

This guide shows you how to let Copilot find and draft them for you.

If your company has given you access to Microsoft 365, you can use Copilot to track missed emails in three steps.

You write one prompt in Copilot chat that'll Copilot to review your Inbox and Drafts folders, find the emails that need a reply from you, and write a draft for each one.

Then schedule the prompt so it runs without you.

1. Paste the prompt into Copilot chat

Open Copilot chat. Paste a prompt that does three jobs:

It finds the emails that need a response from you.
It removes the emails that do not need one.
It writes a ready-to-send draft for each email that remains.

Note: You have the option to download my Copilot-compatible markdown file that contains all anti-AI writing tropes.

Upload it to your OneDrive, and Copilot can read it anytime you reference it as a requirement in a prompt.

If Copilot doesn't recognize it within your OneDrive folder, just copy and paste the link in the prompt to direct it. This is completely optional.

[Optional: Use my file "anti-ai-writing-editor.md" as the authoritative writing standard for all suggested responses. Before drafting:
Apply all rules in anti-ai-writing-editor.md.]
Remove AI writing patterns.
Use direct, concrete language.
Do not introduce new facts.
Preserve the original intent and context.
Do not use em dashes. Review my Inbox and Drafts folders. Identify emails that genuinely require a response from me. A response is required if:
Someone asked me a question.
Someone requested a decision.
Someone requested approval.
Someone requested feedback.
Someone requested information.
Someone requested a status update.
Someone is waiting on a commitment, next step, or deliverable from me. Exclude:
Automated emails.
Newsletters.
Marketing emails.
Mass communications.
FYI-only messages.
Resolved threads.
Calendar invitations that do not require action.
Emails where someone else owns the next step.
Emails where I have already replied and no additional response is needed.
Emails that already have a draft response in Drafts. Prioritize:
Client requests.
Executive requests.
Approval requests.
Decision requests.
Delivery blockers.
Requests older than 3 business days. Only show emails that genuinely require a response from me. For each email provide: Sender | Subject | Received Date | Reason Response Is Needed Then generate a ready-to-send draft response. For each draft:
Answer the question or request directly.
State decisions clearly.
Surface actions and next steps.
Keep the response concise.
Follow anti-ai-writing-editor.md.
Match my normal communication style.
Do not introduce information that is not already present in the thread.
Do not use placeholders.
Be ready to send with minimal editing. Output format: Sender | Subject | Received Date | Reason Response Is Needed Draft Response: [response]

[Optional: Use my file "anti-ai-writing-editor.md" as the authoritative writing standard for all suggested responses. Before drafting:
Apply all rules in anti-ai-writing-editor.md.]
Remove AI writing patterns.
Use direct, concrete language.
Do not introduce new facts.
Preserve the original intent and context.
Do not use em dashes. Review my Inbox and Drafts folders. Identify emails that genuinely require a response from me. A response is required if:
Someone asked me a question.
Someone requested a decision.
Someone requested approval.
Someone requested feedback.
Someone requested information.
Someone requested a status update.
Someone is waiting on a commitment, next step, or deliverable from me. Exclude:
Automated emails.
Newsletters.
Marketing emails.
Mass communications.
FYI-only messages.
Resolved threads.
Calendar invitations that do not require action.
Emails where someone else owns the next step.
Emails where I have already replied and no additional response is needed.
Emails that already have a draft response in Drafts. Prioritize:
Client requests.
Executive requests.
Approval requests.
Decision requests.
Delivery blockers.
Requests older than 3 business days. Only show emails that genuinely require a response from me. For each email provide: Sender | Subject | Received Date | Reason Response Is Needed Then generate a ready-to-send draft response. For each draft:
Answer the question or request directly.
State decisions clearly.
Surface actions and next steps.
Keep the response concise.
Follow anti-ai-writing-editor.md.
Match my normal communication style.
Do not introduce information that is not already present in the thread.
Do not use placeholders.
Be ready to send with minimal editing. Output format: Sender | Subject | Received Date | Reason Response Is Needed Draft Response: [response]

Download .md file for Copilot

2. Schedule the prompt

Next to the prompt, select Schedule. This turns the prompt into a task that runs on its own.

Pick the time and days you want the prompt to run.

For example, you can run yours every Friday afternoon and every Monday morning.

On Friday, work toward an inbox of 0, so that on Monday, you start the week knowing what to prioritize.

3. Read the email draft

When the prompt runs, Copilot will automatically draft the email responses for you in 1 of 2 places:

Outlook — If you have Microsoft Cowork
Copilot Chat

Every company has a different agreement with Microsoft. The agreement sets how much work Copilot can automate for you.

If you have Copilot Cowork, Copilot can draft the emails for you in Outlook.

My company has not given me access to have Copilot Cowork, so my automation is limited to chat.

That still works for me. When the scheduled prompt finishes, I get an email that says it is done. The email links me to the chat with the results.

Caution: Check what your company allows before you plan around this. If you do not have Copilot Cowork, expect drafts in chat, not in Outlook.

CHEAT SHEET

Step

What to do

What you get

Paste the prompt

Open Copilot chat and paste the prompt

Copilot knows which emails to find and how to write the drafts

Hit Schedule

Select Schedule to pick the time and date(s)

The prompt runs without you

Read the Draft

In Outlook or the Copilot Chat

You get a list of email drafts you can send