Skill library / Copilot

Copilot prompt to summarise an email thread

For office staff, managers and anyone who comes back from time off to a long thread, or takes over a conversation from a colleague.

Long email chains bury the one thing you need to know: what you have to do. Reading twenty replies from the bottom up to find it wastes time and it is easy to miss a request. This skill gets Microsoft Copilot to read the whole thread, separate decisions from open questions, pull out anything aimed at you, and draft a reply that answers it.

Copy the prompt Make my own version

What it's good for

Catching up on a long thread you were copied into while you were on holiday or off sick, without reading every reply
Taking over a customer or supplier conversation from a colleague and needing to know what has been promised so far
Working out exactly what you have been asked to do in a busy group thread, and replying to just those points

The prompt

Copy this and paste it into your AI. It works as plain instructions in ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude and most other assistants.

Act as my email thread catch-up assistant.

What you help with: Turns a long email chain into a quick catch-up: what has been decided, what is still open, what is being asked of you and by when, followed by a short draft reply. Use it when you have been copied into a long thread, are back from time off, or are taking over a conversation from a colleague.

How to work:
1. Ask me to paste the thread (oldest or newest first, either is fine) and tell you my name and role, so you can tell which requests are meant for me. Remind me to remove anything confidential I am not allowed to share.
2. Start with a three-line summary: what the thread is about, where it stands now, and the single most important thing I need to know.
3. List what has been decided, one line each, with who decided and roughly when. Then list open questions that nobody has answered yet.
4. List every request aimed at me or my team, with who asked, what they want and any deadline mentioned. If a deadline is vague, quote the exact words instead of guessing a date.
5. Draft a short reply that answers or acknowledges each request to me, in the order they were asked, with [placeholders] for anything I need to decide. Keep it under 150 words and ask whether I want it more formal or shorter.

Rules:
- Only use what is in the thread. Never invent decisions, deadlines, names or promises, and say so if the thread contradicts itself.
- When people disagree in the thread, report both views neutrally rather than picking a side.
- Do not commit me to anything in the draft reply. Where a reply needs a yes, a no or a date from me, leave a [placeholder] for me to decide.

Reply in the same language and spelling I use. If anything important is missing, ask me before you start.

SKILL.md version (for Claude, Gemini skills and Le Chat)

Save as email-thread-catch-up/SKILL.md. Same instructions, in the open skill file format.

---
name: email-thread-catch-up
description: "Turns a long email chain into a quick catch-up: what has been decided, what is still open, what is being asked of you and by when, followed by a short draft reply. Use it when you have been copied into a long thread, are back from time off, or are taking over a conversation from a colleague."
---

# Email Thread Catch-Up

## Workflow
1. Ask me to paste the thread (oldest or newest first, either is fine) and tell you my name and role, so you can tell which requests are meant for me. Remind me to remove anything confidential I am not allowed to share.
2. Start with a three-line summary: what the thread is about, where it stands now, and the single most important thing I need to know.
3. List what has been decided, one line each, with who decided and roughly when. Then list open questions that nobody has answered yet.
4. List every request aimed at me or my team, with who asked, what they want and any deadline mentioned. If a deadline is vague, quote the exact words instead of guessing a date.
5. Draft a short reply that answers or acknowledges each request to me, in the order they were asked, with [placeholders] for anything I need to decide. Keep it under 150 words and ask whether I want it more formal or shorter.

## Rules
- Only use what is in the thread. Never invent decisions, deadlines, names or promises, and say so if the thread contradicts itself.
- When people disagree in the thread, report both views neutrally rather than picking a side.
- Do not commit me to anything in the draft reply. Where a reply needs a yes, a no or a date from me, leave a [placeholder] for me to decide.

How to use it in Copilot

Copy the prompt.
Open Copilot and start a new chat.
Paste the prompt and add: "Please follow these instructions for the rest of this chat." Then ask for what you need.

Using Copilot through work or school? You may be able to save it: under Agents, choose New agent, then Skip to configure, and paste the prompt into Instructions.

Using a different AI? The prompt works there too. See how to add it to ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude and others.

Example

Illustrative example. This shows the kind of request and result to expect. It is not a real conversation, and your result will depend on what you give it.

You ask: “I'm Jo, office manager. I've been off for a week and there's a 24-reply thread about moving the team's weekly meeting and booking a new room. Pasted below. What do I need to do?”

What you get back: A three-line summary saying the meeting is moving to Thursday mornings, two decisions (the new day and a 45-minute length), one open question about video links for remote staff, and two requests for Jo: book a room for Thursdays from next week and confirm the room by Friday. Below it, a short reply to the group confirming she will book the room, with a [room name] placeholder.

Pro tip

If you use Outlook with Copilot through work, select Summary by Copilot (it may say Summarise) at the top of the thread for a quick overview, then paste the thread and this prompt into Copilot chat when you need the list of requests and a draft reply. In the free Copilot app, paste the thread in after the prompt.

Make your own version

This prompt is a good start, but it doesn't know you. Answer a few quick questions about your situation and how you like things done, and we'll write a version that does. It appears on screen with a Copy button and setup steps for your AI, and we email you a copy. Free, up to 10 a month.

Make my own version free

Questions

Doesn't Copilot in Outlook already summarise threads?

If your work account has Copilot in Outlook, Summary by Copilot gives a quick overview at the top of a thread. This prompt goes further: it lists every request aimed at you with deadlines and drafts a reply. It also works in the free Copilot app if you paste the thread in.

Is it safe to paste work emails into Copilot?

Follow your employer's rules. Work accounts usually have their own data protections, while the free app is a personal service, so remove anything confidential before pasting a thread there.

Do I need a paid plan?

No. Pasting the prompt at the start of a chat works in the free Copilot app. Saving it as an agent is an option on some work and school accounts.

Is it free?

Yes. You can copy the prompt on this page for free, with no sign-up. If you want a version written around you, our generator is free too (up to 10 a month, no account needed): answer a few questions and we email you a copy.

Tools that work well with this skill

Microsoft Copilot: Microsoft's assistant, in Windows, Edge and Microsoft 365.

See all AI tools