How To Enable Copilot In Outlook: Complete Setup & Use Guide

How to Enable Copilot in Outlook (By Platform)

Copilot works in every current version of Outlook (web, New Outlook for Windows, Classic Outlook, Mac, iOS, and Android), but only with an eligible subscription: Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium for personal Microsoft accounts, or a Microsoft 365 Copilot license for work or school accounts. Copilot Pro is no longer sold, and its support ended on August 1, 2026. Copilot doesn't lift Outlook's various email limits.

📌 Note: New to Copilot? Read our guide on what Microsoft Copilot is used for to understand its full capabilities before enabling it.

Enable Copilot in Outlook on the Web

Prerequisites:

Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium subscription (on Family plans, only the subscription owner gets Copilot)
Signed in with the Microsoft account that holds the subscription

The web version of Outlook offers the quickest way to access Copilot features without any software installation.

Here's how to enable Copilot in Outlook web:

Visit www.outlook.com.
Sign in with a Microsoft account that has a valid Copilot license.
Click the Settings gear icon (top right corner).
Navigate to Copilot → toggle Turn on Copilot to enable it.

Outlook web settings screen showing the Copilot control panel with the option to toggle on Copilot for email assistance

The Turn on Copilot toggle is only available for personal Microsoft accounts. With a work or school account, contact your IT administrator if Copilot options don't appear.

Enable Copilot in New Outlook for Windows

Prerequisites:

Windows 10 or Windows 11
Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium subscription, or a work or school Microsoft 365 Copilot license
New Outlook app installed

The New Outlook for Windows is Microsoft's modern email client that comes with built-in Copilot support (сheck out my full New Outlook for Windows review). Classic Outlook supports Copilot too, but it doesn't have the Turn on Copilot toggle (see the Outlook Classic section below).

Here's how to enable Copilot in new Outlook:

Open New Outlook on your Windows PC.
Click the Settings gear icon in the top right corner.
Select the Copilot tab from the settings menu.
Toggle Turn on Copilot to enable.
Click Save to apply changes.
Close and restart Outlook for changes to take effect.

If the Copilot tab doesn't appear in Settings, make sure you're signed in with the Microsoft account that holds the subscription and that New Outlook is fully updated.

Enable Copilot in New Outlook for Mac

Prerequisites:

macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium subscription, or a work or school Microsoft 365 Copilot license
Outlook for Mac version 16.95.3 or later

Mac users can access Copilot features in the New Outlook for Mac, which replaced the legacy Outlook client. The setup process is straightforward and takes just a few clicks.

Steps to enable Copilot in Outlook Mac:

Launch Outlook on your Mac.
Click Outlook in the top menu bar, then select Settings.
Choose Copilot.

Outlook Mac settings menu showing how to access Copilot from the top menu and locate it in the settings panel

Toggle Turn on Copilot to enable AI features.

Copilot settings window in Outlook Mac with the toggle enabled for the selected Outlook account

Enable Use custom instructions when drafting email in the Draft section if you want personalized suggestions.
Force quit Outlook (Command + Q) and reopen it to sync changes.

Enable Copilot in Outlook Classic

📌 Note: Classic Outlook for Windows supports Copilot, but it has no Turn on Copilot toggle. Copilot appears automatically once Outlook recognizes an eligible license.

To get Copilot in Classic Outlook:

Install the latest updates: File → Office Account → Update Options → Update Now.
Go to File → Account, select Update License, and restart Outlook.
Open Copilot from the Copilot button above the ribbon or the Copilot icon in the left app bar.

Work or school users: if Product Information under File → Account shows Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel, Copilot isn't available. Your IT team can move you to Current Channel or Monthly Enterprise Channel.

If Copilot still doesn't appear, switch to New Outlook, which has the Copilot toggle:

Open Outlook Classic (or Legacy Outlook).
Look for the Try the new Outlook toggle in the top-right corner.

Legacy Outlook interface with the New Outlook option highlighted in the dropdown menu for enabling Copilot features

Click the toggle to switch.
Wait for the migration to complete (your emails and settings will transfer automatically).
Follow the New Outlook instructions above to enable Copilot.

📌 Note: Some legacy features may not be available in New Outlook. Business users should consult their IT department before switching, which most users, as recent Outlook statistics show, have already done.

Enable Copilot in Outlook Mobile (iOS & Android)

Prerequisites:

Latest version of the Outlook app from the App Store or Google Play (older versions don't show the Copilot toggle)
Microsoft account with a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium subscription

Once you're signed in with an eligible Microsoft account, Copilot works for every email account added to the app, including Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud.

Steps to enable Copilot in Outlook mobile:

Open the Microsoft Outlook app on your device.
Sign in with your Microsoft account (must have an active Copilot subscription).
Tap your profile icon (usually in top left corner).
Tap Settings.
Select Copilot from the settings menu.
Toggle Turn on Copilot to enable.

Outlook mobile app showing how to access Outlook settings and turn on Copilot for AI features

If the Copilot option doesn't appear in settings, verify your subscription is active by visiting account.microsoft.com. Mobile features are currently limited compared to desktop versions.

How to Use Copilot in Outlook

Now that I've explained how to enable Copilot across different platforms, I want to share a few examples of how I've been using Copilot in my daily email routine.

How to use Copilot in Outlook to summarize emails

One of my favorite Copilot features is the email summarization tool, especially when I return from vacation or face a backlog of lengthy email threads. Last week, I opened a 47-message thread about a particularly complicated project update.

Instead of reading through each message, it took Copilot just a few seconds to provide a clear bullet-point summary highlighting the key decisions, action items, and who was responsible for what.

To use the summarization feature:

Open any email thread.
Click the Copilot icon in the toolbar.
Select Summary by Copilot.

Outlook desktop interface with the Summary by Copilot option highlighted above an opened email thread

Using Copilot to write and reply to emails

Despite being a professional content writer, I often rely on Copilot for initial email drafts. When I see an AI-generated draft, I often realize there's something additional I should mention, something that wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise.

Here's how to use Copilot in Outlook desktop for composing:

Open the message you want to reply to.
Click the Copilot icon in the toolbar.
Select Reply with Copilot.
Type a brief description of what you want to say (e.g., "decline meeting but suggest alternative date").

Review the generated draft and make edits if necessary.

How to use Copilot to organize emails in Outlook

When organizing my inbox, I use Copilot to quickly identify actionable emails. I simply ask: "Does this message require any action from me?" or "What are the key dates mentioned in this email?" This helps me decide whether to flag, file, or delete messages.

📌 Unfortunately, Copilot's organizational features are limited to analyzing individual emails.

Use Clean Email When Copilot Isn’t Enough

There comes a point when more capability is needed. So to clean my Outlook inbox in bulk, I rely on Clean Email's powerful tools that can:

Bulk clean emails by sender, size, or age, which is perfect for removing years of accumulated messages in minutes.

Clean Email app interface showing bulk email selection by filters like unread or old mail, with a Trash option to delete selected messages

Automatically unsubscribe from unwanted emails even when senders don't include unsubscribe links.

Clean Email app's Unsubscriber feature showing grouped email senders with options to keep receiving or instantly unsubscribe

Pause subscriptions temporarily or send them to a Read Later folder for reviewing at your convenience.
Create Auto Clean rules to automatically move, delete, or archive future emails based on your preferences.

Clean Email’s Auto Clean setup showing rule creation for deleting old, unread, promotional emails larger than 1MB

Use Smart Folders to instantly group emails by category (shopping, social media, travel, etc.).

📌 Best of all, Clean Email works with all major email providers, so it's not limited to just Outlook inboxes. Whether you're managing Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, or any IMAP-compatible service, Clean Email can organize all your messages from a single app available across iOS, Android, macOS, and the web.

As someone concerned about email security, I also value that Clean Email is safe (the service is even fully compliant with Gmail's privacy policy and other major providers' security standards) and fully committed to never selling or using its customers' personal data for marketing.

Final Thoughts

Whether you're using Outlook for personal or business purposes, take the time to properly enable Copilot on your preferred platform and explore its features, such as email summarization or drafting. You might be surprised at how much time you can save on email tasks that once felt overwhelming, especially if you combine Copilot with Clean Email for bulk organization and automation.