Still deleting the same padded greetings from Copilot’s emails? Save your preferences in Outlook’s Draft Instructions. Keep the facts and the request for each email in its own prompt.
The setup below follows Microsoft’s documentation, checked on 8 September 2026. The email examples are made up.
Save your preferences in new Outlook
Microsoft’s instructions start in new Outlook: open the dropdown beside the Copilot icon, choose Settings, then Draft Instructions. Turn on Use custom instructions when drafting email, enter your preferences and save. The page lists a Microsoft Copilot work licence or Copilot Pro home licence as requirements. Microsoft’s Draft Instructions guide.
If the setting is missing, check the account, Outlook version and access with IT. The documented new Outlook path does not establish the same controls on every device or in every mailbox. A personal subscription does not by itself establish access to a work mailbox.
Use preferences you can recognise in a real email
“Professional and friendly” can still produce a paragraph you would never send. Name the habits you want: get to the request, keep paragraphs short and leave out repeated thanks.
Change these preferences if they would make an email awkward for the person receiving it. A difficult client conversation may need more explanation than a routine internal request.
Use British English. Write short, direct emails with a polite, conversational tone. Open with the point. Use short paragraphs; use bullets only when separate requests or dates are easier to scan that way.
Use the recipient’s first name when it is supplied. Otherwise use “Hello”. Leave the sign-off to me. Avoid filler greetings, repeated thanks and phrases such as “I am writing to inform you”.
Keep necessary context and qualifications. Do not invent owners, dates, figures, attachments or decisions. A question is not confirmation. Keep proposed dates distinct from commitments.Give each reply its own facts
Writing preferences cannot supply the answer to a colleague’s question. Before asking for a draft, state what is confirmed, what is unknown and what you want the reader to do.
In this fictional thread, Priya asks: “Are we still going live on 18 September, and does Alex own the weekend comms? Finance wants a yes or no by Thursday.” The message asks about both points; it confirms neither.
Draft a reply to Priya about the Northgate cutover window. Neither 18 September nor Alex as the weekend comms owner is confirmed by the thread. Do not present either as agreed.
Ask Priya to wait until tomorrow before giving Finance a yes or no. This is a request to wait, not a promise that a decision will be ready tomorrow. Acknowledge the Thursday deadline. Keep it under 150 words.Same message, two writing styles
The padded version
Hello Priya, Thank you for reaching out regarding the Northgate cutover window. I am writing to advise that the proposed date of 18 September and Alex’s ownership of weekend communications remain unconfirmed. I would be grateful if you could wait until tomorrow before providing Finance with a yes or no. I appreciate that Finance requires an answer by Thursday.
The plainer version
Hi Priya, 18 September and Alex’s role in weekend comms are still unconfirmed. Please hold off until tomorrow before giving Finance a yes or no. I know they need an answer by Thursday.
Both versions keep the same uncertainty and request. The second gets there sooner. Before using it, check that “tomorrow” leaves enough time before Thursday; use a date if the message might be read later. If the real answer is known, supply it before drafting.
Check the first few drafts
Try the saved preferences on a routine email and read the result aloud. Change the instruction behind any awkward wording, then try another draft. Avoid adding a permanent rule to fix one unusual exchange.
Keep facts separate from style during that review. For a wider checking method, use How to check AI output at work.
- Check each date, owner, figure and attachment claim against the thread or your confirmed notes.
- Check that the request is the one you intended and that the email promises only what you can commit to.
- Read it as the recipient: can they tell what you need and when, without losing a necessary qualification?