Guides › Email & Inbox
Catch up on a long email thread in a minute
Turn a 30-message thread into a short summary of what was decided, what's still open and what's expected of you.
When to use it
When you're copied into a thread late or come back from leave
Step by step
Try the built-in summary first
Gemini in Gmail and Copilot in Outlook can summarise a thread from a button at the top of the email, if your plan includes it.
Or copy the whole thread
Open the thread, expand all messages, select all and copy. Check your workplace AI policy before pasting work emails into a personal AI account.
Ask for a structured catch-up
Paste the thread into your AI assistant with this prompt.
Prompt to copySummarise this email thread for me. I am [your name and role]. Give me: 1) The background in two sentences. 2) Decisions already made, with who made them. 3) Open questions still being discussed. 4) Anything anyone has asked me or my team to do, with deadlines. 5) A suggested one-paragraph reply if one is needed from me. Use bullet points and keep it under 200 words. Thread: [paste thread]
What you get
Background: Venue for the 12 Dec staff lunch. Decided: The Old Mill, 40 people (Jo). Open: vegetarian numbers, who pays deposit. Asked of you: confirm final headcount by Fri 21 Nov. Suggested reply: 'Thanks all, I'll send the final headcount by Friday.'
Tips
- Ask 'what did I miss that sounds urgent?' as a follow-up question; it often surfaces a buried request.