MC1311978 – M365 Change Digest

One-line summary

User Initiated Insights in Copilot for classic Outlook for Windows lets users select email text and prompt Copilot for insights, enhancing control and productivity. General Availability starts September 2026.

Similar updates

Details

RoadmapIds

508524

Summary

Classic Outlook for Windows will add user-initiated Copilot insights, allowing users to highlight email text and get contextual AI-generated explanations. Rolling out from May to September 2026, this feature is on by default for eligible Microsoft 365 Copilot users and integrates directly without extra add-ins.

Platforms

Desktop

Body (from Message Center)

Updated August 7, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

[Introduction]

We're introducing User Initiated Insights in Copilot for classic Outlook for Windows, enabling users to manually select text within an email and prompt Copilot to provide contextual insights. This enhancement gives users greater control over when and how Copilot assists them, improving productivity, clarity, and decision-making directly within their workflow.

This message is associated with Roadmap ID 508524.

[When this will happen:]

Public Preview (Worldwide): We began rolling out in early May 2026 and expect to complete by late May 2026.
General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in early September 2026 (previously early June) and expect to complete by end of September 2026 (previously late June).

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

Users with Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities
Organizations using classic Outlook for Windows

What will happen:

Users will be able to highlight text in emails and invoke Copilot to generate insights.

Screenshot: When text is highlighted in an email, an Explain This button appears to provide additional context:

Email message with text highlighted and a button that says, 'Explain this.'

Functionality is built into the Outlook experience and does not require a separate add-in.
The feature will be on by default for eligible users.
Existing Microsoft 365 security, compliance, and data protection policies continue to apply.

[What you can do to prepare:]

If you do not want users to access this feature, remove or restrict Copilot capabilities.
Verify users are running the latest version of classic Outlook for Windows.
Inform helpdesk and support staff about this new Copilot interaction model.
Communicate to users how to select text and invoke Copilot for contextual insights.

Learn more:

[Compliance considerations:]

Compliance area	Explanation
Introduces AI/ML capabilities interacting with customer data.	The feature enables Copilot to process user-selected email content to generate insights.
Provides a new way for users to interact with generative AI.	Users can invoke Copilot directly by selecting text within emails.
Allows users to enable or disable the feature at use time.	Users control invocation by choosing when to select text and engage Copilot.

Raw JSON (for debugging)

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    "ai_action_required_by": "2026-09-01T00:00:00Z",
    "ai_actions": [
      "Remove or restrict Copilot capabilities if feature is not wanted",
      "Verify users run latest classic Outlook for Windows",
      "Inform helpdesk/support about new Copilot interaction",
      "Communicate to users how to use text selection and Copilot"
    ],
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    "ai_summary": "User Initiated Insights in Copilot for classic Outlook for Windows lets users select email text and prompt Copilot for insights, enhancing control and productivity. General Availability starts September 2026.",
    "ai_topics": [
      "Copilot Chat",
      "Outlook",
      "Copilot"
    ],
    "category": "planForChange",
    "details_map": {
      "Platforms": "Desktop",
      "RoadmapIds": "508524",
      "Summary": "Classic Outlook for Windows will add user-initiated Copilot insights, allowing users to highlight email text and get contextual AI-generated explanations. Rolling out from May to September 2026, this feature is on by default for eligible Microsoft 365 Copilot users and integrates directly without extra add-ins."
    },
    "id": "MC1311978",
    "importance": 5,
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    "last_modified": "2026-08-07T22:17:23Z",
    "ms_products": [
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    "roadmap_ids": [
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    "services": [
      "Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat"
    ],
    "severity": "normal",
    "tags": [
      "Updated message",
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    ],
    "title": "(Updated) Classic Outlook for Windows: User-initiated insights with Copilot"
  }
}