Copilot in Outlook can now file and delete your email when you ask

Microsoft's September Copilot release notes add more inbox actions to Outlook, such as moving or deleting messages and managing folders and rules.

Microsoft's 23 September release notes for Microsoft 365 Copilot list new triage actions in Outlook. You can now ask Copilot to delete or move messages, sort them into categories and manage folders and inbox rules, instead of only asking it to summarise or draft.

Microsoft's support page lists the full set. Copilot can pin, flag, archive or delete emails, move or copy them, mark them as read, unread or junk, set categories, create folders and create or manage inbox rules. It works in classic and new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web and Mac, the Android and iOS apps, and Copilot Chat. You type requests in plain English, for example "archive all unread emails from Sarah today" or "create a folder called Receipts". If an action affects more than five emails, Copilot shows a confirmation card and waits for you to confirm or cancel. It also confirms before it creates, changes or deletes a rule. For now these features work in English only.

For a busy team, this saves the fiddly work of building rules through the settings menus. Someone who has put off setting up a folder for supplier invoices can now describe what they want and check the summary.

Actions on five emails or fewer go ahead without a confirmation step, so be specific when you ask for deletions. Read the rule summary properly before you confirm it, because a rule that is slightly too broad can file or delete emails you needed. Microsoft's page does not say which licences include these actions, so check with your admin before you tell the team about it.

Start with one low-risk rule, such as filing receipts, and check the folder after a week.