Microsoft is expanding text editing with Copilot in Outlook. When a paragraph in an email draft is highlighted, users can directly ask the artificial intelligence to rephrase it to be shorter, more formal, or structured differently. This saves the need to retype entire messages. It requires a paid Copilot subscription, which many companies have already added.
Copilot rewrites highlighted text sections directly
So far, Copilot in Outlook mainly allowed generating an entire email from a keyword. The targeted editing is new. A user highlights a single paragraph in an already written draft and opens the Copilot icon. There, she picks an option like “shorter,” “more formal,” or “restructure” – or types her own instruction. According to the Microsoft help page, the suggestion can then be accepted, discarded, or regenerated. Copilot can also ask follow-up questions about the purpose, audience, and tone. This lets it adjust the text in a few short steps instead of delivering a finished version right away.
An example from office life: A clerk drafts a reply to a customer complaint, but the first paragraph sounds too harsh. Instead of rewriting the whole message, she highlights just that paragraph and picks “change tone.” Copilot suggests a friendlier phrasing, while the subject line, greeting, and the rest of the email stay untouched. Something similar now works with Gmail’s writing assistant, which allows free-text instructions for drafts. Outlook additionally focuses on highlighting individual sections rather than the whole message.
How to find the feature in Outlook
The editing tool is not buried in a hidden menu. It works directly while writing and needs no separate installation:
- Open a new email or an existing draft.
- Highlight the text section that needs to change.
- Click the Copilot icon in the toolbar.
- Choose a suggested option (tone, length, structure) or type your own instruction.
- Accept the new suggestion, discard it, or ask for another adjustment.
The feature already works in Outlook on the web and in the new Outlook app. In classic Outlook for Windows, Microsoft is currently rolling out the compose interface step by step. If the Copilot icon does not appear, there are usually two reasons. Either the IT department has not yet assigned the add-on license, or the installed Outlook version has not yet reached the rollout. A look at the account settings or a question to IT support clears this up. Anyone unsure whether the feature is already active can highlight any sentence in a draft as a test. If the Copilot icon shows up, the editing tool can be tried right away, with no extra setup needed.
Cost and availability in Germany and the EU
The feature is part of Microsoft 365 Copilot. According to the announcement on the official Microsoft blog, it is rolling out worldwide, with completion expected by early August 2026. There is no restriction for Germany and the EU; the interface also works in German. A paid add-on license is required, though. According to the official Microsoft price list, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business currently costs 15.60 euros per user per month in Germany. That is a promotional price running until the end of September 2026, after which the regular price of 18.20 euros applies. This comes on top of an existing Microsoft 365 business subscription such as Business Standard or Business Premium. Large companies with an E3 or E5 license fall under the pricier Copilot Enterprise plan instead. Private users without a business license have no access; a personal Outlook.com account is not enough.
What matters is whether companies see enough value in many small time savings to justify the added Copilot cost. Anyone using the drafting assistant should also check whether internal rules limit entering customer or contract details into AI text suggestions. That matters most before sensitive wording passes through Copilot.
