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Reply to a long email thread you've just been added to
Forty emails, six people, and someone's added you with 'over to you'. Get a summary of what matters, what's being asked of you and a short reply.
The prompt · ChatGPT
Help me reply to a long email thread I've just been added to. The thread: [paste it, oldest first if you can, removing anything private] My role in this: [e.g. I'm taking over the project, I'm the approver] What I can commit to: [anything] Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A 5-line summary: what this is about, where it's got to and who wants what. 2. Decisions already made, and questions still open. 3. What's being asked of me specifically. 4. A short reply under 100 words: I've caught up, my answer or next step, and a date. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English. Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. paste it, oldest first if you can, removing anything private: a short note you already have. e.g. I'm taking over the project, I'm the approver: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
The prompt · Copilot
Help me reply to a long email thread I've just been added to. The thread: [paste it, oldest first if you can, removing anything private] My role in this: [e.g. I'm taking over the project, I'm the approver] What I can commit to: [anything] Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A 5-line summary: what this is about, where it's got to and who wants what. 2. Decisions already made, and questions still open. 3. What's being asked of me specifically. 4. A short reply under 100 words: I've caught up, my answer or next step, and a date. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English. Stay in this Copilot chat. Leave plugins off, and do not open a file from OneDrive.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. paste it, oldest first if you can, removing anything private: a short note you already have. e.g. I'm taking over the project, I'm the approver: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
You paste the thread, removing anything private.
The assistant asks what your role is in it and what you can commit to.
You get a summary, the decisions and questions left open, what's being asked of you and a reply.
What happens
Use Copilot to reply to a long email thread you've just been added to
Forty emails, six people, and someone's added you with 'over to you'. Get a summary of what matters, what's being asked of you and a short reply.
Tools
Paste the prompt, fill the blanks, copy the draft.
- Microsoft Copilot — required. Drafts from the text you paste. Nothing is sent.
The prompt is on this page. A free account saves it.
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