AI email assistants: three kinds, and what each one can see
Most AI email assistants start by asking for your whole inbox. You usually need help with one thread. Here is how the three kinds differ, what each can reach, how to turn off the one already built into Gmail or Outlook, and the questions worth asking before you give any of them your mail.
An AI email assistant does a handful of useful jobs: it condenses a forty-message thread into what was decided, drafts or suggests a reply, sorts the urgent from the routine, and answers questions like "what did the client agree to on pricing?" Those jobs are much the same from one product to the next. What differs is how much of your mail the assistant can see, and for someone whose mailbox is full of client correspondence, that is the decision that matters.
There are three kinds:
- Built into your mail app. Gemini in Gmail and Copilot in Outlook. It lives in the mailbox and works on the mail in it.
- Connected to your inbox. A separate service you sign in to with your Google or Microsoft account and give permission to read your mail. Once connected, it reaches the whole mailbox.
- Copied on a thread. An assistant with its own email address. It sees what you forward or CC to it, and nothing else.
Each section below covers what that kind can do, what it can see, and how to switch it off.
Built in: Gemini in Gmail
If you use Gmail, you may already have an AI email assistant. Google's help center lists Gemini features in Gmail that include Help me write ("Draft new emails or refine existing text based on a prompt"), AI Overview for email threads ("Summarize long email conversations with key points and replies when you open a thread"), Suggested replies, AI Inbox ("Review top priorities and topics to catch up on from your inbox") and an AI Overview above Gmail search results that answers a question from your emails.
Who gets what depends on the account. Google says a work or school account gets these features "with an eligible Google Workspace plan," and a personal account with a Google AI Plus, Pro or Ultra plan. It also says that on a personal account "you can use these Gemini in Gmail features at no charge in the US": Help me write, AI Overviews for email threads, and Suggested Replies.
On data, Google's commitment for users with Google AI plans is that Gemini in Gmail "uses your content in Google Workspace to provide more useful responses to your prompts and doesn't use your content to train or improve Gemini or other generative AI models," and "doesn't store your prompt or the generated output without your permission." Google adds a caveat worth knowing: on a personal account, if you share Workspace data with the separate Gemini app or Search for Personal Intelligence, or through screen actions such as screenshots, that data "may be used for model training and improvement." Google also notes that when smart features are on, "your data may be used to improve these features."
What it sees: the mailbox it is built into. That is also its strength. It needs no setup, and it doesn't hand your mail to anyone new.
How to turn off Gemini and AI features in Gmail
Gmail has no switch labelled "Gemini." The controls are called smart features, and there are two separate settings that matter:
- Smart features in Google Workspace covers Gemini. Google lists "Ask Gemini to summarize content, create drafts, and find key information, along with other Google Workspace with Gemini features" among what it enables, along with events from Gmail showing up in Calendar and personalized search in Drive.
- Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet covers the older AI in Gmail itself: Smart Compose, Smart Reply, the summary cards above emails, and automatic sorting into Primary, Social and Promotions.
Google's help page says of each that when you turn it off, "you can't use the experiences listed above." It doesn't say whether the Gemini button disappears from Gmail, so don't count on that.
On a computer: go to Gmail. At the top right, click Settings, then See all settings. On the General tab, scroll to Google Workspace smart features and click Manage Workspace smart feature settings. Turn off Smart features in Google Workspace (and, if you want, Smart features in other Google products), then click Save at the bottom right. For the second setting, stay on the General tab, scroll to Smart features, and uncheck the box next to Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet.
In the Gmail app on iPhone or iPad: at the top left, tap Menu, then Settings. Under General, tap Data privacy. Tap Google Workspace smart features, turn off Smart features in Google Workspace, and tap Done at the top right. The Gmail-level setting is on the same Data privacy screen: turn Smart features off there.
Four things to know before you do it:
- You will lose your inbox tabs. Turning off smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet also turns off automatic sorting into Primary, Social and Promotions. If you only want Gemini gone, change only the Google Workspace setting.
- It applies everywhere you are signed in. Google says changes "apply across all devices and apps where you're signed in," though it also warns that "some changes made on your computer don't reflect in the mobile app." If the phone still shows the old state, change it there too.
- In some countries it is off by default. Google says smart feature settings are off by default if you live in the European Economic Area, Japan, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.
- Turning it off works going forward. Google says turning a setting off stops your content being used for those features "in the future," and that "the learnings developed from this improvement process may persist" after you turn it off.
Built in: Copilot in Outlook
Outlook's built-in assistant is Copilot. Microsoft's FAQ (last updated February 2026) says it can summarize email threads ("Quickly extracts key points from email threads"), draft replies with Draft with Copilot, coach you on tone and clarity, prioritize your inbox, and help you prepare for a meeting by gathering related emails and chats. Not every feature reaches every account: Microsoft says chatting with Copilot in Outlook "is only available if you're using a work or school account" in the new Outlook for Windows or Outlook on the web.
Its reach has limits worth knowing. Microsoft says Copilot scenarios "are only available on a user's primary mailbox," not on archive, group, shared or delegate mailboxes, and that it "can't access S/MIME or Double Key Encryption encrypted emails."
To turn it off on a personal Microsoft account, Outlook has a Turn on Copilot toggle. Microsoft gives the path as Settings > Copilot in Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows, and Quick Settings > Copilot in Outlook for Mac (version 16.95.3 or later), iOS and Android. The choice follows your account: "if you turn off Copilot in Outlook on a Mac device, Copilot will also be turned off for that same account when using Outlook on an iOS device." Two limits apply. Microsoft says "there is currently no estimated date" for the toggle in classic Outlook on Windows, and that these settings "aren't available if you're signed in with a work or school account." On a work account, your organization holds that switch.
Outlook and an assistant you CC: nothing needs installing. If you use the third kind of assistant, below, Outlook's ordinary Cc line is all it takes. Add the assistant's address to the thread the way you would copy a colleague, or forward it a single message.
Connected: an assistant that signs in to your inbox
The second kind is a separate service: a general chat assistant with an email connector, or a dedicated inbox tool. You connect it by signing in with your Google or Microsoft account and approving a permission screen. From then on it can reach your mail, and the permission covers the mailbox rather than a folder or a thread. Depending on what you approve, that can mean reading, drafting, sending and sorting.
That reach is what makes these tools capable, and also what deserves a second look. A ten-year archive of client correspondence becomes readable by one more company, on behalf of people who were never asked. How that plays out for the two best-known chat assistants is in Can ChatGPT read my emails? and Can Claude read my emails?
How to revoke one on a Google account: go to your Google Account's linked apps page, select Access to your Google Account, select the app, then See details, Remove access and Confirm. Google's note on what that does: "If you remove access, the app can't access your Google Account. This may make some features unavailable." Google's note on this step says nothing about what the app already copied. That depends on the app, so check its own deletion settings as well.
On a Microsoft work or school account, apps you consented to are listed in the My Apps portal, where Microsoft says you can select Revoke Permissions. There is a catch: for permissions your administrator consented to on your behalf, Microsoft says "You can't revoke these permissions because the administrator consented to them, and they're often required for your organization's policy."
Copied: an assistant you CC on the thread
The third kind turns the arrangement around. The assistant has its own email address, and it learns about a thread when you send it one. Scope is set one thread at a time, by you, with the Cc field you already use. There is no mailbox sign-in, so there is no grant to revoke later, and the rest of your inbox stays out of reach.
The trade-off is honest: it can't summarize mail you didn't send it, and it won't triage your whole inbox. For a senior operator, that is often the right trade. The threads you need help with are the few that carry a client decision, a negotiation or a deadline, and those are exactly the ones you would copy a human assistant on.
| Built into Gmail or Outlook | Connected to your inbox | Copied on a thread | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it can reach | The mailbox it is built into (for Copilot, the primary mailbox) | The mailbox you connected, within the permissions you approved | Only the emails and threads you forward or CC to it |
| How it starts | Already there, depending on your plan and region | Sign in and approve a Google or Microsoft permission screen | You send an email |
| How you stop it | Smart features settings in Gmail; the Turn on Copilot toggle in Outlook | Disconnect in the tool, then remove access in your Google or Microsoft account | Stop copying it; take its address off the thread |
| Who else may hold the switch | On a work account, your organization | On a work account, your administrator for permissions they approved | No one: it is your Cc line |
Five questions to ask before any assistant gets your email
- What is the scope? The whole mailbox, or only what you choose? Read the permission screen instead of clicking through it.
- Can it act, or only read? Drafting is one thing. Sending, deleting and filing on your behalf are another, and they deserve a deliberate yes.
- How do you take it back? Know both places: inside the tool and in your Google or Microsoft account. Know what revoking leaves behind.
- Can you see what it kept? An assistant that remembers your mail should show you what it remembered and let you delete it.
- Whose information is it? Most of a client-facing mailbox was sent to you in confidence. Your engagement terms, and on a work account your organization, may already have answered this for you.
Sources, all read 23 September 2026. Gmail Help: Learn about smart features & controls for Google Workspace & other Google products (computer and iPhone & iPad versions), Get started with Google Workspace with Gemini, Learn how Gemini in Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Docs, Drive, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Vids & Pics protects your data. Google Account Help: Manage links between your Google Account & apps from other developers. Microsoft Support: Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Outlook (last updated February 2026), Turn off Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps, Edit or revoke application permissions in the My Apps portal. Google and Microsoft rename and move these screens often; where your own settings differ from this page, your settings are right.
CC your assistant. It reads the thread — not your inbox.
Equerry is a personal assistant built the third way. Your Equerry has its own email address, something like mark@mail.getequerry.app, which you can add to your contacts when you set it up. It never asks for your inbox: there is no Google or Microsoft sign-in to approve, and it knows about your email only what you send to that address. The send button is the whole arrangement, and it works the same from Gmail, Outlook, or Mail on your iPhone.
- Forward an email. Ask about it later. The scope document a client sent on Tuesday, the engagement letter, the revised timeline: forward it once, and you can ask about it next week or next quarter.
- CC it on the threads that matter. Add your Equerry's address to a live client thread. As long as it stays on the Cc line, each later reply arrives on its own, including the one that lands at 6 PM while you are in another client's meeting.
- Walk in current. Ask "where did we leave pricing with Acme?" before the 9 AM call, and the answer reflects Thursday's reply. A Morning Brief can surface it before you ask.
- See what it kept. What Equerry remembered from it is listed in Settings → Your memory, each line marked as from that email, and you can delete any line.
- The original stays where it was. Your email stays in your own mailbox, untouched. Equerry works from the copy you sent it, so the message itself is always there to check against.
Email isn't the only way in. PDFs, screenshots and text come in through the share sheet, and voice notes you dictate in Equerry sit alongside the email, so one question can draw on the thread and on the note you dictated after the call. For habits that make this work, see how to email notes to yourself and how to keep track of important emails.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI email assistant?
Software that helps with the work of email: summarizing a long thread, drafting or suggesting a reply, sorting what matters from what doesn't, and answering questions about what was said. It comes in three kinds that differ mainly in what they can see. The first is built into your mail app (Gemini in Gmail, Copilot in Outlook) and works on the mailbox it lives in. The second is a separate service you connect to your account, which then reaches the whole mailbox. The third is an assistant you copy on a thread, which sees only what you send it. Choose by scope first and features second.
Is it safe to give an AI assistant access to my email?
Treat it as two questions. Is the mechanism sound? Usually yes: connections go through Google's or Microsoft's own permission screens and can be revoked later. Is the scope right? That one is yours to answer. A connected assistant reaches the whole mailbox, and a professional's mailbox is mostly other people's information, sent to you in confidence. Before connecting, check what the permission screen lists, whether the service may use your mail to improve its models, and, on a work account, whether your organization allows it. If most of the mailbox should stay private, share the one thread instead of the account.
How do I turn off Gemini in Gmail?
Gemini in Gmail sits under a setting Google calls smart features in Google Workspace. On a computer: open Gmail, click Settings at the top right, then See all settings; on the General tab, scroll to Google Workspace smart features, click Manage Workspace smart feature settings, turn off Smart features in Google Workspace, and click Save. In the Gmail app on iPhone: tap Menu, then Settings, then Data privacy under General, then Google Workspace smart features; turn off Smart features in Google Workspace and tap Done. Google says that with the setting off, you can't use the experiences it lists, which include asking Gemini to summarize and draft. A second setting, smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet, controls Smart Compose, Smart Reply and inbox categories. Steps as published in Google's Gmail Help, read 23 September 2026.
Can an AI assistant help with email without reading my whole inbox?
Yes, if it has an email address of its own. You copy it on a thread, or forward it one message, and that is the whole of what it sees. The rest of your mailbox never enters the picture, because nothing is connected to it. Equerry works this way: you CC your assistant, and it reads the thread, not your inbox. Replies that keep its address on the CC line keep arriving, so it stays current as the thread moves.
What should I check before connecting my inbox to an AI tool?
Five things. What the permission screen actually lists: reading, composing, sending, deleting. Whether the service may use your mail to improve its models, and where that setting sits. How to revoke it, both inside the tool and in your Google or Microsoft account, and what revoking leaves behind. Whether you can see what it kept from your mail and delete it. And on a work account, who holds the switch: Microsoft notes that you can't revoke permissions an administrator consented to on your behalf.
Last updated 2026-09-23.
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