Summarise long email threads
A practical way to use AI for this job in a small business, with a prompt you can copy.
You come back from a job to a 37-email thread between your supplier, the builder and the client. Somewhere in there is a decision you need to know about. Scrolling through it is the last thing you want to do.
The prompt
Summarise this email thread in 5 dot points: what's been agreed, what's still open, who's waiting on whom, any dates or amounts mentioned, and what I need to do next. [paste thread]
Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Don't paste in anything you wouldn't want stored by the AI provider.
Steps
- Copy the thread (remove anything sensitive you don't want to share).
- Run the prompt.
- Check the dates and amounts against the original.
- Reply or add the next step to your to-do list.
A worked example
A project manager at a small Sydney building company opens a long thread about a tile delivery. In Gmail, Gemini's 'Summarise this email' gives her four lines: the tiles are back-ordered, the supplier offered an alternative, the client hasn't decided, and the builder needs an answer by Thursday.
She asks a follow-up: 'What do I need to do?' The answer: get the client's decision and confirm the order. Two minutes instead of fifteen.
Time saved
If you deal with several long threads a day, 15 to 30 minutes a day is a fair estimate. These are my estimates for a typical small business, not measured results.
What it costs (AUD)
Gemini in Gmail and Copilot in Outlook come with some Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 business plans or as add-ons; what's included changes often, so check your plan. If you don't have them, paste the thread into a chat tool (after removing personal details).
The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini handle this fine. If you end up using AI every day, the paid plans are roughly: ChatGPT Plus approx. A$30 a month, Claude Pro approx. A$29 a month billed monthly (US$20, or about A$24 a month if you pay yearly), and Google AI Pro approx. A$33 a month through the App Store. Prices approx., October 2026. Some are billed in US dollars, so your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.
Australian notes
Email threads are full of personal information: names, phone numbers, addresses. Using the AI built into your existing email platform keeps data within a service you already use; pasting into a separate tool is another place your data goes. Check where your provider stores data if that matters to your clients.
Privacy: the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) cover most businesses turning over more than $3 million, plus some smaller ones such as health providers. Even if you're under the threshold, treat customer details with care: strip names, phone numbers and addresses before you paste anything into an AI tool.
Want this to happen automatically? See the step-by-step guide on our sister site: How to set up an email triage bot.
My verdict
Excellent time-saver. Always double-check numbers.
Common questions
Can I trust the summary?
Mostly, but always check the final message in the thread yourself before you act on anything important.
Does it work on attachments?
Some tools can read attachments, some can't. Don't assume the summary covers them.
Is it worth paying for?
If you live in your inbox, probably. If you get five emails a day, no.
Do this today
Find the longest email thread in your inbox right now and ask your AI tool to summarise it and list what you need to do.
More admin use cases
- Draft polite but firm emails
- Turn meeting notes into actions
- Write a standard operating procedure (SOP)
Next: Draft polite but firm emails · All admin · Want a bot to do this automatically? See bot setup guides.