ChatGPT & Claude (MCP)
How to Use Claude for Outlook as an AI Email Assistant
Claude for Outlook turns Claude, or ChatGPT, into a real AI email assistant that can search, send and file your Outlook email. First you connect Outlook: in Claude, open your connectors, search Outlook and add it; in ChatGPT, open Plugins and search Outlook. If you check more than one inbox, search for Carly instead. The Carly connector holds all of your email addresses, Outlook and Gmail alike, plus your calendars and drive accounts, so Claude works across every inbox rather than one. From there you can search, send and file email just by asking. Asking works for a handful of messages, but nobody wants to sit in a chat sorting hundreds of emails a day, so the second half of the video sets up workflows that run on their own. File by precedent sorts each new email into the folder you have used for that sender before, like Outlook rules that actually understand your mail, and it leaves anything unclear where it is. A preview version tags each email with the folder it would pick so you can check the sorting before anything moves. When something lands in the wrong place, you tell Claude and it updates the workflow. A daily inbox digest posts a summary of the last 24 hours to Slack or Microsoft Teams. Every template comes with a prompt you can copy straight into Claude to set it up.
Step by step
- 01
Connect Outlook to Claude
In Claude, open your connectors, search for Outlook and add it. Claude can now read and search that mailbox inside any chat.
- 02
Or connect Outlook to ChatGPT
In ChatGPT, open Plugins and search for Outlook. Everything else in this tutorial works the same way from ChatGPT.
- 03
Add the Carly connector if you have more than one inbox
Search for Carly in Claude's connectors or ChatGPT's plugins and connect it. Then add all of your email addresses, Outlook and Gmail, along with your calendars and drive accounts. Claude works across every inbox at once instead of one account at a time.
- 04
Search, send and file Outlook email by asking
Ask in plain language: "Find the thread with Emily about the Q4 budget, reply that Thursday works, and move it to the Finance folder." Claude searches, sends and files without you opening Outlook.
- 05
Auto-sort every new email with a workflow
Asking works for a few emails, not a few thousand. Turn on the File by precedent (automatic) workflow and every new email gets moved into the folder you have used for that sender before. In Gmail it applies the existing label. Emails without a clear match stay where they are. Think Outlook rules, but ones that actually understand your mail.
- 06
Preview the AI email sorting before anything moves
Start with File by precedent (preview) if you want to check it first. It tags each new email with the folder it would go to and moves nothing. When the tags look right, switch to the automatic version.
- 07
Fix misfiled emails by telling Claude
When something lands in the wrong place, say so and Claude updates your sorting workflow: "park announcements go in this folder", "leave this sender for my review", or "don't start filing until tomorrow".
- 08
Get AI email summaries on a schedule
Turn on the daily inbox digest and once a day it summarizes the last 24 hours of email and posts a tidy digest to Slack or Microsoft Teams.
- 09
Copy any template's prompt into Claude
Every workflow template has a prompt you can copy. Paste it into Claude and the workflow gets set up for you. Browse the full template library for more email automations, or book a call if you want help deploying custom workflows and AI agents.
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"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."