Open Gmail or Outlook and you may find a summary button you never asked for. For anyone paying for a subscription, the question is what exactly the email assistant can do on your behalf. Both platforms now summarize threads, draft replies and hunt for details buried in your inbox. In Spain, the full version of Gemini in Gmail requires a paid Google or Workspace plan, while Copilot in Outlook ships with Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium. Both can be turned off, but with a catch: the switch also disables other features. The details below come from official Google and Microsoft documentation consulted on October 31, 2026.
An email inbox is arguably the most complete archive of your life: invoices, bookings, medical records, contracts, bank statements. It is worth understanding what the assistant reads and what happens to that reading.
- Capabilities: Gemini summarizes threads, drafts and polishes emails, organizes your inbox, searches for details and proposes meeting times. Copilot summarizes conversations, cites source emails and reads PDF, Word and PowerPoint attachments.
- Availability: Gemini requires Google AI Pro, Ultra, AI Plus or any Workspace plan; free AI features are limited to the US. Copilot is bundled with Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium, with AI features restricted to the subscription holder in Family and Premium.
- Data and controls: Google and Microsoft both state that personal content is not used to train foundation models, but the off switches are blunt instruments that disable assisted writing and suggested replies along with the AI features.
What Gemini and Copilot can actually do with your inbox
Both tools summarize, draft and search. The difference lies in how much they can act on their own.
According to Gmail’s help center, Gemini in Gmail can summarize long threads into concise bullet points, draft emails or polish existing drafts, organize the inbox by deleting multiple messages or adding labels, search for details such as flight times or package tracking, and propose meeting times based on your Google Calendar. It opens from the Ask Gemini button in the top right corner.
The Help me write feature goes a step further: according to Google, it proactively pulls details from your other emails and Drive files, such as booking codes or schedules, to personalize a draft without being asked. You can see which documents it consulted by tapping Sources.
Copilot in Outlook offers a Summarize by Copilot button at the top of each conversation, per Microsoft’s support pages. The summary can include numbered citations that link back to the source email, and in the new Outlook and web version it also summarizes PDF, Word and PowerPoint attachments. It works in Outlook for Microsoft 365, the new Outlook for Windows, Mac (latest version only), Android, iOS and the web.
An assistant that can delete emails or read attachments has another side: everything entering the inbox, including messages from strangers, becomes material the AI processes. That is the risk highlighted in discussions of AI agents and prompt injection, and it is worth keeping in mind before delegating actions rather than just readings.
Plans, countries and the geographic catch
In Gmail, availability depends on the account type and the feature. Google states that Gemini is available to Gmail users with Google AI Pro or Ultra and is included in all Google Workspace plans, while its requirements page adds Google AI Plus for personal accounts and sets a minimum age of 18.
The geographic catch is in the free tier. With a personal account and no plan, Google offers Help me write, AI conversation summaries and suggested replies at no cost, but only in the United States. With an eligible plan, Help me write is available worldwide, including in Spanish.
Here Google’s documentation contradicts itself. One page places free conversation summaries only in the US, while the specific help page for AI-generated conversation summaries says they are available to all Gmail users worldwide in eight languages including Spanish, provided smart features are enabled. As of October 31, 2026, Google does not clarify which page takes precedence. The Gemini side panel, which does require a plan, works in around thirty languages, Catalan included.
In Outlook, Microsoft’s FAQ states that Copilot is included in Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium plans, which now include AI credits for use in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and other apps. Two details: in Family and Premium, AI features are available only to the subscription holder, not to other members, and they are disabled for users below a minimum age that varies by region. Microsoft does not mention country restrictions in that FAQ. For work accounts, availability depends on your company’s license.
Data handling and how to switch it off
Google in Workspace (business accounts). The Workspace AI privacy hub states that content is not subject to human review and is not used to train generative AI models outside your domain without permission, and that Gemini does not share your content outside the organization without permission.
Google in personal accounts. Gmail’s AI page points to the Gemini privacy notice and says Google uses automated tools to remove personally identifiable information from the data subsets used to train Gemini. That wording deserves a slow read: it does not say nothing is used, it says identifying data is filtered out.
Microsoft. For personal accounts, Microsoft states that prompts, responses and file content when using Copilot in its apps are not used to train foundation models. For enterprises, its privacy documentation adds that traffic from EU users remains within the EU Data Boundary.
Each platform has its own off switch, and none is surgical:
- Gmail. In Settings > See all settings > General, uncheck Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat and Meet and, under Manage Workspace smart feature settings, disable Workspace smart features, which controls Google Workspace with Gemini. Google warns that this also disables assisted writing and proofreading in Gmail and other apps. In the European Economic Area, these settings are off by default, according to Google’s help pages.
- Outlook (personal account). Since June 3, 2025, Microsoft has included a Turn on Copilot toggle in the Copilot section of Outlook settings on the web, Android, iOS, Mac and the new Outlook for Windows. The choice applies to all devices signed in with the same account. There is no date for classic Outlook for Windows, and the setting does not exist if you sign in with a work or school account. The radical alternative, disabling experiences that analyze content, also turns off suggested replies.
The takeaway is that Europe has secured something concrete: Gmail’s smart features arrive switched off and you opt in. Microsoft bundled Copilot into the subscription and offered the toggle afterwards, platform by platform, still without covering classic Outlook.
Neither service lets you accept summaries while rejecting the rest. It is an all-or-nothing design that nudges users to leave it on, and it deserves a conscious decision: if your email holds medical histories, payslips or legal matters, reading a summary instead of five messages may not be worth letting another system process and cross-reference that information.