How’s your email inbox looking? Unless you’re one of those rare “Inbox Zero” people, the answer is probably the same as for us: not great, Bob.
The frustrating reality of email in 2025 is this: most of us have thousands — maybe even tens of thousands — of unread emails in our inboxes. We just get too much, and not all of it is important enough to deal with. We’re subscribed to all sorts of tech and industry newsletters, and we gain real value from them. But we’re just like everyone else: not every newsletter is worth our time, and the email inbox clutter mounts.
Microsoft is finally doing something about this — and the solution is coming to some mobile users by the end of 2025.
Microsoft’s New Email Experience
Microsoft is working from a pretty solid premise: not all your email is equally important. You need receipts, newsletters, supplier updates, and so forth. But you don’t need to drop everything and read any of those.
Sometimes, finding the messages that do deserve your attention is harder than it should be, because your inbox is full of all those other messages.
You can’t just unsubscribe your way out of this problem.
Microsoft’s new solution is to fix it with AI. For businesses with a Copilot license, the Outlook app for iOS and Android is about to get an AI-powered Copilot assist.
This new view, called Priority view, thins out your inbox into two powerful curated categories: High Priority and Needs Replies.
All the rest of your email is still there, still searchable — it’s just not on your main inbox screen any longer.
So with this update, now the stuff that truly needs a response will cut through the noise of everything else. This can be a powerful productivity boost for you, not to mention your team.
Of course, as with any AI-powered feature, it won’t be perfect. But it should be genuinely helpful, right from the start.
Microsoft Catching Up to Others
Other tech companies have rolled out smarter ways to deal with inbox clutter. If you’re not sure how Microsoft’s solution is going to work, take a look at some of these similar approaches you can already access today (albeit not on your most important work email account).
Google (Gmail & Android)
Years ago, Gmail started categorizing emails by default for personal accounts, filtering promotional, social, and update emails into separate categories. It’s moderately effective: important emails from those categories still make it through, and users can “train” the system by manually dragging unimportant emails to a category. Future similar messages will route accordingly.
Some business accounts have gained smart thread summaries as well, which helps remind readers at a glance what the thread is about and what decisions were made.
Other Android makers with their own email apps have their own takes on this same concept.
Still, take a look at your main Gmail inbox, and if you’re anything like me, the front page is 50/50 read and unread messages. There’s still plenty of clutter.
Apple (macOS & iOS/iPadOS)
Apple was later to the game than Google, but Apple Intelligence now sorts emails into categories (transactions, updates, and promotions) if you select that option.
On Macs, Apple Intelligence does even more, sorting priority messages to the top of your inbox and even producing intelligent summaries of messages and conversations.
Third-Party Software
In addition to the big tech players, dozens of smaller companies have produced apps that promise to reinvent the email experience. Kiwi for Gmail, Shift, Spark Mail, Mailbird, Shortwave, Fyxer… the list is long. Each of these apps adds something to the experience, and some of them can be incredibly powerful for the right users. But there’s a reason none of them has completely taken over the market.
We’re Here to Help
Questions about Microsoft 365, Copilot, email, or any other part of your business IT? We’re ready to help. Reach out anytime to discuss your needs and how Blue Ridge Technology can solve them.