An email summarizer for long threads and reply chains
Long email threads hide the one thing you need to know under quoted replies, signatures, phone numbers and legal footers. This email summarizer clears all of that away first, then tells you what the thread is about, who is asking you for what, and by when.
Paste a single message or a whole chain from Outlook, Gmail or Apple Mail — or open a saved .eml or Outlook .msg file. The cleaning, the list of requests and deadlines, and a suggested next step are worked out by code in your browser the moment you paste. Press Summarize email for an AI summary written on your own device, so a confidential conversation stays private.
How to summarize an email thread
- Copy the whole thread from your mail app and paste it into the box, or press Open .eml, .msg or .txt. (In Outlook, drag a message to your desktop to get a .msg file; in Gmail use ⋮ → Download message for an .eml.)
- Look at Cleaned up on your device: how many quoted, signature and disclaimer lines were removed, the messages found, every request and question, every deadline, and a suggested next step.
- Pick a summary format — Key points, Paragraph or TL;DR — and a length.
- Press Summarize email. The engine line shows whether your browser’s built-in AI or the open on-device model will write it; if a download is needed you are asked first. Engines that can follow instructions also suggest a next step.
- Copy the result as Markdown, or download it as .md or .txt to paste into a task, a ticket or a reply.
Email Summarizer features
Strips the noise
Removes “On … wrote:” quotes (including nested “>>” levels), Outlook “From/Sent/To/Subject” blocks, “Sent from my iPhone”, closings with signature blocks and confidentiality footers.
Splits the thread
Each message is listed with sender, date and word count, newest first as pasted, so you can see who said what.
Requests and deadlines
Questions and requests (“could you…”, “please…”, “let me know…”) and dates such as “by Friday 24 October”, “EOD” or “next week” are listed with their sentence.
A next step
Code suggests replying to the newest request; an on-device AI engine can add its own one-line suggestion.
Opens .eml and .msg
Saved emails are decoded in the browser with postal-mime (MIT-0) and msgreader (Apache-2.0), including encoded subjects and quoted-printable text.
Private by default
The summary is written on your device; only the optional server engine sends anything, and only the cleaned sentences.
What gets removed — and what doesn’t
- Quoted replies: lines starting with “>” after an “On Monday … wrote:” line become the earlier messages they quote, so nothing is counted twice.
- Forwarded and Outlook headers: “From: / Sent: / To: / Subject:” blocks and “Original Message” lines start a new message instead of cluttering the text.
- Signatures: everything after a “-- ” line, mobile footers, and the closing (“Best regards,”) with the name and contact lines under it.
- Legal disclaimers: paragraphs that say the email is confidential and intended only for the addressee.
- Text written between quoted lines (inline replies) and unusual signature styles may survive. Open “Show the cleaned thread” to see exactly what will be summarised.
Can you trust an AI email summary?
For a quick read of what a thread is about, yes — but small on-device models can mix up who promised what, round a number or miss a condition such as “if installation is extra”. Before you reply or approve a payment, check amounts, dates and names against the requests and deadlines listed above, which are copied from the emails word for word.
The optional server engine is the cautious choice: it picks the most important sentences from the cleaned messages and shows them unchanged. It cannot misstate a figure, but it does not explain or connect anything either. For general documents, use the Text Summarizer; for call transcripts with action items, the Meeting Summarizer.
Email Summarizer FAQ
How do I summarize a long email thread?
Copy the thread from Outlook, Gmail or Apple Mail, paste it into this email summarizer and press “Summarize email”. Quoted replies and signatures are removed first, and the requests, deadlines and a next step are listed straight away.
Is my email uploaded?
No. Cleaning and the request and deadline lists are done by code in your browser, and the summary is written on your device. Only the optional “Key sentences (server)” engine sends anything — the cleaned sentences, when you press the button — and nothing is stored.
Can I summarize an Outlook .msg or .eml file?
Yes. Press “Open .eml, .msg or .txt” or drop the file. It is decoded in the browser. A few .msg files store their text only as compressed rich text; for those, copy the text from Outlook instead.
Why is a signature or quoted reply still there?
Signatures vary a lot. The cleaner removes common patterns; anything unusual stays in. Delete it in the box before summarising, or check “Show the cleaned thread”.
Does it write the reply for me?
No — it summarises and suggests a next step. Draft the reply yourself; the request list makes it easy to answer every question.
Which languages work?
Cleaning recognises English, German, French and Spanish header words. Summaries work best in English; Chrome’s built-in summarizer also handles Spanish, Japanese, German and French.