How to use ChatGPT prompts to write effective emails

These days, using an AI email writer or AI email assistant isn’t just a novelty; it’s a smart productivity tool. Whether you’re drafting messages from scratch, editing replies, or just looking to save time, there are plenty of ways to enhance your email workflow with AI.

  By Alyssa – Reading time: 3 min.


Today, we’ll look at some of the most helpful ways to use your AI assistant to write effective emails:

1. AI assistants in 2025: What's new?
2. Top ways to use AI in email writing
3. What are ChatGPT prompts and why do they matter?
4. Examples of ChatGPT prompts
5. Privacy & accuracy: Know the limits
6. Best ChatGPT prompts for emails
7. Frequently asked questions

AI assistants in 2025: What's new?

Unless you've been off the grid for the past couple of years, you've probably heard of ChatGPT, OpenAI's conversational AI that took the world by storm in late 2022. Fast forward to today, and the tech has come a long way. GPT-4o is a fast and flexible multimodal model that replaced earlier versions like GPT-3.5 and GPT-4. Depending on your subscription plan, you might also have access to GPT-4.1, GPT-4.5, or the latest release, GPT-5.

These tools aren’t just for tech enthusiasts anymore. Lots of people are using ChatGPT to draft emails faster, and with less stress. And ChatGPT also makes a great editor – you can ask it to rewrite an email to make it sound more concise, more polite, or better suited to your audience.

Since mail.com is all about email, we’ve been exploring email writing with ChatGPT.

Spoiler alert: It really works – especially when you know how to ask.
 

What are ChatGPT prompts and why do they matter?

ChatGPT may seem like a technological miracle: you type in a question and get instant answers! Individual mileage will vary, however, depending on the wording of your question or request. A poorly phrased question will result in an answer that might be too vague or general to be of any use, or even incorrect.

That’s where “prompts” come in – short, specific instructions that steer the AI tool in the right direction.

Examples of ChatGPT prompts

Let’s look at some go-to prompt styles that can help you write sharper emails:

• “Act as if…” helps the chatbot understand the role you are asking it to play, and therefore the type of information you’re looking for. For example: “Act as if you’re an expert email marketer. Write a compelling campaign email for a 20% summer discount.”
• “Here is the problem:” sets up the scenario so the AI can offer a relevant response. For example: “Here is the problem: I missed a project deadline. I need an email that takes responsibility and asks for an extension.”
• “Tell me what information you need to do this.” In many cases, ChatGPT can tell you what information it needs to fulfill your request. For example, if you are writing a cover letter and would like a customized email rather than a generic template, you could ask: “I need help writing a cover letter for a job application. Tell me what information you need to do this.” Then you can continue the chat with the information it asks for.
• “Turn this into a subject line." If you've already written your email and just need the perfect hook, try, for example, “Turn this email into a subject line that grabs attention without sounding too salesy.”
• “Give me two tone options.” If you're unsure whether to go formal or casual, you can ask your AI assistant to write two versions. For example: “I need to follow up on an unpaid invoice. Can you write two versions of the email – one formal, and one that sounds friendly but still gets the point across?”

The more details you give, the better the resulting email will be! So, even more important than a specific prompt is formulating a question that covers all the bases.

For example: “I need to change a project timeline due to a lack of developer resources. I expect a total delay of 4 weeks by the end of the project. Can you help me phrase an email to my supervisor, Marion Jones,explaining the situation and asking for her support? The tone should be professional but friendly.”
 

Best ChatGPT prompts for emails

With all this in mind, how can you use ChatGPT or other AI chatbots to up your email game? Here are five handy-dandy ways you can make the chatbot work for you, complete with an example of a query you could use:

1. Drafting new emails or templates. You can start with a query and then follow up with a prompt to refine your message. For example: “Act as a marketing assistant. Write a compelling promotional campaign email about [product], highlighting [list three features] and informing of [discount] lasting until [date].” Possible follow-up: “Modify the above email to focus on [feature x]”.
2. Checking grammar and spelling. Paste your email draft and use the prompt “Correct the spelling and grammar of this email”.
3. Getting your reply right. Paste the text of the email into the field and provide the points you’d like to include in your answer, e.g., “Write a professional reply to this email declining the meeting due to scheduling conflicts and proposing a new date on Oct. 4.”
4. Shortening long emails. If you feel like you’ve been rambling, paste the text you have into the query field and ask, e.g., “Reformulate this email as a single paragraph highlighting the 3 main points."
5. Adjusting tone. Emotions are running high, and you would like to keep things professional? Paste in your draft and prompt “Edit this email to give it a professional and productive tone.”

Whether you're starting a new email from scratch or trying to fine-tune a reply, ChatGPT can be a helpful sidekick, as long as you give it a little direction. Before you get started with your prompts, please leave us some feedback below. And if you still don’t have a mail.com email account, why not sign up today?

This article first appeared on Sept 18, 2023, and was updated on August 25, 2025.

Images: 1&1/Shutterstock

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