To get a summary of a long client email thread from ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini without sending the client's details, save the emails as files, make a safe copy in which names, email addresses and phone numbers are replaced with placeholders, and ask for the summary on that copy. Then put the real names back into the summary on your PC.
Where personal data hides in an email thread
Removing the client's name from the first message is not enough. A thread repeats personal data in places that are easy to miss:
- The header of every message: names and addresses in From, To and Cc.
- Quoted replies. Each reply usually carries the earlier messages below it, with their own "On Monday, Maria Lopez wrote:" lines.
- Signatures: job titles, direct phone numbers, office addresses.
- Forwarded messages, with the original sender's details.
- Names of attachments, such as "Lopez_passport.pdf".
Our list of what to remove before a document goes to AI covers the details that identify someone in combination, such as a job title and a small town.
Save the emails as files
Save the latest message of the thread first: it usually quotes the earlier ones. Save earlier messages separately if the quotes are cut short.
- New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web. Open the message and select More actions, then Save as. The message is saved as an .eml file.
- Classic Outlook. Open the message, select File, then Save As, and choose HTML as the type. An HTML file keeps the From, To, Cc and Subject lines as well as the body.
- Gmail. Open the message, click More, then Download message. Gmail saves the message as an .eml file.
Put the files in one folder for this client, outside any folder that syncs to a shared drive.
Make a safe copy of the thread
- Create a case for the client in ClientSafe and add the saved emails. ClientSafe reads .eml and .html files, and the documents the client sent if you saved them too.
- Review what it found: names, companies, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, account and ID numbers, dates of birth. Untick matches that are not personal data and mark anything it missed, such as a nickname used in a reply.
- Copy the safe copy.
Within one case, the same person gets the same placeholder in every email, in the header, the quote and the signature. The AI can follow who wrote what. See working with a whole case.
Ask for the summary
Paste the safe copy into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini with a prompt that says what you need. For example:
This is an email thread between Person_1 (our client)
and Company_1. Names like Person_1 are placeholders: keep them as written.
Summarize what was agreed, what is still open, and who owes the next step.
List every date and amount mentioned, with the email it comes from.Asking for the source of each date and amount lets you check them against the emails. Quoted replies repeat text, and a model can attribute a sentence to the wrong message.
Put the real names back
Paste the AI's summary into ClientSafe in the same case, and the real names come back. The restored summary is a client document: keep it with the client's files, not in the chat history. Our guide to restoring real names covers the details.
Frequently asked questions
Why save the emails as files instead of copying the text?
Copied text usually leaves out the headers, and a saved file keeps them. The headers are where many names and addresses are, and they tell the AI who wrote each message.
What about the attachments?
Save the attachments you need separately and add them to the same case. They get the same placeholders as the emails.
Is a summary of a safe copy as good as a summary of the original?
For who agreed to what and when, usually yes: the placeholders keep the people apart. If the meaning depends on who someone is, such as a known public figure, add that context in your prompt without the name.
ClientSafe replaces names, email addresses and phone numbers in saved emails with placeholders on your PC, and puts the real names back into the AI's summary. Detection is not perfect, so review the list before you copy.