Microsoft appears to be readying an update to Outlook that brings an interesting feature designed to help with organising your email and tasks.

Called Spaces, the yet-to-be-announced feature was revealed by Twitter user WalkingCat via a leaked video. It looks like it'll allow users to visually pin emails, notes, files, documents, appointments, and lists into virtual online spaces. Microsoft describes Spaces as a web app, and says it can pull together "your documents, emails, and events using the search terms you provide".

The company also says that, in upcoming releases, it’ll be "using AI to assist in discovering and grouping work items into Spaces". It looks like Microsoft is targeting Spaces at both students and businesses that need an app to assist with project planning and collaboration. Although we’ve contacted Microsoft for more information, watch the promo video below for an early look at the feature.

ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, who has an excellent track record with Microsoft, says she's interested in learning how this new Outlook Spaces tool will work the Project Cortex service, which Microsoft announced last autumn. As Foley, noted it's designed to surface information about users' files, contacts, calendar items, and other work information through their existing Office apps including Outlook.

It's also not clear if Microsoft plans to add this feature to Outlook, though it seems to work when users are signed into their Microsoft accounts.