Is Copilot private? What Microsoft keeps

Which Copilot is this?

This guide covers the Microsoft Copilot app on copilot.microsoft.com, Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android when you sign in with a personal Microsoft account. Microsoft released an updated version of the app on August 18, 2026, and its privacy pages for the updated app are the ones that apply. (Microsoft: Copilot for individuals)

• Still on the older app? Sign in to the updated app by December 31, 2026 to keep your chats. Microsoft says content that hasn't moved over will be permanently deleted after that date. (Microsoft: Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot)
• Signed in with a work or school account? Different rules apply. See the work or school section below.

What Microsoft keeps

This is what Microsoft's own pages say about the updated Copilot app with a personal Microsoft account.

What	What Microsoft says	Source
Chat history	Copilot keeps your past conversations so you can revisit or continue them.	Privacy controls
How long it's kept	The pages for the updated app don't give a retention period. The page for the older app says conversations were stored for 18 months by default.	Privacy FAQ (older app)
Training	Prompts, responses, and your file contents in the Copilot app aren't used to train foundation models. Optional feedback can be used to improve Copilot, but not to train foundation models.	Your activity history
Human review	Copilot may include automated and manual (human) processing of data. Microsoft says not to share anything you don't want it to review.	Copilot Terms of Use
Memory	Copilot can save details from your chats, such as your goals and favorite topics, and use them later. You can delete memories or turn saving off.	Privacy controls
Ads	Without a Microsoft 365 subscription, you might see ads in Copilot. Personalized ads can use your chat history and saved memories unless you turn them off.	Privacy controls
Shared links	Anyone you send a link to can open the shared chat after signing in with a Microsoft account. You can stop sharing at any time.	Share conversations
Work or school accounts	Enterprise data protection applies. Prompts and responses aren't used to train foundation models, and your IT admin can view logged prompts and responses.	Data protection for work or school

Make Copilot more private, step by step

These steps use the labels from Microsoft's privacy controls page for the updated app with a personal Microsoft account. Each one starts in Copilot, signed in, under Settings.

1. Turn off Saved memories, and delete what's saved

Go to Settings, then Personalization, and turn off Saved memories. Turning it off doesn't delete memories Copilot already saved. To delete them, select Manage next to the Saved memories toggle, then select the Delete icon next to a memory, or Delete all memories. (Microsoft: Privacy controls)

2. Turn off One shared experience

With this on, your Copilot chats can personalize Bing, Edge, and MSN, and your activity there can personalize Copilot. Go to Settings, then Personalization, and turn off One shared experience. It doesn't control ads; that's the next step. (Microsoft: Privacy controls)

3. Turn off ad personalization

Go to Settings, then Personalization, and turn off Allow ads personalization. To turn off personalized ads across all Microsoft services, open the Microsoft privacy dashboard and turn off the toggle under See ads and offers that interest you. Copilot doesn't show personalized ads to anyone under 18. (Microsoft: Privacy controls)

4. Leave Edge browsing data where it is

In the US, Copilot can import your Microsoft Edge cookies, history, payment info, passwords, and autofill data. Check Settings, then Web browsing, then Import browser data, and leave Bring over your browsing data from Microsoft Edge off if you don't want that. (Microsoft: Privacy controls)

5. Delete chats and links you don't need

Delete single chats in Copilot and your whole history from the privacy dashboard, as described in the next section. Then go to Settings, then Data controls, then Shared links, and select Stop sharing next to any link you no longer need. (Microsoft: Share conversations)

How to delete Copilot history

Delete one conversation

1. Open Copilot and sign in with your Microsoft account.
2. In the Chats list on the left, select the conversation.
3. Next to the chat, select ... More, then select Delete.

(Microsoft: Privacy controls)

Clear all Copilot history

You do this in the Microsoft privacy dashboard, not in Copilot.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft privacy dashboard with your Microsoft account.
2. Go to Privacy > Empower your productivity > Copilot > Your Copilot app activity history > Copilot apps.
3. Want a copy first? Select Export all activity history to download a CSV file.
4. Select Delete all activity history, read the dialog, and select Clear.

(Microsoft: Manage your Copilot activity history in the privacy dashboard)

Clear Copilot history from Word, Excel, and other Microsoft 365 apps

Copilot in Word, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams keeps its own history. In the same dashboard path, select Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps instead of Copilot apps, then select Delete all activity history and Clear. (Microsoft: Manage your Copilot activity history in the privacy dashboard)

What deleting does and doesn't do

• Shared links stop working when you delete the conversation they came from. (Microsoft)
• Memories are separate. Delete them under Settings > Personalization > Manage, as in step 1 above. (Microsoft)
• Microsoft's pages for personal accounts don't say how long deletion takes to reach its systems.

Copilot with a work or school account

When you sign in with a work or school (Microsoft Entra) account, Copilot provides enterprise data protection, and Microsoft handles your chats as a data processor for your organization. (Microsoft Learn: Enterprise data protection) What changes:

• No foundation model training. Your prompts, any work content you add, and Copilot's responses aren't used to train foundation models.
• Your employer can see them. Your prompts, the Bing searches they trigger, and Copilot's responses are logged, and your IT admin can view them with Microsoft's search and audit tools. (Microsoft: Data protection for work or school)
• Your organization's retention policies apply, including to temporary chats, which your IT admin might be able to access during the retention period. (Microsoft: Personalize what Copilot remembers)
• Feedback is visible too. Your IT admin can see feedback you send, with your name and any content samples. (Microsoft: Providing feedback)
• Deleting all history works differently. Sign in to the My Account portal, go to My Account > Data and Privacy > Data options, open Copilot activity history, select Delete, check Microsoft Copilot, and select Delete. Microsoft says full deletion might take some time. (Microsoft: Delete your Microsoft Copilot activity history)

If you're still on the older Copilot app

The older app works differently. It stores conversations for 18 months by default, and in most countries Microsoft uses your conversations, including voice, to train its AI models unless you opt out. To opt out, turn off Training on conversation activity and Training on voice conversations:

• On copilot.com: select your profile icon, select your profile name, then select Privacy.
• In Copilot for Windows or macOS: select your profile icon, then Settings > Privacy.
• In the mobile app: open the menu, select your profile icon, then Account > Privacy.

Opting out covers future conversations only. (Microsoft: Privacy FAQ; Microsoft: Copilot privacy controls (older app))

Moving to the updated app before December 31, 2026 keeps your eligible chats.

What these settings don't change

These settings control what Copilot saves, remembers, and personalizes. They don't change who handles your messages.

• Microsoft still processes everything you send in order to answer it, and uses your conversation data to monitor performance, fix bugs, prevent abuse, and provide and improve Copilot. (Microsoft Privacy Statement)
• People at Microsoft may review your data. Copilot's terms say: "You shouldn't share any information with Copilot that you don't want us to review." (Microsoft)
• Ads can still use your current chat. With ad personalization off, any ads you see are picked from the recent content of your current conversation. (Microsoft)
• Uploads are scanned. Copilot automatically scans uploaded files for misuse and uploaded images for child sexual abuse material, which Microsoft reports to NCMEC. (Microsoft)
• Copilot in Edge has its own settings. If you let it, Copilot in Edge can use your browsing activity, including screenshots of pages, open tabs, and browsing history. Manage that in Edge's settings. (Microsoft Privacy Statement)

Use GPT and other models through Bearly with zero data retention

If you want privacy on every chat without managing settings across Microsoft's services, there's another option: use AI models in a different app that runs them with zero data retention. Bearly is one of those apps. We make it, so weigh this section with that in mind.

Copilot uses models from Microsoft, OpenAI, and other developers. (Microsoft) Bearly gives you Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app. With ZDR mode on, every chat model you can pick runs with zero data retention. That means the provider running the model doesn't keep your prompt or the answer once it has finished processing them. Our AI proxy doesn't store your prompts or the answers either. Bearly doesn't train AI models on your chats, has no ads, and doesn't sell your data.

To turn it on:

1. In Bearly, open your account menu at the bottom of the sidebar and choose App Settings.
2. Select Privacy & Security.
3. Turn on Zero Data Retention only.
4. Start a chat and choose a model from the model picker.

With the setting on, the picker shows only zero-retention models, and automatic fallbacks stay on them too. A model without a zero-retention route drops out of the list, so you may not see every model while the setting is on. Each model that remains carries a ZDR badge. The setting belongs to your account, so it follows you to your other devices. (Bearly docs: zero data retention)

What it covers: the models that write chat replies. Web search, image generation, voice, and memory run separately. Web search sends the provider your query, never your name, account, or IP address. Image search runs on a provider that keeps nothing after it answers. Your chats are still saved in your Bearly history so you can come back to them. In the same pane, select Set up end-to-end encryption, and new chats are encrypted on your devices; we store and sync only the locked copies.

Questions people ask

How long does Copilot keep chat history?

Microsoft's pages for the updated Copilot app don't give a retention period; they say Copilot keeps past conversations so you can revisit them. The older app stored conversations for 18 months by default. You can delete your history at any time.

How do I clear my chat history in Copilot?

To delete one chat, select it in the Chats list, then ... More > Delete. To clear everything, open the Microsoft privacy dashboard, go to Privacy > Empower your productivity > Copilot > Your Copilot app activity history > Copilot apps, and select Delete all activity history, then Clear.

Can my employer see my Copilot history?

Yes, if you use Copilot with a work or school account. Microsoft says your prompts, the Bing searches they trigger, and Copilot's responses are logged, and your IT admin can view them with Microsoft's search and audit tools.

Does Copilot train on my conversations?

In the updated Copilot app, Microsoft says prompts, responses, and your file contents aren't used to train foundation models, and that's also true for work and school accounts. The older app trained on conversations unless you turned off Training on conversation activity and Training on voice conversations.

Is Microsoft Copilot confidential?

Not fully. Microsoft uses your conversation data to run and improve Copilot, prevent abuse, and show relevant ads, and Copilot's terms say Microsoft may review what you share, so don't share anything you wouldn't want reviewed. Work and school accounts get enterprise data protection, but your IT admin can see logged chats.

Can other people see your Copilot chats?

Only the ones you share. Anyone with a shared link can open the chat after signing in with a Microsoft account. Stop sharing under Settings > Data controls > Shared links, or delete the conversation to break its links.

Related

• Private AI chat apps compared: how each app handles your chats
• Bearly vs Microsoft Copilot: what's different
• Bearly vs Microsoft 365 Copilot: for work accounts
• Private AI in Bearly: what happens when you send a message
• How zero data retention works in Bearly: what the setting covers, step by step
• Is ChatGPT private?
• Is Gemini private?

Sources

All checked November 11, 2026.

• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data, privacy, and responsible AI
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your privacy controls and choices
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your activity history
• Microsoft, Manage your Copilot activity history in the privacy dashboard
• Microsoft, Share conversations and responses in Microsoft Copilot
• Microsoft, Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot
• Microsoft, Copilot Terms of Use (effective August 18, 2026)
• Microsoft, Microsoft Privacy Statement (last updated November 2026)
• Microsoft, Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot privacy controls (older app)
• Microsoft, Data protection when using Microsoft Copilot Chat for work or school
• Microsoft Learn, Enterprise data protection in Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat (last updated May 29, 2026)
• Microsoft, Personalize what Microsoft Copilot remembers
• Microsoft, Providing feedback about Microsoft Copilot with Microsoft 365 apps
• Microsoft, Delete your Microsoft Copilot activity history