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Yes—but the documented control is for an individual meeting, not a universal switch that removes every Copilot feature from Teams. The meeting organizer can open Meeting options, go to Copilot and other AI, and use Allow Copilot and Facilitator to limit when Copilot is allowed. Choosing Only during the meeting permits live use but prevents Copilot from being available in the post-meeting Recap when neither transcription nor recording is turned on. If the setting is missing, ask your IT administrator; organization policy can affect what controls are available.
What you can—and cannot—turn off
Teams provides a meeting-level setting that lets the organizer control when Copilot may be used in that meeting. Microsoft labels it Allow Copilot and Facilitator, under Copilot and other AI in the meeting options. The available choice documented for restricting Copilot is Only during the meeting. See Microsoft’s Meeting options in Microsoft Teams.
This is not evidence of a single user-facing switch that disables all Copilot surfaces across Teams for every user. The setting described here controls a meeting; it should not be treated as a tenant-wide or account-wide Copilot off switch. Organization administrators may govern availability, but Microsoft’s user-facing meeting instructions do not establish the precise organization-wide policy configuration.
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What the meeting options mean in practice
| Setting or meeting state | Can participants use Copilot? | What may be available after the meeting? | Who controls it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Only during the meeting, with transcription and recording off | Yes, while the meeting is live. Copilot does not start automatically; a participant must select it from the meeting controls. | Copilot is not available in the meeting Recap afterward. | The organizer chooses the meeting option. Availability may also depend on organization settings. |
| Transcription or recording is turned on during the meeting | Copilot may be used, subject to the meeting’s allowed-use setting. | Copilot and conversation content can remain available afterward from the time transcription or recording began. The exact outcome can depend on organization configuration. | The meeting controls and applicable organizational settings govern the session. |
| Copilot has already been started in a meeting or call | Microsoft says it stays on for the duration of that meeting or call. | Whether it is available in Recap depends on transcription or recording and the applicable configuration. | For a restriction, the organizer should set the allowed-use window before the session. |
| The setting is not visible | You may not be able to change the meeting’s Copilot availability yourself. | Recap behavior cannot be inferred from the missing control alone. | Contact your IT administrator to check the organization’s settings. |
The table describes Microsoft’s documented meeting behavior, not a guarantee that every Teams tenant, license, or meeting configuration exposes identical controls. For the live-use and Recap details, see Use Copilot without transcribing or recording a Teams meeting or call.
The key comparison is not simply “Copilot on” versus “Copilot off.” The organizer’s choice controls the permitted usage window; transcription and recording affect what can carry into Recap; and organization policy can affect which controls are presented. A live-only setting can still allow a participant to invoke Copilot during the meeting, while leaving both transcription and recording off prevents Copilot from being available in Recap afterward.
How to limit Copilot for a Teams meeting
- Open the meeting’s options. As the organizer, open the meeting in Teams and open Meeting options. The exact route to the meeting can vary depending on whether you are opening it from your calendar or an active meeting.
- Find the AI controls. In Meeting options, look for Copilot and other AI.
- Set the allowed-use window. Under Allow Copilot and Facilitator, choose Only during the meeting if you want Copilot to be available only for live use rather than afterward in Recap.
- Check transcription and recording separately. If neither is turned on, Copilot is not available in the post-meeting Recap. If transcription or recording is started during the session, Copilot and conversation content can be available afterward from the point it began.
- Set the choice before the meeting starts. Microsoft says that after Copilot starts in a meeting or call, it remains on for the rest of that session. If you need to restrict use, do not rely on starting Copilot and switching it off later.
Think of this as a pre-meeting decision about the session’s permitted Copilot use, followed by a separate check of whether transcription or recording will be used. If your aim is to keep live assistance available but avoid Copilot in Recap, the documented combination is Only during the meeting with transcription and recording off. If your goal is to prevent live Copilot use as well, review the available meeting option before the session and confirm the control with your administrator if its effect is unclear or it is missing.
If you do not see Copilot and other AI or Allow Copilot and Facilitator, contact your IT administrator. A missing option may reflect organization-controlled availability; it does not show that you have found a different user-level control.
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What happens to the meeting afterward?
When transcription and recording stay off
With the meeting set to Only during the meeting and both transcription and recording off, participants can use Copilot during the live session, but Copilot is not available in that meeting’s Recap afterward. This is the practical distinction between restricting Copilot to live use and removing it entirely: live assistance remains possible, while the documented post-meeting Copilot experience does not.
That does not mean Copilot has been disabled for all of Teams, or that using it live requires transcription to be enabled. Microsoft’s guidance explicitly describes using Copilot without transcribing or recording a meeting or call. Copilot also does not launch automatically just because the live-only option is available; a participant needs to select Copilot in the meeting controls.
When transcription or recording starts
If transcription or recording is turned on during the meeting, Copilot and conversation content can remain available afterward. Availability applies from the time transcription or recording began, so content from before that point should not be assumed to have the same post-meeting availability. The result may also depend on the organization’s configuration; do not assume every tenant handles transcripts, recordings, and Recap identically.
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This is why the setting and the meeting’s actual activity both matter. Selecting a live-use window does not tell you, by itself, whether someone later starts transcription or recording. If that happens, post-meeting availability may change from the point that transcription or recording began. When Recap behavior matters, check whether either feature was used during the session rather than inferring it from the Copilot setting alone.
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When someone has already started Copilot
Microsoft’s help guidance says Copilot stays on for the duration of a meeting or call once it has been started. The relevant choice is therefore when Copilot is allowed in the meeting options, set before use—not a promise that the organizer can stop it midway through the same session. If control over live use matters, configure the meeting before participants begin.
Does turning off transcription prevent retention?
No such guarantee is established. Turning transcription and recording off affects whether Copilot is available in Recap, but it does not by itself guarantee that Copilot prompts and responses are not retained. Microsoft says those prompts and responses may be retained under the organization’s Microsoft Purview retention policies. The actual retention outcome depends on the tenant’s policy.
That distinction matters when handling sensitive conversations. Meeting participants should not interpret “no transcript or recording” as “no Copilot data is retained.” If you need to know how prompts and responses are handled in your organization, ask the administrator responsible for Microsoft Purview or your Microsoft 365 environment. Recap availability and retention are separate questions: a prompt or response not appearing in Recap does not establish that it was not retained under applicable policy.
Why the option may be unavailable
- You are not the organizer. The documented control is in meeting options, where the organizer chooses the allowed-use window. Ask the organizer to review it.
- Your organization controls availability. Microsoft advises contacting your IT admin when the relevant meeting option is missing. The user-facing instructions do not specify every tenant policy that may hide or restrict the control.
- License assignment affects capability. Microsoft documents differences in Copilot capabilities based on license assignment, including access to work-data reasoning. Licensing is capability context, not a universal on/off switch for Copilot in Teams meetings. See How Copilot Chat works with and without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
If you are the organizer and the setting is absent, do not assume that changing transcription alone will disable Copilot live. Ask your administrator which meeting controls are available in your organization and whether an organizational policy is affecting this meeting.
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Licensing is worth separating from the meeting choice because the two answer different questions. A license can affect which Copilot capabilities a user has, including work-data reasoning access, but the cited licensing guidance does not make license assignment a universal Teams meeting off switch. To control a particular meeting, use the meeting option where available; for organization-level availability or policy questions, involve IT.
Choose the setting based on what you want to prevent
- Prevent post-meeting Copilot in Recap while keeping live assistance possible: choose Only during the meeting and leave transcription and recording off.
- Prevent participants from using Copilot during a particular meeting: use the relevant meeting-level option to restrict its allowed use before the session. The documented sources identify the control and the live-only choice; they do not establish a universal setting that removes every Copilot surface across Teams.
- Understand retention of prompts and responses: check your organization’s Purview retention policies with an administrator. Disabling transcription is not proof that prompts and responses are not retained.
- Apply a broader organizational restriction: involve your IT administrator. The user-facing meeting setting alone does not establish or implement a universal tenant-wide disablement.
Before a sensitive meeting, it is useful to decide which outcome you actually need: no live Copilot use, no Copilot available in Recap, or clarity about retention. Those are not interchangeable. The meeting-level usage choice addresses when Copilot may be used; transcription and recording affect post-meeting access to conversation content; and Purview policy determines whether prompts and responses may be retained. If an organization-wide restriction is required, the administrator—not an individual meeting organizer acting alone—needs to confirm the available controls.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this setting does not guarantee
The meeting option is useful for controlling when Copilot may run in a particular meeting, but it should not be read more broadly than Microsoft documents. It does not establish that Copilot is disabled everywhere in Teams, that transcription and Copilot are the same feature, or that prompts and responses are never retained when transcription is off. Those outcomes depend on the specific meeting controls and, for retention and availability, the organization’s configuration.
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Can I completely disable Copilot across Teams?
The documented setting described here is meeting-level. The reviewed user-facing guidance does not establish a universal user switch that disables every Copilot surface across Teams. Ask your IT administrator whether your organization has broader controls.
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Does Copilot need transcription to work during a meeting?
No. Microsoft documents live Copilot use without transcribing or recording the meeting. With the “Only during the meeting” setting, Copilot does not start automatically; a participant selects it from the meeting controls.
Can I stop Copilot after someone starts it?
Microsoft says that once Copilot starts in a meeting or call, it stays on for the remainder of that session. Set the allowed-use window before the meeting if you need to limit its use.
Will Copilot be available in Recap if transcription and recording are off?
With “Only during the meeting” selected and both transcription and recording off, Copilot is not available in the meeting Recap afterward. If transcription or recording starts, Copilot and conversation content can remain available from the point it began, depending on the organization’s configuration.
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Does turning off transcription mean Copilot prompts and responses are not saved?
No. Turning transcription off does not guarantee that prompts and responses are not retained. They may be retained under your organization’s Microsoft Purview retention policies; ask your administrator about the policy that applies.
Who can change the meeting setting, and what if I cannot see it?
The documented control is in meeting options, where the organizer chooses the allowed-use window. If the option is missing, Microsoft advises contacting your IT administrator to check organization settings.
Does a Microsoft 365 Copilot license turn Copilot in Teams meetings on or off?
License assignment can affect Copilot capabilities, including work-data reasoning access, but it is not documented as a universal on/off switch for Teams meetings. Use the meeting-level control where available and ask IT about broader policy.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Teams offers a meeting-level way for organizers to limit when Copilot is allowed, including Only during the meeting. That still allows live Copilot use; with transcription and recording off, Copilot is not available in Recap afterward. It does not disable every Copilot feature across Teams, and it does not guarantee prompts and responses are not retained. Set the meeting option before Copilot starts, and ask your IT administrator about missing controls, broader restrictions, or Purview retention.
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