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Microsoft Copilot’s privacy settings let you control whether a personal account saves memories, uses conversations across Microsoft services for personalization, adds public web results, and tailors ads. Before your first chat, open Settings > Personalization and review each control; separately, check Windows and Edge data settings if you use Copilot there. These switches have different jobs: turning off future personalization does not necessarily delete information already saved, so cleanup may require separate actions.
This guide covers the personal Copilot app experience described in Microsoft’s guidance, updated for an app experience available from August 18, 2026. Work and school accounts follow a different privacy model, explained below. Labels and availability can change, so if a path differs in your app, check that you are signed into the account type you intend to configure.
Which Copilot privacy settings should I change first?
Start with the four controls under Microsoft Copilot > Settings > Personalization. Choose based on what you want Copilot to retain or use, rather than assuming one “privacy” switch controls everything. Microsoft describes these options in its Copilot privacy controls guide.
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|---|---|---|---|
| Saved memories | Key details and preferences Copilot remembers from conversations | You do not want Copilot retaining recurring personal details to tailor later interactions | Turning it off does not delete saved memories; use Manage > Delete all memories |
| One shared experience | Use of Copilot chats and activity to personalize Bing, Edge, and MSN | You do not want Copilot activity carrying over into those Microsoft services | This is separate from ad personalization |
| Web search | Whether prompts are augmented with current public web results | You prefer not to have prompts supplemented with public web information | Expect less freshness and potentially less completeness for questions that depend on current information |
| Allow ads personalization | Use of chat history, memories, and other Microsoft data to tailor ads and offers | You do not want those data used for personalized ads and offers | Generic ads may still be based on the current conversation |
These settings are not interchangeable. For example, switching off “One shared experience” does not also turn off personalized advertising, and disabling memory does not erase existing memories. Decide separately whether you want to prevent future use, remove data already stored, or both.
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How do I turn off Copilot memories and delete old ones?
In the personal Copilot app, go to Settings > Personalization and switch off Saved memories if you do not want Copilot remembering preferences and recurring details. If memories already exist, delete them separately: open the memory-management option and choose Manage > Delete all memories.
Microsoft says Copilot can tailor experiences by remembering key details and preferences from conversations. That can be convenient if you want recurring preferences carried forward, but it means a preference or detail shared in one conversation may shape later experiences. If you would rather not have that behavior, disable saved memories before sharing personal details.
The important distinction is between stopping a feature and clearing what it has already accumulated. Turning saved memories off is not a deletion command. Conversely, deleting memories is not the same as deleting chats: a chat may remain in the Chats list unless you remove it, and deleting a chat is not a substitute for clearing saved memories.
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One shared experience controls whether Copilot chats and activity are used to personalize Bing, Edge, and MSN. Turn it off if you want to keep Copilot activity from informing personalization across those services. The setting is distinct from the ads-personalization control, so review both if cross-service personalization and targeted offers are separate concerns for you.
This option is about personalization across Microsoft experiences, not a general “do not save or process my chats” switch. Avoid interpreting its name as a complete data-retention setting. If your concern is a particular conversation, delete that chat; if your concern is a stored preference, manage memories; if your concern is ads, check the dedicated ads setting.
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Should I turn off web search in Copilot?
Turn off Web search if you do not want prompts supplemented with current public web results. Leave it on when freshness matters, while recognizing that using web results can help answer questions about changing events or current information.
This is a trade-off rather than a universal privacy recommendation. With web search off, answers may be less fresh or complete for questions that depend on public information available now. With it on, Copilot can use current public web results to augment a prompt. The setting does not replace good judgment about what you type: do not include sensitive information in a prompt merely because web search is disabled.
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In Settings > Personalization, turn off Allow ads personalization if you do not want chat history, memories, or other Microsoft data used to tailor ads and offers. Microsoft’s guidance notes that generic ads may still be based on the current conversation, so switching this off should not be read as a promise that no ads will appear or that the conversation has no relationship to ad display.
Keep the scope clear: this setting addresses ad personalization, while “One shared experience” covers personalization across Bing, Edge, and MSN. Changing one does not automatically change the other. If you want to reduce both kinds of personalization, review both controls rather than relying on one toggle.
How do I delete Copilot chats and activity?
For a specific conversation, delete it from the Chats list. To delete full Copilot activity history associated with your account, use the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard guidance. Chat deletion is a cleanup action; it is not a universal switch that prevents future chat history or other data use.
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Match the deletion action to the data you want removed:
- A particular conversation: delete that chat from the Chats list.
- Copilot activity history: use the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard to review or delete account-associated activity.
- Saved details and preferences: use Manage > Delete all memories.
- Browser information: clear local browsing data in Copilot for Windows, and review account-associated browsing and Copilot activity through the Privacy Dashboard.
These are distinct categories and controls. If you are cleaning up after sharing something sensitive, consider which category it could have entered rather than assuming one delete action covers all of them. Microsoft’s documented controls do not establish a universal retention period or a guarantee that every deletion action has the same effect across all data categories, so do not infer one from these controls.
What should I check in Copilot for Windows and Edge?
If you use Copilot for Windows, review its browsing and diagnostic controls in addition to the personal-account settings. In the app, go to Profile > Settings > Browsing settings > Web data and security > Privacy to review optional diagnostic data. Turn off optional usage data if you do not want it sent to Microsoft; Microsoft says a restart is required to finish that change.
Then review Browsing settings > Sync and Import > Sync. When you are signed in, Copilot can synchronize history, favorites, passwords, and other browser data with Microsoft Edge. Review Bring over your site data from Microsoft Edge before enabling it. Microsoft’s current FAQ says Edge import can include cookies, history, payment information, passwords, and autofill data. The personal-account control for this import is currently documented as available only for accounts based in the United States, so do not assume it will appear for every region.
To remove local browsing information, use Profile > Settings > Browsing settings > Web data and security > Clear browsing data. This local clear action is different from reviewing or deleting account-associated browsing and Copilot activity through the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard.
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Windows diagnostic data has another location: open Start > Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback > Delete diagnostic data to delete diagnostic data from Windows. This should not be confused with clearing Copilot chats or memories. The different paths reflect different data categories and scopes: browser data in Copilot, account activity on the dashboard, and Windows diagnostics in Windows settings.
Does the advice change for a work or school account?
Yes. The personal-account settings above apply to a personal Microsoft account in the Copilot app; Microsoft says this guidance does not apply to work, school, or organizational Microsoft Entra accounts. Microsoft 365 app guidance is separate, so do not assume the personal Copilot switches control an organization’s environment.
Microsoft 365 Copilot can ground responses in organizational emails, documents, calendars, chats, meetings, and contacts, subject to the user’s existing access permissions. Microsoft says it does not use Customer Data to train foundation models without customers’ permission. It also describes prompts, responses, and grounding data as Customer Data and says Copilot respects users’ existing access permissions. See Microsoft’s document on how Copilot for Microsoft 365 uses personal information.
For a work account, the practical pre-use question is whether the organization’s access permissions, data sharing, retention, compliance, and administrator policies are appropriate. A user cannot substitute the personal Copilot personalization toggles for those tenant-level controls. If you are unsure whether an account is personal or organizational, check which account is signed in before relying on a particular menu path or privacy expectation.
What is the safest way to prepare before a first prompt?
Use a short setup review, then treat every prompt according to the sensitivity of the information it contains. The controls reduce or change particular kinds of personalization and data handling; they do not make it wise to paste confidential material into a consumer service.
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- Confirm the account type. Determine whether you are in a personal account or a work/school account; the settings and data model differ.
- Review Personalization. Decide on saved memories, One shared experience, Web search, and Allow ads personalization individually.
- Clean up existing data if needed. Delete saved memories separately from individual chats or full Copilot activity history.
- Check the Windows and Edge surface. Review optional diagnostics, Edge sync, and any prompt to import site data, especially if it could include passwords, payment details, cookies, or autofill.
- Use the matching deletion route later. Local browsing data, Windows diagnostics, chats, memories, and account activity have separate controls.
Before sharing information, consider whether it is necessary for the task at all. A privacy toggle may influence a specific use or personalization behavior, but the available data’s documented controls do not establish that Copilot becomes an offline or no-processing tool when all options are disabled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Copilot without signing in?
This guide describes settings for a signed-in personal Microsoft account and does not establish which features or privacy controls are available when signed out. Check the current Copilot experience and its account prompts before assuming that sign-out provides the same controls or data behavior.
Does turning off web search stop Copilot from using everything I type?
No such broad guarantee follows from the Web search control: it concerns augmenting prompts with current public web results. Treat it as a setting for that specific feature, not as a general rule about how prompts are handled.
Can my employer see my Microsoft 365 Copilot prompts?
The material here describes prompts, responses, and grounding data as Customer Data but does not specify which administrators or other people in a particular organization can access them. Ask your organization’s administrator about its tenant permissions, retention, compliance, and monitoring policies.
Does Copilot memory work the same way as browser history?
No. Memories are saved details and preferences used to tailor experiences; browser history is browsing information handled through browser or Windows-related controls. They have separate management and cleanup paths.
