Microsoft’s updated privacy documentation changes an important detail for this article: the new Copilot app experience, available since August 18, 2026, uses different privacy instructions from the older app. The article below distinguishes those experiences and separates consumer settings from work or school protections.
Which Version of Microsoft Copilot Are You Using?
Before changing Microsoft Copilot privacy settings, identify which product you use and which account you’re signed into. Microsoft provides different privacy instructions for personal accounts, Microsoft 365 apps for home, and organizational accounts. Using the wrong instructions can leave an important setting unchanged.
Personal Microsoft Copilot on the web, Windows, or mobile
The consumer Copilot app supports privacy controls for features such as memory, shared experiences, chat history, web search, and personalized advertising. The exact controls depend on whether you use the updated app or the older interface.
Copilot inside Microsoft 365 apps for home
Copilot integrated into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook has its own privacy and data-handling guidance. Do not assume that a setting shown in the standalone Copilot app also appears in these applications.
Microsoft Copilot for work or school
If you sign in with an organizational account, your experience is governed by different protections and potentially by administrator-managed policies. Microsoft says prompts and responses in Copilot Chat used with a work or school account are not used to train foundation models.
Quick check: If you’re unsure, look at the account used to sign in. A personal Microsoft account and a work or school account can lead to different privacy controls, even when the Copilot interface looks similar.
How to Find Microsoft Copilot Privacy Settings
The correct navigation depends on the version you’re using. Start with the applicable instructions below rather than looking for one universal privacy menu.
Find privacy settings in the updated Copilot app
Microsoft’s updated individual Copilot app provides several privacy controls under Settings and Personalization. To manage saved memories, for example:
- Open Microsoft Copilot and sign in with your personal Microsoft account.
- Open Settings.
- Select Personalization.
- Find Saved memories and its management options.
From this area, you can turn off memory or manage saved items. Turning off Saved memories does not automatically delete memories already stored.
Find privacy settings in the older Copilot interface
In the older interface, Microsoft’s instructions use different menu paths:
- Web: Select your profile icon, your profile name, then Privacy.
- Windows or macOS: Select your profile icon, then Settings and Privacy.
- Mobile: Open the menu, select your profile icon, then Account and Privacy.
These paths lead to options for training on conversation activity and training on voice conversations. Microsoft identifies these instructions as applying to the older Copilot app.
What if a setting is missing?
First check whether you are using the updated app, the older app, Copilot inside Microsoft 365, or an organizational account. Some controls are unavailable in certain experiences. If you’re using a managed work or school account, your administrator may also determine which settings are available.
How to Turn Off Microsoft Copilot AI Training
If you use the older consumer Copilot interface with a personal Microsoft account, you can opt out of using future conversation activity for AI model training. Microsoft provides separate controls for conversation activity and voice conversations.
Turn off training on conversation activity
For the older interface:
- Open Copilot and sign in.
- Select your profile icon.
- Open Privacy.
- Turn off Training on conversation activity.
On the Windows or macOS app, Microsoft directs users through Settings and then Privacy. The mobile app uses Account and then Privacy. Menu labels can vary by version.
Turn off training on voice conversations
If the control is available, turn off Training on voice conversations separately. Do not assume that disabling the conversation-activity control also changes every voice-related setting. Microsoft documents them as separate options.
What does turning off AI training actually change?
Microsoft says opting out excludes future conversation activity from use in training its applicable AI models. However, the setting does not exclude conversations from every other form of processing, including certain product improvements, advertising, digital safety, security, and compliance purposes described in Microsoft’s privacy documentation.
There is another important distinction: Microsoft’s updated individual-app activity-history documentation states that prompts, responses, and file contents in that updated Copilot app are not used to train foundation models. Therefore, readers should not assume that the older app’s training toggle exists or works identically in the updated app.
How to Manage Copilot Memory and Personalization
Copilot memory allows the assistant to retain selected details from previous conversations and use them to tailor future responses. Depending on the interface, the available controls may include saved memories, personalization, shared experiences, and Microsoft usage data.
Turn off saved memories in the updated app
For the updated consumer app:
- Open Copilot and sign in with your personal Microsoft account.
- Go to Settings > Personalization.
- Turn off Saved memories.
If you want to remove existing memories, select Manage next to the Saved memories control and delete individual items. Use Delete all memories if you want to clear all saved memories. Simply turning off the feature does not automatically remove previously saved items.
Manage personalization in the older interface
In the older app, open the profile menu and find Memory > Personalization and memory. The exact path varies by platform. Microsoft explains that disabling personalization and memory in this interface stops future personalization while preserving access to previous conversations.
Manage Microsoft usage data and shared experiences
The older interface also offers a Microsoft usage data control. When enabled, it can use activity from Microsoft products such as Bing, MSN, and Edge to personalize Copilot. The updated interface separately offers Shared experiences, which can connect experiences across Microsoft products.
These settings matter if you want to limit how information from one Microsoft service influences experiences in another.
How to Delete Microsoft Copilot Conversation History
Memory and conversation history are different. Memory contains details used to personalize future responses; conversation history is the record of your prompts and Copilot’s responses. Removing one does not necessarily remove the other.
Delete an individual conversation
In the updated consumer app:
- Open Copilot and find the conversation in the Chats list.
- Select the three-dot menu beside that conversation.
- Choose Delete.
This removes the conversation from your chat history.
Delete your full Copilot activity history
Microsoft directs personal-account users to its privacy dashboard to manage or delete all Copilot activity history.
- Open the Microsoft privacy dashboard.
- Sign in with the Microsoft account used for Copilot.
- Find the Copilot activity-history section.
- Follow the available export or deletion controls.
The dashboard’s exact layout can change, so follow the current instructions displayed for your account.
Important: Deleting conversation history is not the same action as deleting saved memories. If you want to remove both, review both controls.
How to Turn Off Personalized Ads in Microsoft Copilot
Personalization and advertising are separate controls. Disabling Copilot’s personalization does not automatically disable personalized advertising.
Turn off personalized advertising in the updated app
For the updated consumer app:
- Open Copilot and sign in with your personal Microsoft account.
- Go to Settings > Personalization.
- Turn off Allow ads personalization.
Microsoft explains that personalized advertising may use chat history, saved memories, and other Microsoft data that you have chosen to share. Generic ads can still be based on the recent content of your current conversation.
Manage Microsoft-wide advertising preferences
You can also manage personalized advertising across Microsoft services through the Microsoft privacy dashboard. Look for the advertising preferences section and the option to see ads and offers that interest you.
Turning off personalized advertising does not necessarily mean that you will never see advertisements. It changes the applicable personalization of ads.
Microsoft Copilot Privacy for Personal vs. Work Accounts
The account type you use matters because Microsoft applies different data protections and control sets to consumer and organizational experiences.
Consumer Copilot
For personal accounts, privacy controls can include training opt-outs in the older app, memory management, shared experiences, chat-history deletion, and personalized-advertising settings. Their availability depends on the version and product you use.
Microsoft Copilot for work or school
When you sign in to Microsoft Copilot Chat with an organizational account, Microsoft provides enterprise data protection. Microsoft says prompts, including work content added to prompts, and responses are not used to train foundation models. The service also logs prompts, related Bing search queries, and responses.
That distinction matters: not using prompts to train foundation models does not mean no data is stored or processed. Organizational users should follow their employer’s policies and the applicable Microsoft documentation before submitting confidential information.
Microsoft 365 connected experiences
Some Microsoft 365 privacy settings affect whether Copilot features are available in apps such as Word, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Disabling broader connected-experience controls can disable functionality, so do not change them without understanding the effect on your workflow.
For more guidance on organizational AI security, see ItPhobia’s enterprise AI agent security guide.
Microsoft Copilot Privacy Settings Matrix
Use this matrix to identify the control that matches your goal. Exact labels and availability can vary by interface.
| Setting | Purpose | Effect of disabling | Applicable account type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Training on conversation activity | Controls eligible conversation use for model training | Excludes future conversation activity from applicable training | Older consumer Copilot |
| Training on voice conversations | Controls eligible voice-conversation use for model training | Excludes future voice activity from applicable training | Older consumer Copilot |
| Saved memories | Stores details for future personalization | Stops the applicable memory feature; existing memories may require separate deletion | Updated consumer Copilot |
| Personalization and memory | Tailors responses using remembered details | Stops future personalization under the older interface | Older consumer Copilot |
| Shared experiences | Connects personalization across Microsoft services | Stops the applicable shared-experience functionality | Updated consumer Copilot |
| Chat history | Keeps previous conversations accessible | Removes selected chats when deleted; full activity history has separate controls | Consumer Copilot |
| Personalized advertising | Tailors ads using applicable data | Stops the applicable form of personalized advertising | Eligible consumer services |
| Enterprise data protection | Protects organizational Copilot interactions | Not a single user-level privacy toggle | Work or school accounts |
The key is to match the setting to the outcome you want. If your goal is to stop training use, focus on the applicable training controls. If you want to remove past information, manage memories and conversation history separately. If you want less targeted advertising, review the advertising controls.
FAQs: Microsoft Copilot privacy settings
1. Does Microsoft Copilot use my conversations to train AI?
The answer depends on which Copilot experience you use. The older consumer app offers controls to opt out of eligible future conversation activity and voice conversations being used for model training. Microsoft’s updated individual-app activity-history documentation says prompts, responses, and file contents in that experience are not used to train foundation models. Work and school accounts have separate enterprise protections.
2. Can I turn off AI training and keep Copilot personalization?
Yes, in the older consumer Copilot interface, Microsoft explicitly allows users to opt out of model training while keeping personalization enabled. Copilot may continue to remember recent conversations for personalized responses even when those conversations are excluded from applicable AI model training.
3. Does turning off Copilot memory delete old chats?
No, not automatically. In the updated app, turning off Saved memories does not delete memories already stored, and deleting memories is separate from deleting chat history. In the older interface, Microsoft says disabling personalization and memory does not prevent you from viewing past conversations.
4. Can I use Copilot without saving conversation history?
The controls available to you depend on the Copilot product and account. The consumer app provides ways to delete individual chats and manage activity history, while Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat has separate chat-history and personalization controls. Check the documentation for the exact experience you use before assuming a single toggle stops all history retention.
5. Are Microsoft 365 Copilot work conversations used to train foundation models?
Microsoft states that prompts and responses in Microsoft Copilot Chat used with a work or school account are not used to train foundation models. However, interactions can still be logged and processed under the applicable service terms, organizational policies, and data-protection arrangements.
6. Why are my Copilot privacy settings different from Microsoft’s instructions?
Microsoft released an updated Copilot app experience on August 18, 2026. Its privacy documentation explicitly distinguishes the updated interface from the older one, and it also separates personal accounts from Microsoft 365 home and organizational accounts. Verify both your app version and sign-in account before following a particular settings path.
Make Your Privacy Choices Deliberately
The most useful next step is to identify the Copilot product and account you use, then change the specific controls that match your privacy goals. Avoid disabling broad Microsoft 365 settings without checking their impact on other applications.
For additional guidance, explore ItPhobia’s Microsoft Copilot app guide and Windows 11 Copilot usage tutorial.
Belayet Hossain is a Senior Tech Expert and Certified AI Marketing Strategist. Holding an MSc in CSE (Russia) and over a decade of experience since 2011, he combines traditional systems engineering with modern AI insights. Specializing in Vibe Coding and Intelligent Marketing, Belayet provides forward-thinking analysis on software, digital trends, and SEO, helping readers navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape. Connect with Belayet Hossain on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or read my complete biography.