Applies To

Do you wonder where Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat gets information from when generating responses? There are many sources Copilot Chat can draw upon to create responses. Moreover, Microsoft 365 Copilot gives you control over its knowledge sources.

Copilot Chat can retrieve information from:

Control sources in Copilot Chat

When you’re drafting a prompt in Copilot Chat, you can control the sources Copilot can access in the  Briefcase icon to add or remove sources to Copilot Chat prompts Sources menu.

  1. Go to Copilot Chat and sign in with your Microsoft 365 work or school account.

  2. In the Message Copilot compose box, select the  Briefcase icon to add or remove sources to Copilot Chat prompts Sources button.

  3. In the  Briefcase icon to add or remove sources to Copilot Chat prompts Sources menu, use the toggles to turn on and off the sources you want Copilot to reference when generating a response.

    1. For example, you can turn off Web search to prevent Copilot from using web search results for this prompt.

    2. Select the Turn off all button at the bottom of the  Briefcase icon to add or remove sources to Copilot Chat prompts Sources menu to turn off all sources that aren't from the web or Microsoft 365 data.

  4. Finish writing your prompt and select  Arrow icon to send message to Copilot Chat Send.

Review sources in Copilot Chat

Once Copilot Chat responds to your prompt, you have complete visibility into the sources Copilot referenced when generating its response.

Review inline citations in Copilot Chat

Copilot Chat responses include inline citations of its sources next to the information it generated.

  1. In a Copilot Chat response, find an inline citation and hover your cursor over it.

  2. When hovering of the inline citation, you can:

    1. Select the source file to open it in a side pane in Copilot Chat.

    2. Select one of the suggested actions for tasks, like summarizing files, drafting a response to emails, or seeing who contributed to the file.

Review the Sources list in Copilot Chat

You can also view a complete list of all Copilot Chat sources by completing the following steps:

  1. At the bottom of a Copilot Chat response, select the  Briefcase icon to add or remove sources to Copilot Chat prompts Sources button.

  2. In the Sources side pane, scroll through the entire list of Copilot sources.

  3. Select a source, and another side pane opens with the source file.

  4. At the top of the file’s pane, select the Open in ... button to open the file in its related app.

    1. For example, select Open in Outlook to open the referenced email in Outlook.

More ways to work with Copilot Chat

Get started with Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

Ask questions and get answers using Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

Catch up on things quickly using Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

Create content using Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

Get started with voice features in Microsoft 365 Copilot

Facebook LinkedIn Email

Need more help?

Want more options?

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

Microsoft 365 training

Microsoft security

Accessibility center