Get started with Record in Microsoft Copilot

Record is a new input modality for Copilot that brings real-world audio into Microsoft Copilot. Capture in-person conversations or your own thoughts on the go and get an AI-generated transcript and summary in Copilot Chat after recording. For shorter recordings, you may receive a summary shortly after recording ends. Processing time varies, and longer recordings can take several minutes to process.

Record is built for enterprise. Your audio, transcript, and summary stay inside your organization's Microsoft 365 tenant.

What you can do with Record

Record lives in the chat input area of the Copilot mobile app, right next to attachments like photos and files. With one tap you can:

  • Capture an in-person meeting or conversation when Teams isn't an option — hallway syncs, customer visits, on-site reviews.
  • Dictate a quick voice note to yourself including ideas, action items, follow-ups, anything you don't want to lose.
  • Turn what you said into something you can act on. Copilot drops the transcript and summary into chat. From there, ask follow-up questions, draft an email, extract action items, or share it with your team.

Tip

Record is for capturing audio you want to work with later. To talk to Copilot directly, use voice in Copilot (the wave icon in the chat box).

Before you start

To use Record you need:

  • A Microsoft 365 Copilot license assigned to your work or school account.
  • The latest version of the Copilot app on iPhone, iPad, or Android.
  • Microphone permission for the Copilot app.
  • An internet connection (Record uploads audio to your OneDrive for transcription).

If you don't see Record in the + menu, your IT admin may have turned it off for your tenant, or you may not have a Copilot license assigned.

Record an in-person conversation

  • Open the Microsoft Copilot app and sign in with your work or school account.
  • In the chat input area, tap the plus (+) icon next to the message box.
  • Tap Record.
  • Every time you use Record, review the privacy notice. Get consent from everyone in the conversation before you start recording. Laws on recording conversations vary by region and your organization may have its own policy that should be followed. Copilot does not notify other parties for you.
  • Tap Start. A timer shows elapsed time while you record. You can keep using your phone — the recording continues in the background.
  • When you're done, return to Record and tap Stop.

After you stop, Copilot uploads the audio to your OneDrive, transcribes it, and posts a summary back to your chat. See What you get after a recording below.

Record a voice note to yourself

Use Record any time you'd otherwise type a long note, whether you're brainstorming on a walk, capturing ideas between meetings, or leaving yourself a reminder.

  • In the Microsoft Copilot app, tap the plus (+) icon next to the chat input.
  • Tap Record, then tap Start.
  • Speak naturally. Pause and resume as needed.
  • Tap Stop when you finish.

Copilot will transcribe your note, add a short summary to chat, and you can immediately ask follow-ups. For example, "Turn this into three bullet points I can send to my manager" or "What did I commit to in that note?"

What you get after a recording

When you tap Stop, Copilot processes your recording and returns three things:

  • A transcript of what was said.
  • An AI-generated summary delivered as a response in your Copilot chat.
  • The original audio file, saved to a Copilot-managed folder in your OneDrive.

You can:

  • Ask follow-up questions in chat like "Who agreed to send the budget?" or "List the open questions."
  • Reuse the content like "Draft an email recap to the attendees", "Turn this into a one-pager", or "Add action items to my task list."
  • Share the chat thread, the summary, or the audio file the same way you share any other OneDrive file.

Note

The recording, transcript, and summary inherit the access permissions and retention policies that already apply to your OneDrive for Business content.

Recording length and limits

  • Up to 120 minutes per recording. When you reach the limit, Record stops automatically and processes the audio you've already captured. To capture a longer session, stop and start a new recording.
  • Background recording. You can switch apps while recording continues. Copilot will keep capturing audio in the background.

Data usage, privacy, and compliance

Record is built for enterprise data handling. Here's what you should know:

  • Your data stays inside your tenant. Audio files, transcripts, and summaries generated by Record are stored in your organization's Microsoft 365 tenant, specifically, in your own OneDrive for Business. They follow your tenant's existing retention, eDiscovery, Information Protection (sensitivity labels), and DLP policies.
  • Microsoft does not use your Record content to train foundation AI models. Your audio, transcripts, and summaries are not used to train Microsoft's large language models or speech recognition models. They are processed to deliver the feature to you and stored only for your use.
  • Encryption in transit and at rest. Audio and derived content are encrypted using Microsoft 365 standards.
  • Tenant boundary. Processing, including transcription and summarization, happens within Microsoft 365 service boundaries that respect your tenant's data residency, compliance, and identity (Microsoft Entra ID) controls.
  • Recording consent is your responsibility. Some regions and organizations require all parties to be informed before audio is recorded. Always get consent first. Microsoft Copilot doesn't announce or notify other parties on your behalf.

For broader details, see Microsoft Copilot data, privacy, and security.