Microsoft Copilot offers you tailored experiences by remembering key details and preferences from your conversations with Microsoft Copilot Chat using Copilot Memory. Over time, it can recall useful information like your communication style, favorite topics, work goals, and recurring tasks to make conversations straightforward and more relevant. If the user has Copilot memory enabled, Copilot can provided personalized recommendations by using Copilot Chat conversations and usage data, Microsoft 365 work data, usage signals, and profile information.
Personalize what Copilot Chat remembers
Copilot personalizes your chat experience and its responses by:
- Saving memories to Copilot Memory
- Making inferences from your chat history
- Using insights from your work content
- Using your Copilot custom instructions
- Forgetting what was discussed in a temporary chat
Save memories using Copilot Chat
When Copilot Memory is turned on, Copilot automatically saves key information to its memory from your Copilot Chat conversations.
Learn how to manage saved memories in Copilot Chat at Manage Copilot Memory in Microsoft Copilot.
Revisit your chat history
Copilot keeps a history of your previous conversations with Copilot Chat. Copilot can make inferences about what matters to you using previous conversations to respond to subsequent conversations.
Learn how to revisit your chat history at Revisit your Microsoft Copilot Chat history.
Use insights from your work content
Note
Work insights are only available if you're signed in with your work or school account, and are dependent on which Microsoft Copilot plan that your organization has.
Work insights are details learned from your Microsoft 365 work content, such as your emails, Team chats, and meeting transcripts. Copilot uses this information to help provide more personalized responses.
To learn what Copilot knows about you, simply ask it "What do you know about me." This provides a summary of the important information, including work insights, that Copilot uses to personalize responses. If you see a work insight that you want removed, you can ask Copilot to forget that detail, and Copilot won't use that to personalize future responses.
Learn how to manage work insights in the How do I fully delete something Copilot knows about me? section later in this article.
Add custom instructions to Copilot settings
To further personalize how Copilot responds to you, create custom instructions that tell Copilot important information to remember, like your communication preferences.
Learn how to manage custom instructions for Copilot at Customize how Microsoft Copilot responds to you.
Use temporary chat to limit what Copilot Chat remembers
If you want to chat without using or updating memory, you can Start a temporary chat. These conversations won’t access or store any personalized information. Also, the conversation won’t appear in your chat history and can’t be referenced or accessed later by you or Copilot.
However, your organization’s data retention policy might require retaining temporary chat data. Your IT administrator might be able to access this data during the retention period.
To start a temporary chat, complete the following steps:
- Go to Copilot Chat and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.
- At the top-right of the Copilot Chat page, select
Start a new temporary chat button. - Chat with Copilot like you normally would.
How does Microsoft handle Copilot Memory data?
Microsoft handles Copilot Memory with the same care as your other work data in Microsoft Copilot.
To learn more about Copilot Chat data handling standards, see Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Copilot Chat.
How do I fully delete something Copilot knows about me?
If Copilot Memory is turned on and you want to completely remove something Copilot has remembered, you need to take two steps:
Delete the saved memory from your Chat settings. By doing that, Copilot won't retain the specific detail you previously asked it to remember. Learn how to delete saved memories at Delete information from Copilot Memory.
Delete memories from your chat history by turning off the Chat history toggle. Doing that deletes inferences Copilot has made from previous Copilot Chat conversations. You can also contact the IT admin of your organization. Learn how to delete chat history data at How do I turn off Copilot personalization based on chat history?
- If you're signed in with your work or school account, the toggle might say Chat history & work insights. In that case, memories that Copilot made based on your work content are also deleted along with memories from your chat history.
- If the Chat history toggle is turned back on within 30 days after the deletion, Copilot adds back the deleted memories from your chat history (and from work content, if work insights are available to you).
- If you want to leave the Chat history toggle on, but want Copilot to not use something it learned about you through chat history (and from work content, if work insights are available to you), you can ask in the chat to not use that information for personalization.