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Is Microsoft Copilot private? Two apps, two sets of rules

September 24, 2026

Less than most people assume, and it depends which Copilot you have. Microsoft released a new consumer Copilot app on August 18, 2026, and its privacy pages now describe the old and new apps separately. In the new one, chat history is kept until you delete it, saved memories and your chat history can personalise ads, and your chats can shape what you see on Bing, Edge and MSN. The older app's documentation describes training on conversations by default, an 18-month store and human review with no opt-out. If you want a conversation that is never written down, that is what nixm is for.

First: which Copilot are you using?

"Copilot" is at least four products. There is the consumer app and website, signed in with a personal Microsoft account. There is Copilot inside Word, Excel and Outlook on a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan. There is Microsoft 365 Copilot on a work or school account. And since August 18, 2026, the consumer app itself exists in an old and a new version. Microsoft's own privacy pages now carry a banner telling you which version they apply to. The answer to "is Copilot private" genuinely changes between them.

The new consumer app (August 2026 onward)

Microsoft's current privacy-controls page for the new app lists what you can manage:

  • Chat history. Copilot keeps your prior conversations so you can revisit them. You can delete them one at a time, or all at once from the Microsoft privacy dashboard.
  • Memory. Copilot can remember details such as your communication style, favourite topics, goals and recurring tasks. Turning memory off does not delete memories already saved; that is a separate step.
  • Shared experiences. Your use of Bing, Edge and MSN can personalise Copilot, and your Copilot chats can personalise Bing and MSN. Microsoft's example: plan a holiday with Copilot, and Bing and MSN show you content tailored to it.
  • Personalised ads. If you do not have a Microsoft 365 subscription you may see ads in Copilot. Personalised ads can use your chat history, saved memories and other Microsoft data. Generic ads use only the current conversation.

Microsoft's Privacy Statement, updated in September 2026, says the same thing in broader terms. Copilot uses prompts and related data to provide and improve services, "including relevant advertising", and ads may relate to your Copilot conversations, including files you share. The same statement says Microsoft may use data to develop, train and fine-tune its AI models. The new app's controls page does not list a separate training switch. If training is the question you care about, check your own settings rather than relying on the older app's instructions.

The older consumer app

Microsoft's privacy FAQ for the older app, still published, is more specific. For signed-in users, conversation activity — including voice and uploaded images or files — is used to train Microsoft's generative AI models by default, with an opt-out. Conversations are stored for 18 months by default, and uploaded files for up to 18 months. Some conversations are reviewed by people for product improvement and safety. When a Code of Conduct violation is suspected, Microsoft says there is no opt-out from human review.

That FAQ also lists who is excluded from training: people not signed in, signed-in users under 18, work or school accounts, Microsoft 365 Personal and Family app users, and users in Brazil, China (excluding Hong Kong), Israel, Nigeria, South Korea and Vietnam.

Copilot at work is a different product

Signed in with a work or school (Entra) account, Copilot runs under Microsoft's enterprise data protection, and Microsoft's documentation lists organisational accounts among those it does not train Copilot on. But the Privacy Statement is direct about the other side. With a work or school account, your organisation can access and process your data, including the contents of your communications and files. Private from Microsoft's training and private from your employer are different things. The same split is covered for ChatGPT in what enterprise admins can see.

Two carve-outs Microsoft calls out

Copilot Health, an opt-in feature for health records and wearable data, is not used to train generative AI models or for advertising, per Microsoft. Copilot Vision images and screenshots are, per the older app's FAQ, processed only to answer you and not stored after the session, although text transcripts may be kept.

So is Copilot private?

It is not public — Microsoft says your conversations are never shown to other users. But the consumer app is built around connection: history kept until you delete it, memories, chats that feed Bing and MSN, and a Privacy Statement that ties prompts to advertising. If that is not what you want, the switches are in Settings under Personalization, and the full history lives in the Microsoft privacy dashboard. How Copilot compares with the rest of the field is in what each AI chatbot keeps. The general limits of switching things off are in using AI without it remembering you.

The version with nothing to connect

Every control on this page manages how far a record travels once it exists. nixm starts from the other end: the conversation is never written to a database, so there is no history to feed ads, no memory to carry into search, and nothing to export. What remains of a session is a small signal that dissolves after seven days. It is not a replacement for an office assistant. It is a place to think out loud without it becoming a profile.

frequently asked

Does Copilot save your conversations?

Yes. In the new consumer app, Microsoft keeps prior conversations so you can revisit them until you delete them. The older app's documentation says conversations are stored for 18 months by default.

Does Microsoft use Copilot chats for ads?

It can. Microsoft's Privacy Statement says Copilot uses prompts and related data for relevant advertising, and in the new app personalised ads can use your chat history and saved memories. You can turn off ads personalisation in Copilot settings.

Does Copilot train on my conversations?

The older app's FAQ says yes by default for signed-in users, with an opt-out. Microsoft's Privacy Statement says it may use data to train AI models. Work and school accounts are excluded from that training.

Do humans review Copilot chats?

Some, per Microsoft, for product improvement and safety. When a Code of Conduct violation is suspected, the older app's FAQ says there is no opt-out from human review.

Is Copilot private on a work account?

From Microsoft's Copilot training, yes. From your employer, no — Microsoft's Privacy Statement says an organisation can access and process your data, including communications and files, on a work or school account.

Why does Copilot know what I searched on Bing?

In the new app, a setting called One shared experience lets Bing, Edge and MSN personalise Copilot and lets Copilot chats personalise those services. You can turn it off under Settings, then Personalization.

Can I try nixm without an account?

Yes. Open nixm.ai and seed a signal — no account needed, and the conversation is never written to a database.

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