Copilot memory is the set of details Copilot saves about you from your chats, such as your goals, favourite topics and how you like answers written, so it can tailor future replies. To see it, ask Copilot "What do you know about me?", and to remove one item, tell it to forget that detail.
That's the quick version. The longer one matters more, because memory and chat history are two separate things in Copilot, and deleting one doesn't always delete the other. On a work account there's another twist: your memories live in your mailbox and your company's retention rules don't touch them.
What Copilot saves about you
Microsoft says Copilot Memory remembers "key details and preferences from your conversations" and over time can recall things like your communication style, favourite topics, work goals and recurring tasks. It doesn't only rely on what it saves. Microsoft lists five ways Copilot Chat personalises its answers:
- Saved memories: details Copilot stores automatically, or ones you ask it to remember.
- Inferences from your chat history: what it works out from your previous conversations.
- Insights from your work content: only on a work or school account, drawn from emails, Teams chats and meeting transcripts, depending on your organisation's plan.
- Custom instructions: standing preferences you write in settings, such as how you like replies formatted.
- Temporary chat: the opposite lever, a conversation that doesn't use or update memory.
On personal accounts, Microsoft's privacy FAQ says Copilot remembers details such as your name, interests and goals, and doesn't remember demographic or other sensitive data.
Ask it what it knows, then correct it
You manage most of this by talking to Copilot. Microsoft documents three prompts, and you can copy them straight in:
Copy these prompts
What do you know about me?
Remember that I like gardening
Forget that I like science fiction movies
The first gives you a summary of its memory, including work insights if you're on a work account. The second adds an item. The third removes one. Swap in your own details, of course. Microsoft suggests checking any change by asking "What do you know about me?" again afterwards.
Delete one memory or the lot
For a personal Microsoft account, these are the menu names Microsoft documents for the older Copilot app. Microsoft says an updated app arrived on 18 August 2026 and that its support article covers the older version, so as of October 2026 the labels may differ slightly on the newest app.
- Ask Copilot "What do you know about me?" so you can see what's there before you delete anything.
- To remove a single detail, tell Copilot to forget it.
- To clear everything, select your profile icon, then Memory, then Delete all Memory.
- Ask "What do you know about me?" once more to confirm it's gone.
Delete all Memory doesn't delete your conversation history. Microsoft is clear on that. If a specific conversation is feeding something you'd rather it didn't, delete that conversation from your history as well.
To stop memory altogether, turn off personalisation. On copilot.com, Copilot for Windows and Copilot for macOS, select your profile icon, your profile name, then Memory, then Personalization and memory. In the mobile app, open the menu, select your profile icon, then Memory, then Personalization and memory. In the Edge sidebar, open the menu (...) and go to Settings, then Memory, then Personalization and memory. Microsoft says Copilot then forgets its memories of your conversations, you can still view past chats, and if you switch it back on later it starts remembering new details from that point.
| Control | What it does | Where Microsoft says to find it |
|---|---|---|
| What do you know about me? | Shows a summary of what Copilot remembers | Type it into any chat |
| Forget that... | Removes one remembered detail | Type it into any chat |
| Delete all Memory | Clears every memory, keeps your chat history | Profile icon, then Memory |
| Personalization and memory | Turns memory off and forgets existing memories | Profile icon, profile name, then Memory |
| Temporary chat | One conversation that doesn't use or update memory | Start a new temporary chat button, top right of Copilot Chat |
Chat history and memory aren't the same thing
Chat history is the list of conversations you can scroll back through. Memory is what Copilot has taken from them. For personal accounts, Microsoft keeps conversation history for 18 months by default, and you can delete single items or the whole lot whenever you like.
On a work account, fully removing something takes two steps, according to Microsoft. Delete the saved memory in your Chat settings, then turn off the Chat history toggle, which deletes the inferences Copilot made from earlier chats. On some work accounts the toggle is called Chat history and work insights, and switching it off clears memories drawn from your work content too. Here's the catch: if you turn that toggle back on within 30 days, Microsoft says Copilot adds the deleted memories back.
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Use a temporary chat for one-off questions
A temporary chat is the simplest privacy tool Copilot has. Microsoft says these conversations "won't access or store any personalized information", won't appear in your chat history and can't be referenced later by you or Copilot. In Copilot Chat on a work account, select the Start a new temporary chat button at the top right of the page, then chat as usual.
One caveat Microsoft spells out: your organisation's data retention policy might still require temporary chats to be kept, and your IT admin might be able to access them during that period. Temporary means Copilot forgets. It doesn't mean nobody can see it.
On a work account, read this bit
Microsoft's Learn page for admins says Copilot memory is in preview and subject to change. A few details from it are worth knowing even if you're not the admin:
- Memories, including saved memories, details inferred from chat history and custom instructions, are stored in a hidden folder in your Exchange mailbox, so they follow the same security policies as your email.
- Retention policies set in Purview don't apply to Copilot memory. Microsoft's example: a delete after three months policy on Copilot Chat won't delete your memories.
- Saved memories stay until you delete them in Settings, then Personalization. Deleting a chat doesn't delete memories generated from it.
- If you delete every chat where a detail came up, Microsoft says all traces of it go from the Chat History details within seven days.
- Admins can search memory with eDiscovery or Content Search, but they can't restrict what kind of information gets added to it.
If you're new to the assistant itself, my guide to using Copilot covers the basics, and this is how the Copilot app itself works.
What I'd do
I'd ask Copilot what it knows about you once a month and clear out anything stale or wrong, because a bad memory quietly skews every answer. For anything client-confidential, I'd skip memory entirely: use a temporary chat or switch personalisation off. And on a work account, remember that forgetting a chat isn't the same as forgetting what Copilot learnt from it.
If you want guidelines on what your team should and shouldn't let an AI remember, that's the kind of AI enablement I help with. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
Does deleting a chat delete what Copilot remembers?
Not on a work account. Microsoft's Learn page says deleting a chat doesn't delete saved memories that were generated from it. You have to delete the saved memory in Settings, then Personalization, as well.
Does deleting all memory delete my chat history?
No. Microsoft says that when you use Delete all Memory in the personal app, your conversation history isn't deleted. Delete conversations separately if you want them gone.
Can my IT admin see my Copilot memories?
On a managed work account, yes. Microsoft says admins can search users' memory with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery or Content Search, and can access temporary chats in Purview just like regular chats.
Is Copilot memory on by default?
For personal accounts, Microsoft says personalisation is on by default where it's available. On work accounts, the Enhanced personalization control is on by default, so memory is available unless your admin turns it off.
