Learn now gives the hard date. Beginning 15 January 2027, Microsoft Purview treats every legacy "Teams chats and Copilot interactions" retention policy as Teams-only. After that change hits your tenant, those policies no longer retain or delete Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions. That applies to interactions you already retained under the combined policy, and to new ones. Teams chat retention is unchanged.
If Copilot coverage still rides on a combined Teams policy, you have a deadline. Create a retention policy on the Microsoft Copilot experiences location before 15 January 2027, or accept that Copilot prompts and responses stop being governed by that legacy policy.
Our earlier post on the Teams and Copilot split covered how Copilot ended up inside Teams retention and how the separate locations arrived. This piece is about the date Learn now publishes for when the legacy location stops covering Copilot, and what has to exist before then.
What Learn says happens on that date
From the create-retention-policies page:
- Legacy "Teams chats and Copilot interactions" policies become Teams-only.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions are no longer retained or deleted through those policies.
- The change covers previously retained Copilot interactions and new ones.
- Teams content retention is unaffected.
Newly created retention policies already support separate locations. Microsoft Copilot experiences covers Microsoft 365 Copilot, Security Copilot, Copilot in Fabric and Copilot Studio. Enterprise AI apps and Other AI apps sit beside it. For generative AI apps other than Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio, retention still depends on a collection policy that captures content.
What to build before 15 January 2027
Three steps, in order the records owner would recognize:
- Decide whether Copilot interactions are records. If they are, write the period. If they aren't, write that too, and decide whether a delete-only schedule still belongs on the Copilot location so prompts don't sit forever in a mailbox folder.
- Create a policy on Microsoft Copilot experiences. In the Purview portal, that location is selectable on a new retention policy. Learn also documents PowerShell:
Set-AppRetentionCompliancePolicywithUser:M365Copilotto add Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions to a policy built on the newer locations, andSet-RetentionCompliancePolicywithUser:TeamsChatUserInteractionsto turn an older combined policy into Teams chat only on your own timing. - Wait for distribution. A new or changed retention policy can take up to seven days to apply. Don't leave that window until the week of the cutoff.
Get-commands on the old combined location can still report Teams plus Copilot. Learn notes that while processing, those policies cover only Teams interactions once the change applies. Trust the portal and a test eDiscovery search, not the display name alone.
Where the prompts live (unchanged)
Copilot prompts and responses are stored in a hidden folder in the mailbox of the person who ran the prompt. Compliance staff reach them with eDiscovery, not by opening Copilot. An Exchange timer job typically takes one to seven days; expired items sit in SubstrateHolds for at least a day before permanent deletion. Another retention policy on the same location, Litigation Hold, a delay hold or an eDiscovery hold suspends that permanent deletion. Learn's line still stands: messages visible in the AI app are not proof of retention or deletion.
Who signs
The records owner decides whether Copilot interactions are records and for how long. The compliance administrator builds the Microsoft Copilot experiences policy, separates any legacy combined policy, and confirms coverage with eDiscovery before 15 January 2027. The security or AI owner says which Copilot surfaces the organization actually uses, so the policy scope matches real use rather than a checkbox.
Teams retention was never a Copilot decision. After 15 January 2027, only a Copilot policy is.
