Copilot Chat no longer just answers questions. It remembers your preferences, gathers what it generates in a library and is starting to open Word, Excel and PowerPoint without leaving the conversation. Skills, which are reusable procedures, are also arriving in chat. You will learn how each building block works, what the administrator must check before enabling it and where to start.
Copilot memory: where to configure it and how to read its effects
A memory saves you from repeating to an assistant, conversation after conversation, how you like to work. Think of it as a notebook kept by a colleague, in which they note that you prefer bullet lists. The analogy stops there: Copilot decides on its own to note a preference as soon as you state it clearly. You therefore need to be able to reread that notebook.
Everything is configured in the same place: top-right corner, the three dots, Settings, then the Personalization section. It brings together four families of settings:
- Custom instructions: you can start from dynamically generated starter instructions. Accessibility instructions (dyslexia, ADHD and similar conditions) can be added to them and apply to all conversations.
- Saved memories: the Manage button lists what Copilot has retained from clear intentions, such as "I prefer the bullet list format".
- Chat history and work insights: this option asks Copilot to remember what you have already talked about.
- Advanced: a switch turns web search on or off.
Instructions, memories, history: three notions not to mix up
| Term | What it is | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Custom instructions | Guidelines that you write yourself | Impose a tone, a format or an accessibility aid in every exchange |
| Saved memories | Preferences that Copilot notes from your explicit requests | Stop repeating a preference from one conversation to the next |
| Chat history | Memory of past conversations | Pick up a topic again without re-explaining everything |
As for availability, the Microsoft Learn documentation states that memory is no longer reserved for the Frontier programme, which opens certain features before general rollout. It is available to Copilot Chat users, with or without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. The same page specifies that personalization and memory remain in preview and subject to change (Learn page on personalization and memory).
See which personalization shaped a response
Yes, Copilot now shows what influenced a response. Below the result, the list of sources contains a Personalization section that details the properties applied.
Take the prompt "Give me a summary of the latest news in the AI industry". Copilot may answer by mentioning that it knows you like this kind of update. The Personalization section then shows you where that assumption comes from. If it dates from an old project, you go back to the settings and delete the relevant memory. Our article on essential Copilot Memory updates covers this aspect from the user side.
Deleting a conversation does not delete its memories
According to Microsoft Learn, saved memories derived from a conversation survive its deletion: you need to erase them in Settings > Personalization. If you turn off chat history, the associated inferences are erased after 30 days, and turning the button back on within that period restores them.
Governance: what memory leaves outside Purview
Microsoft Purview is the Microsoft 365 compliance suite (retention, audit, eDiscovery). Yet, according to Microsoft Learn, Copilot memories largely escape its usual controls.
- Memories are stored in a hidden folder of the user's Exchange mailbox.
- Purview retention policies do not apply to them.
- These actions generate no entry in the Purview audit log.
- An administrator cannot limit the type of information remembered.
- Memories can be found by eDiscovery (class
IPM.Contact, folderCopilotMemory), but custom instructions cannot.
The only central lever is the Enhanced personalization control, enabled by default and which can be disabled with Microsoft Graph. If it is turned off, the user sees Custom instructions, Saved memories and Chat history disabled, without being able to re-enable them. This is the first explanation to check when an employee reports an empty Memory panel.
Illustration: an organization subject to strict retention periods finds that it can neither audit nor purge these memories centrally. It has two options. It disables the control while it assesses the risk, or it accepts the situation and documents it in its AI usage policy, reminding users not to entrust sensitive information to memory.
Library and Office: chat becomes a starting point
The Library centralizes AI-generated content, which previously had to be found conversation by conversation. It contains the files created, the images produced by Microsoft Designer and the image generation tools (from chat, notebooks or the researcher agent in PowerPoint) and Copilot Pages. You switch between tile view (handy for images) and list view (handy for files). The link to all your files opens AI search, with previews and short summaries. A Create button sits at the top.
The second change is Office integration: instead of opening Word or PowerPoint, you start from chat. A concrete case: you generate a document on the state of the AI industry and share it with a colleague, Dana, who adds comments to it. In chat, you ask:
Review the current comments on the document and make the requested changes.
Copilot applies the changes and you see them in the preview on the right, without opening the application. Co-editing remains possible with the people who have access to the file.
This feature has already evolved
On 9 October 2026, Microsoft announced Office in Copilot in the new Copilot app: creating and editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint from Chat or Cowork. Rollout starts with Frontier customers, and the Library there groups recent Office files, pages and generated images. Your interface may therefore differ from the description above (Tech Community announcement).
July 2026
Office agents can be @mentioned in chat
You can @mention the Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents in the Copilot Chat prompt. Cited files open in the pane on Windows, Mac and Web, but not on mobile, in Edge or in the Office applications.
August 2026
User skills in PowerPoint
Planned rollout of custom skills stored in OneDrive.
9 October 2026
Office in Copilot announced
Office creation and editing from the new Copilot app, first for Frontier customers.
October 2026
Skills in Copilot Chat
Rollout announced for October, then one to two additional months.
To place these dates in the flow of announcements, see our roundup of Microsoft 365 Copilot: all the news for July 2026.
Skills in Copilot Chat: from prompt to reusable procedure
A skill is a named set of instructions that Copilot applies on demand. Think of a procedure sheet in a team binder. Where the analogy stops: the sheet is written by the AI itself, so it must be reviewed before being adopted.
The agents menu in the left navigation becomes "agents and skills". To create your own:
Describe the need in a prompt
Chat builds the skill for you and explains its reasoning.
Review the generated instructions
Check that the skill meets your real requirements before continuing.
Save the skill
It is saved as an item derived from this result.
Choose how it is invoked
Automatically, or manually: via the try-out feature, or by mentioning the skill in the input box.
On the IT side, Microsoft states that, in SharePoint, personal skills follow the user from one site to another and that the /Skills command lists those available. The Microsoft plugin registry centralizes skills, connectors and agents, with IT control (Tech Community, SharePoint). To understand the difference with agents, see Copilot Studio Agents.
PowerPoint: clarify a presentation and record your actions
The "Clarify my thinking" skill
It was called "Grill me" internally at Microsoft. It questions you to refine the message of a presentation. It is available in Copilot on the web and is rolling out in PowerPoint for Windows and macOS.
Example: after launch, Copilot asks three questions. Who is the audience (here, executives approving the plan)? What do you expect from them at the end (approving the actions and the pilot project)? How confident are you in the chosen target? It then delivers recommendations, their consequences for support and the points that remain open. Since Copilot in PowerPoint has agent capabilities, you can ask it to apply the changes. A rollout in progress lets you close the presentation while it works in the background, with a notification at the end.
Turn your edits into a skill
Open the menu
In PowerPoint, click the three dots at the top right, then Manage plugins and skills.
Start recording
In the Add drop-down menu, choose Record a skill, then ask Copilot for your edits.
Stop and review
Click the stop button: a window shows the skill's name, description and instructions. Correct them if needed, then confirm.
In the original demonstration, a session of about 10 minutes (adding an agenda, harmonizing images, speaker notes, restyling) was enough to produce a skill.
Rule of thumb: I do, Copilot notes, I review
Recording captures what you ask for, not what you had in mind. Reviewing the final window is the step that determines the quality of the skill.
Licences and names: what changes depending on your plan
Microsoft Learn distinguishes three levels, and only the last one gives priority access to applications and work data.
| Plan | Priority access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote | Work data (Microsoft Graph, Work IQ) |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot Chat (Basic) | Not included | Not included |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Basic) | Not included | Not included |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) | Included | Included |
Another point of vocabulary: the "Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat" application is now called Microsoft Copilot Chat and is found at copilot.cloud.microsoft (Learn overview). For a user-side overview, see our 6 new Microsoft Copilot features to try.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my user's Memory panel empty or greyed out?
The most likely cause is the Enhanced personalization administrator control. If it is disabled via Microsoft Graph, Custom instructions, Saved memories and Chat history appear disabled and the user cannot re-enable them.
Does deleting a conversation erase what Copilot has remembered?
No. Saved memories derived from the conversation remain in place. You need to delete them in Settings > Personalization.
Are memories covered by Purview retention and audit?
No. Microsoft Learn specifies that Purview retention policies do not apply to them and that these actions do not create entries in the audit log. Memories can still be found by eDiscovery, but custom instructions cannot.
Do I need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence to use memory?
No, according to Microsoft Learn: it is available in Copilot Chat with or without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. The feature nevertheless remains in preview.
Can I open the files cited in chat from my phone?
No. According to the July 2026 release notes, opening in the Copilot Chat pane works on Windows, Mac and Web, but not on mobile, in Edge or in the Office applications.
Where to start
Next actions
- Check the state of the Enhanced personalization control in your tenant and decide whether it should remain active.
- Add to your AI usage policy the fact that memory escapes Purview retention and audit.
- Open Settings > Personalization and delete memories that have become useless.
- Test a skill end to end (creation, review, manual invocation) before opening it to a team.
- Identify who falls under the Premium plan for priority access to Office applications and work data.
If your organization is subject to strict retention or audit obligations, deal with memory governance first, then skills. Otherwise, start with skills: the time savings are immediate, and the plugin registry gives you IT control.
Going further
- Manage Copilot personalization and memory: the admin reference on Enhanced personalization, retention, eDiscovery and audit limits.
- Introducing Office in the new Microsoft Copilot app: the 9 October 2026 announcement on Office, Library and Skills.
- How Microsoft Copilot Chat history works: the procedure for managing chat history and the memories that result from it.
- What's New in Microsoft 365 Copilot | July 2026: the monthly roundup of agents in chat and PowerPoint and Excel skills.
