web search in Microsoft 365 Copilot: what does this AI read, and can you turn it off?
Checked on October 22, 2026 by verification chain vchain-1
Whether it is on by default and whether it can be turned off are detailed edition by edition in the table below.
The facts, edition by edition
| All editions | |
|---|---|
| What the AI does | Search “Copilot Chat is primarily web grounded.” “Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat have an optional feature that allows Copilot to reference web content when responding to user prompts.” “When web search is enabled, Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat may fetch information from the Bing search service when information from the web helps to provide a better, more grounded response.” “Allowing Microsoft Copilot to reference web content can improve the quality, accuracy, and relevance of Microsoft Copilot responses where a response would benefit from current, public information from the web.” “when Microsoft Copilot references web content, it does so via the Bing Search service, and data-handling practices for Bing Search queries are different from how data is handled by Microsoft Copilot.” “When you're using web search, Microsoft Copilot parses the user's prompt and identifies terms where web search would improve the quality of the response.” “Copilot generates a search query that it sends to the Bing Search service.” “Based on these terms, Copilot generates a search query that it sends to the Bing Search service.” [1] dated copy |
| Model | Not yet verified |
| What it reads | Two vendor statements
|
| Where the data goes | Not yet verified |
| Trains on your data | No “They aren't used to train generative AI foundation models.” [6] dated copy |
| On by default | Two vendor statements
|
| Can be turned off | Yes “If the IT admin turns on web search for Microsoft Copilot users, those users still have the option to turn off web search by using the Web content toggle.” “If a user turns off the Web content toggle, web content isn't included in Copilot responses.” “turning off optional connected experiences could affect the availability of web search.” [6] dated copy |
| Billing | Not yet verified |
| Feature type | Not yet verified |
| Frameworks the catalog links to it | Not yet verified |
All editions
- What the AI does
- Search “Copilot Chat is primarily web grounded.” “Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat have an optional feature that allows Copilot to reference web content when responding to user prompts.” “When web search is enabled, Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat may fetch information from the Bing search service when information from the web helps to provide a better, more grounded response.” “Allowing Microsoft Copilot to reference web content can improve the quality, accuracy, and relevance of Microsoft Copilot responses where a response would benefit from current, public information from the web.” “when Microsoft Copilot references web content, it does so via the Bing Search service, and data-handling practices for Bing Search queries are different from how data is handled by Microsoft Copilot.” “When you're using web search, Microsoft Copilot parses the user's prompt and identifies terms where web search would improve the quality of the response.” “Copilot generates a search query that it sends to the Bing Search service.” “Based on these terms, Copilot generates a search query that it sends to the Bing Search service.” [1] dated copy
- Model
- Not yet verified
- What it reads
- Two vendor statements
- Documents “However, it may also be informed by data within a Microsoft 365 document under the following conditions:” [6]
- Other data “When you're using web search, Microsoft Copilot parses the user's prompt and identifies terms where web search would improve the quality of the response.” [3]
- Where the data goes
- Not yet verified
- Trains on your data
- No “They aren't used to train generative AI foundation models.” [6] dated copy
- On by default
- Two vendor statements
- Yes “web search is available to users by default in both Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Chat” [2]
- Yes “Copilot Chat is primarily web grounded.” [1]
- Can be turned off
- Yes “If the IT admin turns on web search for Microsoft Copilot users, those users still have the option to turn off web search by using the Web content toggle.” “If a user turns off the Web content toggle, web content isn't included in Copilot responses.” “turning off optional connected experiences could affect the availability of web search.” [6] dated copy
- Billing
- Not yet verified
- Feature type
- Not yet verified
- Frameworks the catalog links to it
- Not yet verified
To turn it off
- All editions: Yes “If the IT admin turns on web search for Microsoft Copilot users, those users still have the option to turn off web search by using the Web content toggle.” “If a user turns off the Web content toggle, web content isn't included in Copilot responses.” “turning off optional connected experiences could affect the availability of web search.” [6] dated copy
Frameworks the catalog links to it
Linked frameworks will appear once the reference set is published.
- All editions: Not yet verified
Sources
- Microsoft Copilot Chat overview, Microsoft, October 22, 2026
- Manage Copilot, Microsoft, October 22, 2026
- Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft, October 22, 2026
- Knowledge sources summary, Microsoft, October 22, 2026
- Application card: Microsoft Copilot (for organizations), Microsoft, October 22, 2026
- Data, privacy, and security for web search in Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat, Microsoft, October 22, 2026
Change log
- October 26, 2026 · All editions · What it reads: Other data → Two vendor statements · correction by Ojja [3, 6]
This fact sheet says nothing about your setup: the free readout, in French for now, reads it in your tools.