Today, Copilot interactions are kept indefinitely. A shorter retention period is required for Purdue's Microsoft 365 environment to meet audit requirements for restricted data, and it is part of the work to approve Microsoft 365 Copilot for use with restricted data.
What Is Changing?
| |
Before November 20 |
Starting November 20 |
| Copilot chat history |
Kept indefinitely |
Each prompt and response is kept for 30 days, then permanently deleted |
| Existing history older than 30 days |
Available |
Deleted when the policy takes effect |
This applies to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot when you are signed in with your Purdue account, including Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft 365 apps.
How 30-Day Retention Works
The 30 days are counted for each individual prompt and response, not for the whole conversation. Each message is deleted once it is more than 30 days old, even if you added to the chat more recently. Depending on how Copilot displays a partially deleted conversation, you may see older parts of a chat disappear, or the chat may no longer appear in your history. Don’t rely on any Copilot content older than 30 days remaining available.
Deletion does not happen exactly at the 30-day mark. Microsoft processes deletions in the background, so an interaction can take up to about two more weeks to be fully removed, and it may briefly remain visible in Copilot. You will not receive a notice when interactions are deleted.
What Is and Isn't Affected
Affected (30-day retention applies)
- Copilot chat conversations, including pinned chats
- Chats inside Copilot Notebooks and Projects. The Notebook or Project itself remains, but the chat messages in it follow the 30-day period.
- Recurring or scheduled prompts. Running a prompt again does not keep its older results; only results from the last 30 days remain.
- Conversations with agents in Copilot
- Copilot Cowork interactions
Not affected
- Microsoft Teams chats and channel messages. These keep their current 400-day retention.
- Copilot Pages. Pages are stored separately and are not covered by this change.
- Files you upload to Copilot Chat. These are saved in your OneDrive and stay there until you delete them.
- Documents, emails and other files you create or save, including files Copilot creates in your OneDrive
- Files and content Copilot reads to answer your questions (for example, OneDrive and SharePoint files)
What You Should Do
No action is required to continue using Copilot. If there is Copilot content you want to keep, review your chat history before November 20, 2026 and save it using one of the options below. Going forward, save important responses when you get them rather than relying on chat history.
Option 1: Use Copilot Pages
Add a response to a Copilot Page, where you can edit and share it. Pages are not subject to the 30-day Copilot retention period.
Option 2: Save a whole chat as a PDF
- Open the chat in your web browser.
- Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac).
- Select Save as PDF as the printer and save the file.
Option 3: Copy and paste
Select the conversation text, copy it and paste it into a Word document or OneNote page.
Option 4: Export a single response
Hover over a Copilot response and use its export, share or copy option to send that response to Word or download it as a text (.txt) file.
Important: If a chat contains sensitive or restricted data, do not save it to your device, personal storage or any location that is not approved for that data. Follow
Purdue's data handling requirements for wherever you save Copilot content.
Tip: If you reuse a prompt often, save the prompt text itself so you can run it again after older chats are deleted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I keep a chat longer by pinning it?
No. Pinned chats follow the same 30-day period.
Q: Can Purdue IT recover a chat that was deleted?
No. After an interaction is deleted under this policy, it cannot be restored. Save anything you need before it reaches 30 days old.
Q: Will the whole conversation disappear at once?
No. Each prompt and response ages out on its own, so older parts of a long conversation disappear first. A chat you keep adding to will still show its most recent 30 days.
Q: Does this change Microsoft Teams chat retention?
No. Teams chats and channel messages keep their current 400-day retention. This change applies only to Copilot interactions.
Q: Does this delete files Copilot created or edited?
No. Documents, emails and other files saved in Microsoft 365 are not affected. Only the Copilot chat interaction itself is deleted.
Q: Can I opt out or request a longer period?
No. The 30-day period applies to all Purdue Microsoft 365 accounts that use Copilot.
Q: Will I be notified before or when chats are deleted?
No. Deletion happens automatically in the background without a notice.
Note on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidance at Purdue
Responsible use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLM), collectively referred to as AI, is essential to the University's ongoing mission.
Do not enter Sensitive or Restricted Data, as defined in the Acceptable Use of IT Resources and Information Assets (VII.A.4) policy, into any AI system that is not authorized for that data per the Purdue University Authorized Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools and Integrations list.
For more information, review Purdue's AI Use Policy: https://it.purdue.edu/ai/ai-review-governance/.
Still need help? Click the 'Purdue IT Request' button to start a ticket.