Copilot chat history: how to keep, export, or delete it before December 31, 2026

The Morse teamPublished November 11, 20268 min read

As of November 2026, your Copilot chat history from the older Microsoft Copilot app survives only if you sign in to the updated app, because Microsoft says content that hasn't been migrated by December 31, 2026 "will be permanently deleted after this date" (Microsoft). Sign in with the same personal account you used before, check that your chats arrived, export a CSV copy from the Microsoft privacy dashboard, and clear anything you don't want kept.

We read Microsoft's support pages on the Copilot app changes, its troubleshooting and retired-features pages, the Copilot privacy controls and privacy dashboard help, and its work and school pages on November 11, 2026, and give each step as Microsoft writes it. Microsoft puts the deadline at the top of its changes page, its troubleshooting page, and the older app's privacy FAQ, in a box marked "Action required." What Microsoft keeps and uses your chats for is in is Copilot private.

What happens to Copilot chat history on December 31, 2026?

Chats you haven't moved to the updated app are deleted. The notice reads: "Sign in to the updated Copilot app by December 31, 2026 to preserve your eligible chats and content. Content that hasn't been migrated will be permanently deleted after this date" (Microsoft). The same box sits on the older app's privacy FAQ, where it's addressed to anyone who "used an older version of Microsoft Copilot" (Microsoft).

Microsoft says what moves: "Your chats," "Images," and "Other content you've created with Copilot." Retired features follow their own rules, listed below.

What survives the move to the new Copilot app?

Read on Microsoft's support pages on November 11, 2026, for personal accounts.

Signing in by the deadline doesn't save Group Chat. Microsoft says group threads, messages, and images "will not carry forward," and suggests copying what you need into a document before your account updates.

Which account are your Copilot chats on?

The one you signed in with, and each account's chats stay apart. Microsoft lists three personal sign-ins: a personal Microsoft account, Google, or Apple (Microsoft). If you used more than one linked personal account, "such as a Google email and a personal Microsoft email," Microsoft says your history, preferences, and eligible content are "brought together into the updated app through your Microsoft account," with no action needed.

To check whether an account has moved yet, Microsoft gives a test:

1. Start a new private browsing session.
2. Go to copilot.microsoft.com.
3. Sign in with the personal account you want to check.

If you land on copilot.com, that account "has moved or is completing the move." If you stay on copilot.microsoft.com, it hasn't moved yet, and Microsoft says each of your personal accounts may move at a different time. Run the test once for every account you ever used with Copilot.

How do you sign in to migrate your Copilot chats?

Sign in to the updated app with the same account you used before. Microsoft says your chats and other content then move "automatically" (Microsoft).

• On the web, Microsoft says you're "automatically redirected" to the updated Copilot, at copilot.com (Microsoft).
• On a phone, you "will need to download an updated version of Copilot." On some devices it arrives as a new app, so the App Store may show Get or Install instead of Update.
• With Google or Apple, select Continue with Google or Continue with Apple on the sign-in page instead of typing the email address.
• While it's moving, follow any message in the app. Microsoft says you may see a link to your existing chats, or a note that they're "coming soon."

Why is your Copilot chat history missing after the update?

Microsoft's first answers are that it's still moving or that you're signed in to a different account. It says moving chats "can take some time," and its troubleshooting page, last updated September 2026, gives four steps (Microsoft):

1. Check your account. Sign in with the same personal Microsoft, Google, or Apple account you used before.
2. Restart Copilot. Quit and reopen the app, or refresh the page on the web.
3. Follow any in-app message, which may link to your existing chats.
4. Try again later. Microsoft says the time "can vary depending on the amount and type of content being moved."

If different devices show different chats, Microsoft says to check the account on each device and allow time for the sync. If only some chats are missing, look at the table above: Group Chat, Podcasts, and Labs content doesn't move, and Projects now appear as Notebooks. Personal and work accounts never mix, so use the account switcher to confirm which one you're looking at.

If chats are still gone, report it from the app: select the ellipsis (…) in the upper right corner, then Send feedback, then Report a problem, and include when it started, your device and operating system, and a screenshot.

Where do you find Copilot chat history in the updated app?

In the Chats list on the left side of the Copilot app. Select a chat to read or continue it, and next to its title, select ... More to Rename it, Move to notebook, or Delete it (Microsoft). Microsoft says that page applies to "All Microsoft Copilot experiences," personal and work.

How do you export Copilot chats?

From the Microsoft privacy dashboard. A top result for "how to export copilot chats" on November 11, 2026 says Microsoft Copilot "does not currently offer a built-in data export for conversation history" (LLMnesia), but Microsoft's own help page describes one (Microsoft). Sign in at account.microsoft.com/privacy, open Copilot, then Your Copilot app activity history, and under Copilot apps select Export all activity history. Our guide on how to download your AI chat data covers what the file holds.

The same privacy dashboard screen has a second export. If you used Chat in the Microsoft Copilot app, Microsoft files that history under Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps, with its own button, Export all Copilot Chat activity history. Take both files before the deadline.

Images don't open directly in either file. Microsoft says an image is stored "as Base64 encoding," a string that starts with data:image/png;base64 or data:image/jpeg;base64, which you paste into a browser's address bar to view (Microsoft). Save Deep Research reports as Word files too, which Microsoft's Deep Research page says you can do.

Should you delete old Copilot chats instead of moving them?

You can, after exporting what you want. Leaving the older app's chats unmigrated ends them anyway, since Microsoft says that content is deleted after December 31, while deleting from the app or the privacy dashboard doesn't wait for the deadline; the steps, including saved memories, are in is Copilot private.

Is Microsoft 365 Copilot for work different?

Yes. A work or school (Microsoft Entra) account is a separate experience, and none of the personal steps above apply to it. Microsoft says "Data entered into the work (Microsoft Entra) experience does not flow into the personal (Microsoft account) experience, and vice versa" (Microsoft). The older app's privacy FAQ also says it "does not apply to the use of Microsoft 365 Copilot when signed in with Entra ID" (Microsoft), so the December 31 notice is about personal accounts. If your chats are on a work account, nothing has to migrate, and switching to your personal account in the app won't show them.

Work history has its own delete page and is logged for your IT admin, both covered in is Copilot private.

What about Copilot chats on WhatsApp?

Those didn't move anywhere. Copilot left WhatsApp and other messaging apps on January 15, 2026, and Microsoft said it "cannot transfer the chat history to other Copilot surfaces" because that access was "unauthenticated" (Microsoft, archived copy). Any record is whatever you exported with WhatsApp's own tools before that date.

How Morse keeps your chat history out of a migration

Your Copilot history sits in Microsoft's systems, tied to your account, so Microsoft decides what happens to it: which app holds it, which features carry over, and the date the rest is deleted. On Morse, your chat history is stored in your browser, encrypted, and Morse's servers don't keep messages or log what you write. When the app changes, nothing has to move, because there's no server copy to migrate and no sign-in deadline to meet.

That copy is yours to look after. Clearing your browser, losing the device, or deleting your account deletes your chats, and Morse can't recover them, so keep a copy of anything you need. When you sign out, the history locks, and opening it takes two keys: one that never leaves your device and one our server gives you at sign-in.

Each chat also picks who handles a message on its way to the model:

• Private, for everyday chats you'd rather no host keep. New chats start here, with open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM, plus Grok. Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers, and where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it and refuses a reply that doesn't.
• Anonymous, for GPT, Claude, or Gemini with no account of yours behind them. Our proxy removes your account, email, and IP address and sends the message under Morse's own account. The provider sees the message without knowing it's you, and may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy.
• E2EE, for a chat no one but you should read. Your browser checks the secure enclave's hardware attestation, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it, and our servers relay text they can't read. This rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. E2EE chats come with Pro, at $19 a month.

Morse doesn't train AI on your content, sell your data, or show ads (Morse privacy policy).

You can send a first message from the Morse home page without an account, or start free and keep your next chats in your own browser.