Summary
- Microsoft Purview is changing legacy Teams retention policies so they are treated as Teams-only and no longer implicitly apply to Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions.
- Organizations that currently rely on Teams retention policies to retain or delete Copilot content will need to create retention policies specifically for the Copilot workload.
- Teams retention behavior is not changing; the impact is limited to Copilot interactions that were previously covered by legacy Teams policies.
- Compliance and records management admins should review existing retention policies, update documentation, and confirm Copilot retention coverage after the change.
Primary Service: Purview
Admin Impact: High
User Impact: Low
Release Start: 31 Oct 2026
Release End: 15 Nov 2026
Services: M365 Copilot, Microsoft Purview, Teams
Category: Plan for change
Tags: Admin Action, User Adoption
History
9/28/2026 Item Added to Message Center
Microsoft Message
Microsoft Purview is updating how legacy Microsoft Teams retention policies are applied. Some existing retention policies that are scoped to Teams currently also apply to Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions. Beginning with this rollout, these legacy policies will be treated as Teams-only policies and will no longer implicitly apply to Copilot workloads.
Rollout schedule
Worldwide: Beginning in late October 2026 and expected to complete by mid-November 2026
Impact on your organization
Who is affected
Organizations using Microsoft Purview retention policies that were historically configured for Microsoft Teams and currently rely on those policies to retain or delete Microsoft 365 Copilot interactionsCompliance administrators and records management administrators responsible for retention policy configuration
Platforms and services
- Microsoft Purview
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft 365 Copilot
What will happen
- Legacy Teams retention policies that currently affect both Teams and Copilot data will be treated as Teams-only policies.
- Copilot interactions will no longer be retained or deleted through these legacy Teams retention policies.
- Retention behavior for Microsoft Teams content will remain unchanged.
- Organizations that require retention coverage for Copilot interactions must configure retention settings specifically for the Copilot workload.
Action required and recommendations
Action is required if you currently rely on Teams retention policies to govern Copilot interactions.
- Review existing Microsoft Purview retention policies to identify policies that may currently apply to Copilot interactions.
- Determine whether your organization requires retention or deletion controls for Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions.
- Configure retention policies explicitly for the Copilot workload to maintain the desired compliance coverage after this change.
- Update internal compliance documentation and administrator guidance as needed.
- Inform compliance and records management stakeholders of this change.
Compliance considerations
Question: Does the change alter how existing customer data is processed, stored, or accessed?
Answer: Copilot interaction data will no longer be governed by legacy Teams retention policies and must be managed through retention policies explicitly configured for the Copilot workload.
Question: Does the change modify, interrupt, or disable retention policies, holds, or deletion workflows?
Answer: Existing Teams retention policies that currently affect Copilot interactions will no longer apply to Copilot workloads. Organizations requiring Copilot retention coverage must configure retention policies specifically for Copilot.