This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Web search that allows Copilot responses to use information (content) from the web for your Microsoft account on the web, Edge, and app in Windows 11.
The Microsoft Copilot app is an AI here to give advice, inspiration, and help when you need a hand. You can start a conversation to get clear answers to tough questions, turn ideas into images, or polish your writing until it shines.
Signing into Copilot using your personal Microsoft Account gives you access to your chat history, image creation, longer conversations, voice interactions, and other Copilot features.
Microsoft Copilot has an optional feature that allows Copilot to reference web content when responding to user prompts. Allowing Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat to reference web content improves the quality of Copilot responses by grounding them in the latest information from the web.
When Web search is turned on, Copilot may fetch information from the Bing search service when information from the web helps to provide a better, more grounded response
When Web search is turned off, web content isn't included in Copilot responses.
References:
How web search works in Microsoft Copilot Chat and agents | Microsoft Support
How web search works in Microsoft Copilot Chat and agents
support.microsoft.com
Data, privacy, and security for web search in Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat
Learn how to manage Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 access to web content for your organization.
learn.microsoft.com
Despite the Microsoft reference above saying "User preferences persist across sessions and are applied across supported Copilot clients and devices.", the Web search toggle appears to always get automatically turned back on when you quit and reopen Copilot.
Contents
- Option One: Turn On or Off Web Search in Copilot from Copilot app and web
- Option Two: Turn On or Off Web Search in Copilot from Microsoft Edge
EXAMPLE: Web Search in Copilot turned off
1 Open the copilot.com site or Copilot app on Windows 11.
2 Sign in to Copilot with your Microsoft account if not already.
3 Open Copilot Chat settings.
4 Click/tap on Personalization on the left side in Chat settings. (see screenshot below)
5 Click/tap on Advanced to expand it open.
6 Turn on (default) or off Web search for what you want.
1 Open Microsoft Edge.
2 Sign in to Microsoft Edge with your Microsoft account if not already.
3 Click/tap on the Copilot Chat icon on the toolbar. (see screenshot below step 4)
4 Click/tap on the Settings and more (3 dots) button, and click/tap on Chat settings. (see screenshot below)
5 Click/tap on Personalization in Chat settings. (see screenshot below)
6 Click/tap on Advanced to expand it open. (see screenshot below)
7 Turn on (default) or off Web search for what you want.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
Last edited:
