The Copilot Web Search Setting Has Moved

In a small but consequential Microsoft 365 Copilot UI update, the option to enable or disable web search as part of a Copilot request has now moved to Personalization under the Chat settings menu.

This change is also expanding the option to restrict web search to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat experiences that previously (under the legacy UI) would have been the "Web" option.

Understanding how web content grounding fits into the broader Copilot story is important. When Copilot first arrived, it was far more stateless than it is now. You started a new chat, and your prompt plus your selection of "Work" or "Web" entirely drove what Copilot could access. But now, with a range of personalization options, including chat history where past chats are used to inform future sessions, that understanding must be more nuanced. Work or web remain core grounding levers, but every option activated or deactivated under personalization has the potential to steer Copilot and provide it with relevant information. Like the rest of these settings, the new web toggle will follow users between sessions and devices. This puts the choice to look at web content on an equal footing with maintaining chat-to-chat memory persistence.

I'm not sure being hidden three clicks deep is the right place for this web content toggle. If we have a Work IQ toggle in the core UI, I'm not really sure why a Web IQ toggle can't live there too. But I do understand that fitting all the right features in the right place without making the UI overwhelming is a complex challenge.

The good news here, is this option will be available both to fully licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users and those using Copilot Chat. It's great to see a range of personalization options coming to both experiences.

For more information, check out MC1421919 in the Message center. This update is rolling out now and will be completed by the end of July.

First posted on Linkedin on 07/18/2026 → View Linkedin Post Here