Enabling Flex Routing in the EU and EFTA

Originally posted by Microsoft Apr 7, 2026 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Starting April 17, 2026, Microsoft enables flex routing for EU and EFTA tenants using Copilot, allowing LLM inferencing outside the EU Data Boundary during peak demand. Data remains encrypted, with limited pseudonymized data stored outside. Flex routing is on by default but can be managed in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

To provide customers with greater flexibility during periods of peak demand, Microsoft is introducing flex routing. Flex routing allows large language model (LLM) inferencing to occur outside the European Union (EU) Data Boundary during periods of peak demand to help maintain a consistent Copilot experience.

No matter where LLM inferencing occurs, data will be encrypted in transit and at rest. Data at rest will continue to be stored inside the EU Data Boundary, except for limited pseudonymized data which may be stored outside the EU Data Boundary for security and operational purposes.

Flex routing is enabled by default for your tenant, and you remain in control – you can review or change this setting at any time in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

When this will happen:

This change will take effect April 17, 2026.

How this will affect your organization:

Who is affected:

• Tenants using Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat, and Copilot experiences in Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Copilot Studio.
• Tenants in the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

What will happen:

• The flex routing setting is now available in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• Flex routing is enabled by default for your tenant, but routing changes will not take effect until April 17, 2026.
• During periods of peak demand, LLM inferencing calls may be routed outside the EU Data Boundary if you choose to keep the default flex routing setting.

What you need to do to prepare:

Review your flex routing setting and update if needed:

• Sign into the Microsoft 365 admin center
• Go to Copilot > Settings > Flexible inferencing during peak load periods
• Confirm that your current setting aligns with your organization’s needs

Setting changes will be honored within a week of when you make the change.

Learn more about flex routing at learn.microsoft.com.

Compliance considerations:

Area Impacted	Explanation
Does the change alter how existing customer data is processed, stored, or accessed?	Yes. LLM inferencing may occur outside the EU Data Boundary during times of peak demand when flex routing is enabled. Limited pseudonymized data may also be stored outside the EU Data Boundary for security and operational purposes.
Does the change include an admin control?	Yes. Admins can review or change the flex routing setting in the Microsoft 365 admin center. This setting will be honored in the Power Platform admin center for Copilot experiences in Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Copilot Studio, unless the setting in the Power Platform admin center is more restrictive.

Message ID: MC1269223