Microsoft Edge: M365 Copilot Search relevance using work browsing history

Originally posted by Microsoft Apr 29, 2026 Uncategorized 0 Comments

With admin approval, Microsoft Edge will share selected work browsing history from work profiles with Microsoft 365 Copilot Search to improve search relevance. This feature, controlled by a policy and user setting, rolls out worldwide in May 2026 and excludes personal or consumer profiles.

With IT administrator approval, Microsoft Edge will share selected work browsing history from Microsoft and third‑party apps with Microsoft 365 Copilot Search to improve search result ranking. When users search in Microsoft 365 Copilot Search, Copilot will surface previously visited work pages more quickly, helping reduce time spent re‑finding information. Admins will control availability through a Microsoft Edge policy, and browsing history will be shared only when Microsoft 365 Copilot Search is configured in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 537283.

When this will happen

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in early May 2026 and expect to complete by mid-May 2026.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected

• Organizations using Microsoft Edge for Business
• Tenants with Microsoft 365 Copilot Search configured in the Microsoft 365 admin center
• Admins managing Microsoft Edge and Microsoft 365 Copilot policies
• Users signed in to Microsoft Edge with a work account

There will be no change for consumer Microsoft Edge users or personal browsing profiles.

What will happen

• If enabled by administrators, Microsoft Edge will share selected work‑related browsing history with Microsoft 365 Copilot Search to improve search result ranking.
• Eligible browsing history will include pages from administrator‑configured Microsoft and third‑party work apps and sites.
• Browsing history will be collected only from Microsoft Edge work profiles.
• Personal browsing profiles and consumer Microsoft Edge users will not be included.
• A user‑visible setting will appear in Microsoft Edge under Settings > Microsoft 365 Copilot, allowing users to turn the feature off when permitted by admin policy.
• If the ShareBrowsingHistoryWithCopilotSearchAllowed policy is disabled, no browsing history will be shared.

What you can do to prepare:

• Review and configure the ShareBrowsingHistoryWithCopilotSearchAllowed Microsoft Edge policy to align with your organization’s privacy and compliance requirements.
• Coordinate with Microsoft 365 Copilot administrators to ensure consistent Copilot Search behavior across your tenant.
• Notify security, privacy, and helpdesk teams about the upcoming capability and the user‑visible Edge setting.
• Update internal documentation or user guidance if you describe Microsoft Edge or Microsoft 365 Copilot Search behavior.

Learn more:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Search | Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn
• Microsoft Edge browser policy documentation ShareBrowsingHistoryWithCopilotSearchAllowed | Microsoft Edge | Microsoft Learn

Compliance considerations

The table below summarizes compliance areas impacted by this feature. 

Compliance area impacted	Explanation
Customer data storage	When enabled by the admin, Edge sends selected work-related browsing history to Microsoft 365 Substrate, where it is used to improve search result relevance. No new long-term storage of browsing history is introduced outside existing M365 Copilot data handling.
Processing and access of existing customer data	Work-related browsing history is processed by Microsoft 365 Copilot Search to surface more relevant results. Data is processed under the user’s existing Microsoft 365 Copilot service terms.
Tenant-to-tenant interaction	Only work-profile browsing history associated with the user’s signed-in work account is shared. Personal-profile browsing is not sent to Copilot.
Data Loss Prevention (Purview)	Browsing history shared with M365 Copilot inherits existing Microsoft 365 Copilot data protection and Purview controls that apply to the user’s M365 Copilot interactions.
Admin controls	The capability is controlled by the ShareBrowsingHistoryWithCopilotSearchAllowed policy. Admins can enable or disable the feature for their organization. Users also see a setting in edge://settings under M365 Copilot to turn the feature off.

Message ID: MC1294523