MC1139493 - Microsoft Teams Copilot without transcription becomes default for meetings - conversation history now persists

Updated May 7, 2026:September 5, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

Introduction

We’re updating the default behavior of Microsoft Teams Copilot in meetings. Copilot without transcription will become the default mode for newly scheduled Teams meetings where Copilot is allowed. Additionally, conversation history will now persist during meetings, improving multitasking and continuity of insights.

This update is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 478611.

When this will happen

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in mid-July 2026 (previously late April)early November 2025 and expect to complete by end of July 2026 (previously mid-May).

What's changing?November 2025.

Who is affected:How this affects your organization

• Affected tenants: If your TeamsMeetingPolicy was created or modified before the Copilot without transcription becomes default:
  • Applies to new tenants and new users.
  • Existing users without a set policy option was introduced (June 2024), your tenant will be affected byinherit the host configuration and receive this change.new default.
  • Not Affected: If your TeamsMeetingPolicy was created or modified after June 2024 whenCustom policies will remain unchanged.
  • In Teams meeting policy, the Copilot without transcription option was introduced, your tenant will not be affected.

  What will happen:

  • The default Copilot policyproperty value for “Copilot” will change from EnabledWithTranscript to Enabled for both new and existing Teams. This affects how Copilot behaves in newly scheduled meetings whereunless overridden by custom policy.
  • Starting Copilot is allowed.
  • Copilot and Facilitatorduring a meeting will no longer automatically start transcription for meetingstranscription.
  • Transcription must be manually enabled in affected tenants.
  • Users must manually enable transcriptionMeeting Options or during the meeting if users want post-meeting insights or access to use post-meeting Copilot or Facilitator queries.conversation history.
• Conversation history will persistnow persists during meetings formeetings:
  • Users can switch between meeting features (chat, participant list) without losing Copilot insights.
  • This change applies to all users using Copilot without transcription.
  • Tenants with TeamsMeetingPolicy created or modified after June 2024 are not affected.

What you can do to prepare:

If adopting the new defaults:prepare

• Review TeamsMeetingPolicyyour organization’s Teams meeting policies for dependencies on transcription dependencies.defaults.
• Update internal documentation and training.training to reflect the new default behavior and conversation history persistence.
• Communicate to users how to manually enable transcription when needed.

Optional admin stepsneeded, especially if they want to retain current behavior:

• Update Global and Custom TeamsMeetingPolicy settings via TAC or PowerShell.
• TAC UI Portal: Navigate to Teams Admin Center and setCopilot insights after the Copilot policy default value as required. For example, if the current default value is desired, update it to a different value, then set it back. Please ensure both TeamsMeetingPolicy and all Custom Policies are updated.meeting.
• PowerShell example to set Copilot policy to EnabledWithTranscript for all relevant meeting policies:

  get-csteamsmeetingpolicy | ? {
    $_.Identity -ne "Tag:AllOn" -and
    $_.Identity -ne "Tag:AllOff" -and
    $_.Identity -ne "Tag:Default" -and
    $_.Identity -ne "Tag:Kiosk" -and
    $_.Identity -ne "Tag:RestrictedAnonymousAccess" -and
    $_.Identity -ne "Tag:RestrictedAnonymousNoRecording"
  } | % {
    $_.Identity;
    set-csteamsmeetingpolicy -identity $_.Identity -Copilot EnabledWithTranscript
  }

Learn more: 

• Manage Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams meetings and events | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Use Copilot without recording a Teams meeting | Copilot in Teams | Copilot | Microsoft Support

Compliance considerations