You open Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps such as Word or Teams and expect to see the toggle that limits responses to your work content. That toggle, sometimes labeled “Work content only” or “Limit to my work content,” may be entirely absent from the Copilot pane. This issue typically occurs because the feature is disabled at the tenant level by an administrator, or because your account lacks the correct license. This article explains the root causes of the missing toggle and provides step-by-step fixes to restore it.
Key Takeaways: Restoring the Work Content Toggle in Copilot
- Microsoft 365 admin center > Copilot > Data security and compliance: The admin must enable the “Limit Copilot responses to work content” policy for the toggle to appear.
- Copilot for Microsoft 365 license assignment: Each user must have an active Copilot license assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Copilot settings in Word or Teams: After policy and license are correct, restart the app and the toggle appears in the Copilot pane header.
Why the Work Content Toggle Does Not Appear
The work content toggle is a tenant-level feature controlled by the Microsoft 365 admin center. When the toggle is missing, one of three conditions is present: the tenant policy is set to disallow the feature, the user does not have a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license, or the app version is outdated. The toggle itself does not appear by default — it is a deliberate opt-in setting that administrators must enable.
Tenant Policy Restriction
The most common cause is that the global admin or Copilot admin has not enabled the “Limit Copilot responses to work content” policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center. This policy controls whether users see the toggle in their Copilot pane. Without it enabled, Copilot always searches across all indexed content, including personal or public sources.
Missing License Assignment
Even if the tenant policy is enabled, each user must have a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license assigned. Users with only Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 licenses without the Copilot add-on will not see the toggle. The license must be active and not expired.
Outdated App Version
The toggle requires Copilot version 1.0.0 or later on Windows, and the corresponding app version on macOS and mobile. Older versions of Microsoft 365 apps may not render the toggle UI element even when the policy is correctly set.
Steps to Re-enable the Work Content Toggle
Follow these steps in order. Most users resolve the issue at step 1 or step 2.
- Verify the tenant policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center
Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as a global admin or Copilot admin. Go to Settings > Org settings > Copilot. Select Data security and compliance. Under “Limit Copilot responses to work content,” set the toggle to On. Click Save. This change applies to all users within 15 minutes. - Confirm the user has a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license
In the admin center, go to Users > Active users. Select the affected user. Go to the Licenses and apps tab. Ensure Copilot for Microsoft 365 is checked. If it is not, assign the license by checking the box and clicking Save changes. - Update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version
Open any Office app such as Word. Go to File > Account > Update Options > Update Now. Wait for the update to complete and restart the app. On macOS, open any Office app and go to Help > Check for Updates. - Restart the app and check the Copilot pane
Close and reopen Word or Teams. Open the Copilot pane by clicking the Copilot icon on the Home tab or the ribbon. Look for the toggle near the top of the pane, usually labeled “Work content only” or “Limit to my work content.” If it appears, the fix is complete.
If the Toggle Still Does Not Appear After the Main Fix
Copilot pane shows “No work content available”
This message appears when the tenant policy is enabled and the license is assigned, but the user has no indexed work content. This can happen if the user has not signed into the Microsoft 365 app with their work account, or if the user’s OneDrive and SharePoint sites are not yet indexed. Sign out and sign back in using the work account. Then open a document stored in OneDrive or SharePoint and try again.
Toggle appears but is grayed out
A grayed-out toggle indicates that the Copilot service is still provisioning. Wait 24 hours after license assignment. If it remains grayed out after 24 hours, contact Microsoft support with the tenant ID and user ID.
Only some users see the toggle
This is typically a license mismatch. Verify that all users who need the toggle have the Copilot for Microsoft 365 license assigned. Use the admin center’s bulk assignment feature to apply the license to multiple users at once: go to Users > Active users, select multiple users, click Manage product licenses, and assign the Copilot license.
Copilot Work Content Toggle: Enabled vs Disabled Behavior
| Item | Toggle Enabled (Work Content Only) | Toggle Disabled |
|---|---|---|
| Data sources searched | User’s OneDrive, SharePoint sites, and Exchange Online | All indexed content including web results and public sources |
| Response relevance | Limited to internal documents and emails | May include public information |
| Privacy level | Higher — responses stay within tenant boundaries | Lower — responses may reference external data |
| Typical use case | Internal research, confidential documents | General queries, brainstorming |
When the toggle is enabled, Copilot only returns information from the user’s Microsoft Graph data. When disabled, Copilot can also pull from the broader web. The toggle is a per-session setting and resets to the default state each time the app is restarted.
You can now verify the tenant policy, assign the correct license, and update the app to restore the work content toggle. If the toggle remains missing after these steps, check the user’s sign-in status and wait up to 24 hours for provisioning. For persistent issues, use the Microsoft 365 admin center’s support request tool to escalate with the tenant ID and user ID.