How to Review Copilot Connected Experiences Settings

Business users often need to control how Copilot connects to online services for data analysis, file generation, or real-time web search. The connected experiences settings in Microsoft 365 determine whether Copilot can access cloud services to enhance its responses. If these settings are turned off, Copilot may return limited results or fail to fetch live information. This article explains how to review and adjust the connected experiences settings for Copilot in both Windows and Microsoft 365 apps.

What Connected Experiences Mean for Copilot

Connected experiences allow Copilot to send user queries to Microsoft cloud services for processing. When enabled, Copilot can analyze files stored in OneDrive, summarize meeting transcripts from Teams, or search the web for current information. When disabled, Copilot operates entirely offline and can only work with local documents and cached data.

There are three tiers of connected experiences settings that affect Copilot:

Service-Level Policies in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

Global administrators can set organization-wide policies that control Copilot’s access to Microsoft Graph data. These policies determine whether Copilot can read user emails, calendar events, and Teams messages. If a policy blocks Graph access, Copilot cannot provide personalized responses about user data.

App-Specific Privacy Settings

Each Office app such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook has its own privacy options. These settings control whether the app can connect to online services for tasks like spelling check, translation, or file syncing. Copilot relies on these same connections to fetch contextual data from the cloud.

Windows System-Level Toggle

On Windows 10 and Windows 11, a system-wide setting in the Privacy section governs connected experiences for all Microsoft 365 apps. This toggle must be on for Copilot in the taskbar or Windows Search to access online features. If it is off, Copilot will show a message that the service is unavailable.

Steps to Review Connected Experiences Settings

Follow these steps to check and adjust each setting tier. You need administrator permissions for the Microsoft 365 admin center steps.

Check Organization Policies in the Admin Center

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center
   Open a browser and go to admin.microsoft.com. Sign in with a Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator account.
2. Navigate to Org settings
   In the left navigation pane, select Settings and then Org settings. Scroll down to find Microsoft Copilot or Copilot for Microsoft 365.
3. Review data access permissions
   In the Copilot settings page, look for Data sources or Microsoft Graph data. Ensure the toggle Allow Copilot to access Microsoft Graph data is set to On.
4. Check web search settings
   Scroll to Web search or Bing search. Confirm Allow Copilot to search the web is enabled if you want real-time results.
5. Save changes
   Click Save at the bottom of the page. Changes may take up to 30 minutes to propagate to all users.

Adjust App-Specific Privacy Options in Office

1. Open any Office app
   Launch Word, Excel, or PowerPoint on your computer.
2. Go to File > Options
   Click File in the top-left corner, then Options at the bottom of the menu.
3. Open Trust Center settings
   In the Options dialog, select Trust Center on the left, then click Trust Center Settings.
4. Select Privacy Options
   In the Trust Center, choose Privacy Options from the left menu. Look for the section Connected experiences.
5. Enable or disable connected experiences
   Check the box Turn on optional connected experiences to allow Copilot to use cloud services. Uncheck it to block all online features. Click OK to save.

Modify Windows System-Level Setting

1. Open Windows Settings
   Press Windows key + I to open Settings.
2. Go to Privacy & Security
   Click Privacy & Security in the left pane, then select Microsoft 365 Connected Experiences.
3. Toggle the master switch
   Set the switch Microsoft 365 Connected Experiences to On. This enables online features for all Office apps and Copilot on this device.
4. Restart Office apps
   Close and reopen any Office applications to apply the change. Copilot will now attempt to connect to cloud services.

If Copilot Still Does Not Connect After Reviewing Settings

Even after enabling all connected experiences settings, Copilot may remain offline. Check these additional factors.

Copilot Returns a “Not Available” Message

This often means the user does not have a valid Copilot license. Verify the user is assigned a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Users > Active users. Without a license, Copilot cannot access any connected experiences.

Copilot Shows “Search Disabled” in the Taskbar

The Windows taskbar Copilot icon uses the same connected experiences toggle as the Office apps. If the toggle is on but Copilot still shows this message, check Group Policy settings. IT administrators may have set a policy that overrides the local toggle. Run gpresult /h report.html in a command prompt to view applied policies.

Copilot in Microsoft Edge Cannot Use Web Search

Edge has its own privacy settings separate from the Office apps. In Edge, go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services. Under Services, turn on Search and service improvement. Also ensure Microsoft Copilot is enabled under Sidebar > Copilot in Edge settings.

Item	Admin Center Policy	App Privacy Setting	Windows System Toggle
Scope	Entire organization	Per user per app	Per device
Controls Graph data access	Yes	No	No
Controls web search	Yes	Yes	Yes
Requires admin rights	Yes	No	No
Affects Copilot in Office apps	Yes	Yes	Yes

You can now review and adjust all three tiers of connected experiences settings for Copilot. Start with the Windows system toggle to confirm basic connectivity, then check the app-specific privacy options in each Office application. For organization-wide control, use the Microsoft 365 admin center policy to manage Graph data access and web search. A useful next step is to test Copilot in Word by asking it to summarize a document stored in OneDrive, which requires all three settings to be enabled.