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Data & compliance this week: 4 changes (31 October 2026)

Four confirmed Microsoft Purview changes from the week to 31 October 2026. One date moved again: the DSPM classic retirement now starts in mid-March 2027.

This is our weekly Data & compliance roundup. It was due on Friday 30 October and is published a day late. Every item was re-read on its primary source on 31 October 2026.

DSPM classic and DSPM for AI classic retire in March 2027 (moved again)

Updated 30 October 2026: "Beginning in mid-March 2027 (previously late January) and expected to complete in late March 2027 (previously late January)". The first version of this message gave 30 November to 31 December 2026, so check any runbook or plan that still quotes those dates.

  • Who acts: Purview, security and compliance admins who still use the classic DSPM or DSPM for AI views.
  • Check: your reports, runbooks and bookmarks open the current DSPM experience in the Purview portal, not the classic pages.
  • Source: MC1481315.

Legacy Teams retention policies stop covering Copilot, mid to end of January 2027

"Beginning in mid-January 2027 (previously late October 2026) and expected to complete by end of January 2027 (previously mid-November)". "Action is required if you currently rely on Teams retention policies to govern Copilot interactions."

  • Who acts: compliance and records admins.
  • Check: Purview > Data lifecycle management > Retention policies. Find policies on Teams chats that you assumed also cover Copilot, and create an explicit policy for the Microsoft Copilot experiences location.
  • Source: MC1481313 (updated 28 October 2026).

Auto-labeling reaches legacy Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt): preview mid-November, GA late November 2026

Public preview "mid-November 2026", GA "late November 2026". Existing policies don't pick up the old formats on their own: "Make a small edit to each existing policy … and save the change", then "Run the policy again to restart the crawl".

  • Who acts: information protection admins.
  • Check: Information Protection > Policies > Auto-labeling policies. After GA, re-save and re-run each policy in simulation first, and expect new matches in old file shares and SharePoint libraries.
  • Source: MC1530948 (29 October 2026).

Retention for Copilot Memory: rollout completed

"Rollout completed October 2026." Purview can now retain Copilot memory items; retained versions are stored in the user's Exchange mailbox and are reachable through eDiscovery. "No immediate action is required."

  • Who acts: compliance and records teams: decide the retention period and who may search it.
  • Check: your Copilot retention policy covers memory, and eDiscovery role holders are the people you expect.
  • Source: MC1478965. Related: M365 Copilot Readiness Kit.

More: all Data & compliance news · Microsoft 365 security deadlines.

Last reviewed: 31 October 2026. Runbook Lab is not affiliated with Microsoft.