Take a look and decide whether this affects your tenant, users or support teams.
Primary Audience
Why this score?
AT A GLANCE
END USERS
IT ADMINS
ROLLOUT TIMELINE
Late September 2026
📢 Official Microsoft Message Center Announcement
Microsoft 365 Copilot: Retirement of the Sites control in Researcher
Message ID: MC1478004
[What and why]
We are retiring the Sites control in Microsoft 365 Copilot Researcher for users enabled for Frontier. Today, the Sites control allows users to enter and maintain a list of websites when creating a research request.
After this change, users can continue to guide Researcher to preferred websites by referencing website names or URLs directly in their prompts. For example: “Research this topic using information from contoso.com and fabrikam.com.”
This update simplifies the Researcher experience while modernizing the underlying platform. Existing tenant-level web search controls will continue to determine whether Researcher can use web content. Specifying website names or URLs in a prompt indicates a user’s preferred research scope and does not function as an administrator-managed allowlist or blocklist.
[Rollout schedule]
- Retirement for Frontier (Worldwide): Beginning in late September 2026 and expected to complete in late September 2026
[Impact on your organization]
Who is affected
- Users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license who are enabled for Frontier and currently use Researcher
Platforms and services
- Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Researcher
- Frontier
What will happen
- The dedicated Sites control will be removed from the Researcher prompt experience.
- Users will no longer be able to add or manage websites through the Sites control.
- Users can continue to specify preferred websites by including website names or URLs directly in their prompts.
- Existing tenant-level web search settings will continue to govern whether Researcher can access web content.
- No changes are being made to administrator-configured website controls for Researcher with Computer Use.
- No new admin settings are being introduced.
- Existing web search governance and controls remain unchanged.
[Action required and recommendations]
No administrator action is required.
We recommend that you:
- Inform impacted users that the Sites control is being retired.
- Update any internal training or documentation that references the Sites control.
- Remind users that website preferences can continue to be specified directly within Researcher prompts.
- Review existing web search settings if you want to confirm how web content is governed in your organization.
[Compliance considerations]
No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.
Source: Microsoft Message Center • Analysed by MWPro
