Microsoft Viva: Copilot Analytics - Unified Exclusion list

Introduction

We’re introducing a Unified Exclusion list in Copilot Analytics (Microsoft Viva Insights), a new feature that provides a single, consistent way to exclude specific users from all Viva Insights. With this update, administrators will have one consolidated exclusion list that applies across the Microsoft Copilot Dashboard (in Viva Insights), Manager and Team insights, Advanced Insights, and the upcoming Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat analytics (available in Copilot Dashboard). Admins can manage exclusions easily through one list, simplifying configuration and safeguarding sensitive user data without impacting other organizational HR data. This ensures consistent privacy controls and data reporting for both licensed and “free” (unlicensed) Copilot users in your organization.

Admins can use CSV upload and Azure Active Directory (Entra ID groups) to manage exclusions in the tenant.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 500161.

When this will happen

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out this feature update globally,  starting late-September 2025 and expect rollout to be completed by early-October 2025.

How this affects your organization

All of Viva Insights experiences will now honor the excluded users (available in the Unified Exclusion list), eliminating the inconsistencies between different surfaces. For example, if an employee is on the Unified Exclusion list, that user’s data will be omitted from all Copilot Dashboards, manager insights, and analyst queries uniformly. This replaces the legacy approach where the Microsoft Copilot Dashboard had its own exclusion list and Advanced Insights relied on license or service plan removal. 

The AI administrators, Viva Insights Administrators and Global Administrators will have access to configure this updated setting.

Note: Any users whom you previously excluded (via the old Microsoft Copilot Dashboard exclusion list) will automatically remain excluded under the new mechanism. Those users will continue to be fully excluded from all Viva Insights data, including the new M365 Copilot Chat usage analytics, without any additional action on your part. This ensures continuity of privacy controls for existing tenants. 

Advanced insights will additionally, continue to exclude users for whom Viva insights service plan is not available. 

What you can do to prepare

No immediate action is required to enable this feature. Once the updated Unified Exclusion list becomes available in your tenant, we recommend administrators:

• Navigate to the Microsoft 365 admin center: Setup > Microsoft Viva > Viva Insights > Manage user exclusion lists
• Verify that any users you intend to exclude (from Microsoft Copilot Dashboard (in Viva Insights), Manager and Team insights, Advanced Insights, and the upcoming Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat analytics) are listed. By default, the system will carry over users from your previous Microsoft Copilot Dashboard exclusion configuration that is already available.
• Review and update the exclusion list using CSV upload or Entra ID group membership.
• Notify relevant stakeholders about the new unified exclusion mechanism.

Note: The currently implemented exclusion list under Setup > Microsoft Viva > Viva Insights is accessible to only AI administrators and Global Administrators.

Learn more about Copilot Dashboard licensing requirements: Connect to the Microsoft Copilot Dashboard for Microsoft 365 customers | Viva Insights | Microsoft Viva | Microsoft Learn

Before the release we will update the documentation about the Unified Exclusion list: https://learn.microsoft.com/viva/insights/advanced/admin/manage-settings-copilot-dashboard

Compliance considerations