Sessions & Custom Instructions¶

What Are Sessions?¶

A session is like a conversation with Copilot. Everything you discuss stays in that session's memory.

Aspect	How It Works
Created when	You launch `copilot` or open a new panel
Memory	Remembers everything discussed within the session
Ends when	You close the terminal or start a new session
Resume	Type `/resume` to go back to any past session

Custom Instructions¶

Custom instructions tell Copilot who you are and how you like to work. They're loaded automatically in every session.

Where Is the File?¶

C:\Users\<your-username>\.copilot\copilot-instructions.md

What does the dot (.) mean?

The .copilot folder starts with a dot — this is a convention that means "hidden folder". On Windows, you might not see it in File Explorer unless you enable "Show hidden files".

What Can You Put in It?¶

Your name, role, and background
How you like answers formatted
Your learning style preferences
Environment details (like lab tenant info)
Anything you want Copilot to always know about you

How to Edit It¶

You can ask Copilot CLI to edit it for you! Just say:

"Add to my custom instructions that I prefer dark mode examples"

Or edit it manually with Notepad:

# This opens the file in Notepad for editing
notepad "$HOME\.copilot\copilot-instructions.md"

Backup¶

We set up an automatic daily backup to OneDrive:

Schedule: Daily at 9:00 AM
Location: OneDrive - Microsoft\CopilotCLI_Backups\
Keeps: Last 30 backups
Includes: All config files, plugins, session history (excludes large MCP server files)

The backup is managed by a Windows Scheduled Task called CopilotCLI_BackupInstructions.

# To see the scheduled task
Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "CopilotCLI_BackupInstructions"

# To run a backup manually right now
& "$HOME\.copilot\backup-instructions.ps1"