Administrators of GitHub Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise have until October 22, 2026 to review the new global Default policy for new features. It can already be configured, but it only starts affecting access on that date. The key decision is what should happen to eligible features that remain Unconfigured.
What changes on October 22
According to the GitHub Changelog published September 24, the policy will determine the default behavior of generally available Copilot features that have not received an explicit decision. GitHub says existing choices are preserved: a feature explicitly enabled or disabled will not be overridden by the new rule.
The default availability documentation adds that the feature policy is enabled by default. Therefore, if an administrator takes no action, eligible unconfigured features will be enabled on October 22.
The three options for administrators
| Option | Effect on eligible features | When to consider it |
|---|---|---|
| Enabled | Current and future eligible features are available to users by default. | When the organization accepts default adoption of generally available features. |
| Disabled | Current eligible features remain unavailable and future eligible features require administrator approval. | When release should happen only after explicit review. |
| Let organizations decide | Organization administrators can decide whether eligible features are enabled or disabled. | When the enterprise wants to delegate the decision to each organization. |
Checklist before the deadline
- Go to AI Controls, open Copilot, and locate Default policy for new features.
- Choose Enabled, Disabled, or Let organizations decide according to your environment's governance.
- Review how many eligible policies still appear as Unconfigured. GitHub's documentation says the settings banner shows this count so administrators can assess the impact of the global default.
- Open Features & clients and explicitly configure any feature that should not follow the global default.
- Also review the Copilot Code Review policy on the Agents page and the MCP servers policy, because GitHub includes them in scope.
- If you use Let organizations decide, align with organization administrators on which decisions must be made locally.
- Record explicit choices that must remain fixed after October 22.
What the policy does not override
Explicit decisions remain in place. GitHub also says preview features remain opt-in. If an administrator opts into a preview and it later becomes generally available, the existing choice is preserved.
The documentation also lists specific exceptions, including restrictive model policies on GHE.com and the option to store local sessions in the cloud for Copilot CLI and VS Code. These exceptions should not be treated as features automatically controlled by this policy.
Enterprise and organizations: where delegation applies
At the enterprise level, the default applies to features labeled Unconfigured. At the organization level, it can apply when the enterprise owner selected Let organizations decide and the organization owner has not explicitly configured the feature. This makes delegation a governance decision, not merely a technical setting.
Do not confuse the feature policy with the model policy
GitHub maintains separate policies for features and models. The default availability policy for models is already active, while the policy covered here starts applying to features on October 22, 2026. For this administrative review, focus on which eligible features remain unconfigured and which global default should apply to them.
