Data residency
Your note files and new Ask chat history are stored in your Microsoft 365 tenant. Orbit also processes content to deliver its features and stores the additional data listed below. Storage location and processing location are separate considerations.
See what lives where
Section titled “See what lives where”| Data | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Note bodies (markdown files) | Your Microsoft 365 tenant (OneDrive / SharePoint) |
| Images, attachments, drawings | Your Microsoft 365 tenant, alongside the notes |
| File version history and recycle bin | Your Microsoft 365 tenant |
| Ask chat history, conversation titles, pins and archives | Your own OneDrive, in a separate Orbit Chat History folder |
| Earlier Ask history awaiting migration | Orbit’s database until the OneDrive copy is verified; historical backups expire separately |
| Explicitly submitted Ask feedback ratings and comments | Orbit’s database |
| Note titles, file paths, tags, wiki-link graph | Orbit’s database (search and navigation index) |
| Comments — message text and the short note passage each thread anchors to | Orbit’s database |
| Users (name, email, Orbit role, last sign-in), workspace registrations, shares and invites, editor licenses, notifications, audit events, daily usage rollups | Orbit’s database |
| Payment card details | Stripe — never Orbit |
Orbit reads and writes your files through Microsoft Graph as the signed-in user. Ordinary note-file storage remains in Microsoft 365, while comments, temporary export files and earlier history awaiting migration require the distinctions on this page. See Permissions model and Ask chat history.
Search without copying content
Section titled “Search without copying content”Full-text search runs through Microsoft Graph against your own tenant, using the signed-in user’s token. Orbit’s own index covers only titles, paths, tags, and links, without a separate full-text note-body index in Orbit. Search requests and results are still handled by Orbit’s services.
Know where Orbit runs
Section titled “Know where Orbit runs”Orbit’s web app, collaboration server, and database run on Microsoft Azure in the East US 2 region. Real-time collaboration sessions relay note text between active editors through the collaboration server while a note is open.
Transactional email
Section titled “Transactional email”Orbit sends transactional email for share notifications, mentions, license requests and approvals, and billing events. Every email is queued and audit-logged before sending. Orbit sends no marketing email from the product.
Exports inside Teams
Section titled “Exports inside Teams”When you export a note from inside Microsoft Teams, the export file is staged briefly in Orbit’s database behind a one-time link so your system browser can download it, then expires and is deleted. Browser exports download directly.
AI clients read with your access
Section titled “AI clients read with your access”Built-in Ask processes questions and retrieved context through the configured AI provider when enabled by an Orbit organization administrator. Its history is saved in the user’s OneDrive. Separately, a connected MCP client acts with that user’s Microsoft 365 access; Orbit handles the tool requests and responses. AI handoff links carry note and workspace identifiers rather than note text. See Connect AI clients and Ask chat history.
Can Orbit staff read our notes?
Section titled “Can Orbit staff read our notes?”Orbit’s service holds zero application permissions in your tenant, so there is no service credential that can read your files. Access to notes always requires a signed-in user from your organization.
What happens to our data if we stop using Orbit?
Section titled “What happens to our data if we stop using Orbit?”Your notes are already plain markdown files in your OneDrive and SharePoint — see Where your notes live. They stay there whether or not Orbit is installed.
Up next: how Orbit gets its access in the first place — Permissions model.