Reproductions from the Colonial Office series held by the Manuscript Division document England's colonial administration of its North American territories.

The files typically include entry books and correspondence with the secretary of state and the Board of Trade as well as collections of acts and sessional papers of the colonial legislatures. Also included are lists of colonial gazettes, statistical blue books, military and naval despatches, land grants, and miscellaneous records.

Colonial Office 5 (CO 5) documents Britain's administration of the United States up to 1783. CO 5 was created through a reorganization of records in the Public Record Office completed in 1910. It consists primarily of the records from Plantations General and each of the North American colonies to the end of the American Revolution.

CO 5 is available digitally in its entirety on the Adam Matthew subscription database Colonial America, which is accessible at the Library of Congress.

The remaining Colonial Office series held by the Manuscript Division primarily focus on the colonial history of the British West Indies. CO 1 holds records relating to America and the West Indies prior to 1688, after which American papers are found in CO 5.  West Indian records dated after 1688 are located in CO 318 and under country specific series elsewhere in the CO records.

CO 1 is available digitally and freely accessible on The National Archives (UK) website. Most West Indian Colonial Office records have been digitized and made available on the Adam Matthew subscription database Colonial Caribbean.

Links to digital content are provided in the shelflists accompanying the descriptions. The respective databases are also listed below.