Forum Discussion
How do I turn off Copilot in Word documents?
I don't need Copilot in my word documents and I don't need the copilot icon stalking me on every page when I begin to type. Its very distracting. How do I disable Copilot?
111 Replies
The lightbulb solution is a fail. Click on the lightbulb and you get Microsoft ads.
For office efficency we need fast operations without unwanted changes or distractions. Certainly for people who struggle with English or Grammar AI can help, but the bulk of the population doesn't need writing on the document suggesting AI is ready to leap to the rescue.
Please tell us how to get AI out of our way unless we need it.
If you (Microsoft don't know how to fix it, please tell us so we can find an expert to get our effeciency back up to where it should be.
Today's Windows 10 update includes adding copilolt to the taskbar but it is now "uninstallable" using more conventional Window methods.
art
- I need it for research
Then we are happy for you. For many of us it is an unwanted intrusion that is now interfering with work and we should not have to put up with it. Your now "needing" it does not justify its imposition on us.
username007
OK, I finally worked out how to get rid of Copilot in Word - at the moment, the only way seems to be to roll back Office to a previous version, but I also had to downgrade my 365 subscription to "Microsoft 365 Family Classic", ie the version which contains everything it used to (OneDrive, family sharing etc) but NOT Copilot.
Microsoft had kindly upgraded my subscription to "Microsoft 365 Family" at an extra $40 per year, just to give me Copilot, which I didn't ask for or want...
So the steps are as in the thread here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-to-disable-or-remove-copilot-in-office-365/fc12cf79-3f93-4db9-8213-07ad13e16756
1) Uninstall 365
2) Follow the "unsubscribe" link on the 365 page to get the option to downgrade your subscription (sneaky to hide it behind the scary unsubscribe)...
3) Only after you've downgraded to "Microsoft 365 Family Classic", use the img download in the link above to get the previous version of Office.
(If you just downgrade your subscription without uninstalling, Copilot hangs around, presumably until your next payment, which for me was 10 months away)
4) I went into Word's option and chose "Never update" - this isn't ideal, but hopefully there will eventually be an option to turn this unwanted and expensive feature off with the latest version.OK, I 'll try this but I'll need to get my husband to help. I am pretty bad with installing and uninstalling. It's insidious how Co-pilot just comes into your world, stuffs everything up and is so difficult to get rid of.
Same experience here... thanks for your post!
Copilot really is the new Clippy, but from memory MS didn't unilaterally and sneakily try to charge me $40/year for Clippy.I have a family subscription, and when I went to cancel it because it's gone up $5 a month I saw that the classic family subscription, which is the old price, does not include AI! It's only $1 a month more than the 'personal' one. So it's an option for now. If they add AI, I'm done for good.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way to get my subscription back to the non-AI version, now that Microsoft upgraded it to the new 365 Family plan (without asking me).
I even just tried cancelling my subscription, but it's stay with the AI version until next August, as I've already paid.
- As best I can tell, there aren't any user install configuration options for Microsoft365. If you are running Windows 10 Pro, there's a visible Copilot disable option in gpedit but I don't think gpedit is available in Windows 10 home edition. This gpedit option disables Copilot for all Microsoft365 apps, and it is persistent across multiple Microsoft365 updates. I've not yet seen any individual app examples available for disabling copilot.
In Windows 10 Pro there are regedit keys that correspond to the gpedit I've noticed that there are WindowsCopilot keys (one word, no spaces) that include
"TurnOffWindowsCopilot"=dword:00000001. In Windows 10 Pro just the single gpedit entry disables all the regedit ”WindowsCopilot" entries. I don't know for a fact just how the Windows 10 Home edition handles this. But you can use regedit to search for "windowsCopilot", if this entry is present, you should be able to add the TurnOffWindowsCopilot entry for each location where you find "WindowsCopilot".
When I export this entry from Windows 10 Pro, I get a path that includes Policies that may not be relevant in Windows Home.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot]
"TurnOffWindowsCopilot"=dword:00000001 Also trying to do this. I don't want copilot. Ever. Where can I request that this is a feature added to turn this off? At this rate no one will know how to write their own name without AI. Stop pushing this crap on paying subscribers.
I also dont want anything to do with AI
- I use gpedit.msc (Windows 10) to disable copilot for all of Windows. I haven't tested the extent of this.
Local Computer Policy/User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Copilot
good luck.
I also want to disable engage.microsoft.com from sending me messages, especially copilot.
art - It looks like there is no direct way to completely disable Copilot within Word documents itself yet, However, there are a couple of options depending on what aspect of Copilot you find distracting,
If the icon on the page is the main annoyance, you can hide it without affecting Copilot's functionality:
• Click on the small light bulb icon (Copilot icon) on your Word document.
• A pane will appear on the right side. At the bottom of the pane, you'll see a checkbox labeled Show Copilot in document.
• Uncheck the box to hide the icon.
Copilot leverages Microsoft Editor for some suggestions. Disabling Editor suggestions might reduce some of Copilot's influence, but it won't completely turn it off:
• Go to File > Options > Proofing.
• Under AutoCorrect Options, click on AutoCorrect Settings.
• In the new window, navigate to the Typing tab.
• Uncheck the boxes for features you don't want, like Show suggestions as I type and automatically correct text as I type.
If you need a completely Copilot-free experience, you can also work in offline mode i.e.
• Go to File > Work Offline
I hope this helps!
If you find this response helpful, please consider marking it as the Best Response and giving it a like. I am also developing a Copilot solution and invite you to subscribe to my blog at http://www.copilotwithme.com. This site is dedicated to copilot enthusiasts and provides valuable insights and updates about Copilot."• A pane will appear on the right side. At the bottom of the pane, you'll see a checkbox labeled Show Copilot in document." Nope. No such option appears in that panel. Not in the Word online version, any way.
I appreciate you trying to solve this for people, but I AM offline and still have the Copilot Icon. I just want it gone. We're not allowed to use AI for uni. I wont use it but I dont want it anyway on my Word.
that's interesting. but in the side pane that I get once I've clicked the lightbulb, i can't see any check box labelled 'Show Copilot in document.' The work off line option is a good one, thanks.
