How to Remove "Draft with Copilot"?

Question

I received some really excellent advice from someone about how to disable trust settings in the trust center and that this would disable copilot make it non-functioning however when i click on something that requires such tools such as the help pressing F1 or pressing on Draft with Co-Pilot the pop-up tells me that I've disabled those features in the trust center and I'll have to restore them. This did remove the summary bar that Co-Pilot was putting on each of my documents, so this is an improvement.

But the icons that appear in the left margin when I'm trying to move my mouse to navigate and select text are delayed, and so when I click the Draft with Co-Pilot icon isn't present because I move my mouse into the margin and then I go to click to select the text. Enough time is past that the hover delay is no longer active, and the icon appears just as I'm clicking on that location, and then a menu will come up. The menu can only be disabled by using your mouse. You got to navigate to the menu and then there's a very small, tiny X that you have to click on to get it to turn off. It will not turn off with the Escape key.

What I'm asking is can someone explain to me how I can remove the Draft with Co-Pilot and any assistance that Co-Pilot is trying to offer me in the left margin? The icon is just a little bit too large and makes it very difficult for me to navigate and select text. So any advice is welcome and appreciated.

Answer 1

I appreciate the time and effort in explaining it. My experience has been that software is supposed to serve the user. I have years of workflow, and somebody made what I consider to be a poor design choice that takes power away from the user and also contradicts the way I have built my skills. So I just think that I've made a mistake in sticking with Microsoft.

I'm going to pursue a refund and just avoid the problem altogether by using a different product.

Answer 2

Hi, Bill Eddy

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Thanks for your question. That left-margin “Draft with Copilot” button is part of Word’s in-document Copilot experience, it shows up when Copilot is available, even if you have blocked some connected/trust features. Disabling Copilot via Trust Center can also disable other things (like Help/F1), which is why you’re getting the “restore those features” message instead of a clean removal.

Here are some suggestions you can try in this situation:

1) Use Word’s built-in Copilot toggle (best fix, keeps Help working)

This is the cleanest way to get rid of the Draft-with-Copilot in-document prompt without breaking other features.

• In Word go to File > Options.
• Select Copilot on the left.
• Uncheck Enable Copilot > OK.
• Close and reopen Word if the icon does not disappear immediately.

Why this helps: the accepted guidance for removing that in-document Draft prompt is specifically turning off Enable Copilot in Word options.

2) Remove the Copilot entry from the Ribbon (optional, reduces visual clutter)

This does not control the left-margin behavior by itself, but it can remove the top Ribbon presence so you are not fighting it in two places.

• Right-click the Ribbon > Customize the Ribbon
• On the right-side list, find Assistance (where Copilot often sits) > Remove > OK

3) If you do not see a “Copilot” page in Options, use Account Privacy instead

On some builds, the Copilot toggle is not shown. In that case, you can disable connected experiences from Account Privacy, which typically stops Copilot features from loading.

• File > Account
• Under Account Privacy, choose Manage Settings
• Turn off connected experiences (the option described in that privacy screen) > OK

Note: This can also impact other cloud-assisted features, so it is best used only if the “Enable Copilot” checkbox is missing.

4) Practical workaround while you’re fixing it (to avoid mis-clicks in the margin)

Until the icon is gone, try selecting text without using the left margin click area: use Shift + Arrow keys, Ctrl + Shift + Arrow (select by word), or Shift + Click inside the text body. This avoids the hover-trigger zone entirely.

Hope this helps. Feel free to get back if you need further assistance.

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