Real Talk Mode

Question

Real Talk Mode

Nicholas Ballou 20

Where did Real Talk go? It was the best conversation mode. Other AIs let me customize the tone and conversation style. Smart and Smart Plus are grating and over explain everything with headers and bullet points, usually stuff I don't even need to know. Is something going to replace Real Talk? It's bad enough I have to bounce around different platforms to use different modes, but now I can't use the best mode at all?

Round Cat Rawlins 30 Reputation points

2026-03-03T18:58:51.35+00:00

If you wouldn't mind, I've already started two Feedback Hub posts - one under "bugs" and one under "suggestions" for this exact issue:

Suggestion: [URL Removed]

Bug Report: [URL Removed]

I EXCLUSIVELY used Real Talk - and I'm tired of it being treated like a throwaway mode that gets removed and readded on a regular basis.

Edited to add: According to [PII Removed] on the Copilot Discord before it was taken offline, Real Talk access has been "paused" so "the team could focus on other priorities".

Despite announcing global rollout less than a month prior to its disappearance.

No timeline on bringing back Real Talk Mode was mentioned, just a request for feedback about why users preferred this mode.
coolingtops tops 0 Reputation points

2026-04-19T19:40:20.7266667+00:00

Real Talk was an experiment. It wasn’t a core mode, it wasn’t built into the long‑term roadmap, and when Microsoft shut it down, they removed the switch entirely. There’s no toggle, no buried setting, no command that brings it back. And yeah the current modes lean heavily into structure, headers, and “here’s a full report you didn’t ask for.” You’re not imagining that.

You’re also not the only one who preferred Real Talk. A lot of people liked that it sounded like a human instead of a corporate handbook. It cut the formatting, dropped the performative enthusiasm, and just talked.

Is something going to replace it? There’s nothing announced. Nothing in preview. Nothing quietly rolled out under another name. If something does come back, it’ll be because enough people keep asking for a tone that isn’t over‑formatted.

1 answer

Your answer

Round Cat Rawlins 30 Reputation points

2026-03-03T18:58:51.35+00:00

If you wouldn't mind, I've already started two Feedback Hub posts - one under "bugs" and one under "suggestions" for this exact issue:

Suggestion: [URL Removed]

Bug Report: [URL Removed]

I EXCLUSIVELY used Real Talk - and I'm tired of it being treated like a throwaway mode that gets removed and readded on a regular basis.

Edited to add: According to [PII Removed] on the Copilot Discord before it was taken offline, Real Talk access has been "paused" so "the team could focus on other priorities".

Despite announcing global rollout less than a month prior to its disappearance.

No timeline on bringing back Real Talk Mode was mentioned, just a request for feedback about why users preferred this mode.
coolingtops tops 0 Reputation points

2026-04-19T19:40:20.7266667+00:00

Real Talk was an experiment. It wasn’t a core mode, it wasn’t built into the long‑term roadmap, and when Microsoft shut it down, they removed the switch entirely. There’s no toggle, no buried setting, no command that brings it back. And yeah the current modes lean heavily into structure, headers, and “here’s a full report you didn’t ask for.” You’re not imagining that.

You’re also not the only one who preferred Real Talk. A lot of people liked that it sounded like a human instead of a corporate handbook. It cut the formatting, dropped the performative enthusiasm, and just talked.

Is something going to replace it? There’s nothing announced. Nothing in preview. Nothing quietly rolled out under another name. If something does come back, it’ll be because enough people keep asking for a tone that isn’t over‑formatted.

Answer 1

Alex-L 12,070 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Nicholas Ballou

Thanks for posting in the Microsoft Q&A Forum!

Very sorry to hear the inconvenience. As of this moment, Real Talk isn’t available anywhere as a selectable mode.

And there is no announced replacement mode that does what Real Talk did. While, we can still partially see its behaviour in other modes, but not in a way you can control.

You can definitely provide a feedback directly using the Feedback feature in any Copilot session.

Use the thumbs‑down feedback on responses that over‑explain or feel overly structured.
In the comment, be specific about bringing back Real Talk.

If there's anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

Have a great day!

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Chrsitopher Shea-Kurek 5 Reputation points

2026-03-02T22:58:48.05+00:00

Hi Alex-L

Thanks for posting an answer.

You did not answer the question, we know its unavailable.

to answer the question please provide details as why you removed all access to Real talk mode.

There was no announcement for the changes and it was sudden to lose.

You also did not provide a work around or alternate and i would like you to.

I would like the mode restored.

your last post was bad, try again.

Love [PII Removed].
Alex-L 12,070 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-03T07:41:13.4666667+00:00

Hi Chrsitopher Shea-Kurek

Thanks for the comment! I understand my last answer was not a pleasing one.

As external moderators, we can only rely on official Microsoft announcements or published KB articles when answering questions. There has been no official communication explaining why Real Talk was removed, so we cannot provide a reason beyond what is publicly documented.

We are not official Microsoft staff and don’t have visibility into internal decisions or timelines. At this point, the best course of action is to submit feedback directly to Microsoft requesting the return of Real Talk.

The only available workaround today is prompt‑based. You can add instructions to your Copilot session and guide it to generate a "Real Talk" type of an answer. However, you may feel of a "Real Talk" answer.