How to turn of Copilot in Microsoft Word

Question

How to turn of Copilot in Microsoft Word

liz Mahoney 0

I am unable to remove the copilot functions from the Microsoft365 Word desktop application. There is no longer a tab under option that allows for you to disable it, which was the previous solution suggested online. I am able to remove it from other Microsoft applications, such as Outlook (new), but neither the online nor desktop version of Word have settings to remove Copilot from making summaries or suggesting edits. Is there a setting I am missing or has Microsoft disabled this function?

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Answer 1

Charles Kenyon 167.1K Volunteer Moderator

This is about Copilot in the desktop applications from Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions.

AFAIK, there is no way to do so in the online apps.

You can remove Copilot lite from 365 desktop applications by switching to 365 Classic.

See this humorous video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss"A humorous and informative YouTube video about the Copilot upcharge")

Here is the Microsoft support page:

[https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/switching-to-microsoft-365-personal-and-family-classic-plans-58342e83-38e7-4cda-b63b-88604a8fb7ef#](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/switching-to-microsoft-365-personal-and-family-classic-plans-58342e83-38e7-4cda-b63b-88604a8fb7ef"Microsoft Page on how to turn this off in Personal or Family subscriptions")

Yes, you need to tell Microsoft that you want to cancel and let them convince you to stick with the “Classic” plan because you really do not need the screaming goats (video).

I think Microsoft designers lack institutional memory of Clippy. Two videos:

SNL Clip: https://youtu.be/EpWbTogEEhg?si=IQ9g2pP6GDW7XM3z
Creating Clippy: [https://youtu.be/3kcQzCzSDvc?si=qOPZ6mkCcgR-RTem](https://youtu.be/3kcQzCzSDvc?si=qOPZ6mkCcgR-RTem"Video about creating Clippy")

liz Mahoney 0 Reputation points

2026-01-20T14:47:12.5+00:00

Unfortunately, I have access to Microsoft via a company plan, and I doubt that I'd be able to convince them to use an older version/get me my own plan. And I figured copilot was inseparable from online versions, but it makes using word online beyond annoying with the AI summary pop-up that appears every time you open a doc. I appreciate your YouTube links however! In the age of subscription services, I sympathize with the screaming goats analogy more and more often (like with the summary pop-ups on EVERYTHING nowadays). Microsoft really needs to stop backing the AI horse and allow people to work without distraction (or "help" as they would probably call it).
Charles Kenyon 167.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-01-20T17:55:08.0166667+00:00

The online app is inferior in many ways. It was written to be an adjunct supplement to the desktop version, not a replacement. https://addbalance.com/word/download.htm#MicrosoftWordPrograms

Answer 2

Stefan Blom 340.9K MVP Volunteer Moderator

As an alternative, you should be able to turn off the setting that enables content analysis. See the latter part of the article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-copilot-in-microsoft-365-apps-bc7e530b-152d-4123-8e78-edc06f8b85f1. The screen shot below is from the article.

User's image

liz Mahoney 0 Reputation points

2026-01-15T15:07:28.1233333+00:00

I already did this. The main issue is that you cannot remove copilot from the tool ribbon in this most recent update of desktop word. It still pops up with suggestions, turning off the content analysis does not remove all copilot functions in word. I think this is more helpful for removing copilot functions from excel. Is there any way to remove it from word (either desktop or mobile)?

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How to turn of Copilot in Microsoft Word

2 answers

You can remove Copilot lite from 365 desktop applications by switching to 365 Classic.

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