How to completely remove every trace of Copilot.

I've gone into Settings > Applications as you suggested, and Copilot is not there.

Copilot has just suddenly appeared embedded in Office apps. It's incredibly intrusive and there appears no way to remove it.

All the major players are ramming AI down our throats, as if having a colourful button in users' faces is some kind of right of passage.

I'm among a large number of users who are seriously concerned about this pattern of behaviour by big tech.

My subscription expires in early December and I think I'll just be done with Microsoft. (Is OpenOffice still a thing?)

"I also often wonder if AI is making our lives better."

It's not ... at all. It's all 'A' and no 'I'.

What it really is, is a way for greedy corporations and Governments to gather all our private data to beter formulate strategies to either remove all our money or control us.

Please, can someone tell me how to remove this diseased piece of code from my Operating system (that I paid for). I never asked for it and I will never want it.

I'm following up to describe how I was successful in getting Copilot removed from my Office applications.

(I'm running Windows 10, based in Australia, and had a Microsoft 365 Family license expiring in early December).

The answer is "classic". Microsoft 365 Family Classic or Microsoft 365 Personal Classic (subscription) or Office Home 2024 (one-time purchase) do not contain the 'connected experiences', and do not contain Copilot.

However, you can't get Family/Personal Classic without direct support from Microsoft customer support.

I followed others' instructions to log into my Microsoft Account, find Microsoft 365 in my subscriptions, click 'manage', then 'cancel' in the hopes of seeing the fabled "Switch to a subscription that’s better for you" option in order to select Classic. But when I hit 'cancel' it tells me:

"We can’t cancel your subscription. You have already paid for your Microsoft 365 Family subscription. It will expire automatically on (DATE)." (the brick wall)

So I searched Microsoft 365 plans, which took me to a microsoft.com page. I clicked on "Questions? Talk to an expert" in the bottom right corner to start a chat. I opened with "Microsoft have recently embedded Copilot into Office 365. I will not be renewing my 365 plan because of this. I understand however we can sign up for Microsoft 365 Classic, which does not have Copilot in it. Can you please give me more information?"

I believe the staff have been coached to offer Classic plans when met with "I will not renew my subscription". The very helpful support/salesperson (no, I'm not being sarcastic - he actually was incredibly helpful!) walked me through the steps I described above until I hit the brick wall.

But he then directly assisted by cancelling my current subscription, and signing me up for a 'Classic' plan. It did mean I had to forfeit the balance of my existing subscription (which in my case was only 10 days), but I now have Classic. No connected experiences. And no Copilot.

After signing out of my Office applications, doing updates and a couple of restarts, and logging back in - I'm now Copilot-free.

This post has useful information. Need to request a change to Microsoft Office Classic. I'll let you know how I get on.

https://office-watch.com/2024/all-about-the-new-microsoft-365-classic/