How do I remove Copilot completely?

Question

I am working on a Mac and even though I changed my subscription back to the one without AI, it's still on my documents when I open up Word. Is there a way to remove it completely? Or is there a different version of Microsoft Word that doesn't have Copilot that I can download? Maybe an older one? Thank you.

Answer 1

I agree that it does nothing, other than be very intrusive and annoying.

I am not on a Mac, and Bob is.

Others posting here indicate that sometime around January 24 a change was made to put a control in Word, but not yet other applications, to turn off Copilot. (Actually, to uncheck the default on option to enable Copilot).

My recollection is that it is under Word > Preferences > Proofing.

Answer 2

You cannot remove it without completely discontinuing your subscription & paying for a new one — not what most users would prefer to do. The other option is to revert to an earlier version of Office but that may have more unwanted consequences than it cures.

The word from Microsoft is that the fix will arrive sometime in February so my suggestion is to just be patient. Copilot does nothing if you don't choose to use it. In the meanwhile you should be able to go to Word> Preferences> Copilot & clear the Enable Copilot check box [which may depend on type of License].

That will clear what appears in documents but the icon on the Ribbon will be dimmed. It has no effect on Copilot availability in the other Office programs, though.