How to disable copilot on microsoft office (excel, word, ppt) on Macbook

Hi Courtney,

Weeks ago I turned off 'connected experiences' (removes my access to AI, but who knows whether it removes Microsoft's access to my data) and then I 'cancelled' and downgraded to classic for when my current sub renews which is next week at which time if the promised removal of copilot does not go ahead ill be contacting consumer legal experts etc. If they have lied to you about Copilot I'd suggest contacting consumer rights advocates / publications in your country (Aust/NZ?) and tell them about it. There are thousands+ of consumers like us who're angry about this issue.

For people whose sub renews months from now, I'd turn off 'connected experiences' and then contact the chat 'agent' visible in your account home page and TRY to get a solution in writing. Screen-shot everything.

It's probable that you'll have to wait until your current sub expires to be entirely rid of copilot. However, turning off connected experiences might be removal enough of AI to ensure peace of mind for people who cannot have AI in their work - you would still have to deal with the annoying icon in the margin of your docs until your sub downgrades though.

OK but did your downgrade to "Classic" start as soon as you switched? Because the problem with that "solution" is that you'll still be stuck with this invasive AI until your subscription renews. In addition, I just tried signing up for the free-standing version of the Office Suite. The Microsoft website says in writing that you can sign up for the one-time payment option and get rid of Copilot. I just did that, and NOPE. Copilot is still there. So Microsoft is blatantly LYING on its website.

It's really frustrating seeing the SAME questions being asked over and over here! Doesn't anyone read back into earlier questions before trying to re-invent the wheel here?! As one who's battled copilot for months now and finally arrived at a solution, I can say with confidence that this is what you need to do, and it's been said by others too:

1. Forget trying to turn off copilot on your current subscription. Even if you think you find a way of doing it (turning off connected experiences etc), you are only masking copilot while STILL PAYING for it because your subscription includes it. That is, you are still paying the premium amount for an AI-inclusive Microsoft sub. And who knows, MS might add Copilot back into your sub on subsequent updates. Why pay for it if you don't want it and don't use it?
2. So, you need to hit 'cancel subscription' in your account and then you will get the option to downgrade to the 'classic' version of 'family' or 'personal' 365, which is your sub before they added copilot. You will ONLY get this option if MS thinks you want to cancel. They do not publicize the classic version as one of the subscription options so don't bother looking for it. Again, you have to select 'cancel' your sub to get the cheaper non-AI version.
3. NB: Before I did the above, I first entered the chat at the bottom right of my account page (whether that's an AI assistant or not) and asked the question: if I downgrade to 'classic' will there definitely be no AI / copilot attached to my account during my 'classic' subscription? And the chat assistant said "that is correct" I took a screen shot of that reply. And then I went ahead with the downgrade to 'classic'.
4. The downgrade to classic gives me time to explore migrating my docs to Libre Office and to learn how to use that software, because unlike others here, I am very low-tech and also weary of immediately and exclusively bringing my carefully formatted MSWord docs into Libre. I definitely intend to move away from MS Office though because this copilot biz is totally immoral and I don't want to give them my money any longer than I must. I hope that helps stop the repetition here!

This turns off the copilot function but also shuts off the ability to have OneNote sync with my other computers

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