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

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fellow Frustrated Users - I figured out how to remove Copilot from my apps. This is AFTER cancelling/updating my plan to the classic/non-AI version.

Open Excel, Word, whatever. Access the Options menu.

1. Navigate to the Ribbon customization screen.
2. Ensure the Main Tab (or All Tabs is visible) so you can see the Home group.
3. Highlight the Assistance group, and then
4. REMOVE.

Boom!

So glad you had success removing copilot. Alas, this does not work for all the Mac users out there.

...having this tool on my system represents a risk to my livelihood...

This is one of my main concerns too Elizabeth.
I write professionally as part of my work and I do not want Microsoft running their AI app in the background using my work as 'learning' content.

This should never have been added without user permission and there should be any easy 'off' or 'remove' setting.

Then there's the fact that the damn thing is so in-your-face.
If you're old enough... it's like Clippy all over again.

I wonder how corporate IT admins & execs are going to respond when they find MS has, without authorization, dropped an AI into their corporate networks...

I am also having trouble disabling copilot. Along with simply not wanting the feature, I have ethical conflictions with AI because of its negative impact on the environment. I am also in a creative career so I have I have ethical conflictions with it in that regard as well. I understand it may be helpful for some, but I do not understand why it feels impossible to disable.

I called to try to disable this and was told that there was no way to address my concern via their automated assistant. When I asked to speak to a live agent the phone hung up.

I tried to contact Microsoft support via a live chat. I expressed that I wanted the feature disabled when prompted for my reason for the chat. I waited over an hour for a response despite the wait time being 13 minutes only to follow up and see that the ticket was closed before an agent even spoke to me. There were two people in front of me as well and I'm assuming they were addressed as I saw the countdown going down until I was "the next person in line" only to realize that I had been waiting for something that would not be addressed.

Not to mention how utterly distracting the toggle is. Why is this so hard to disable and why is Microsoft blatantly ignoring users/giving the run-around for those who do not want to use AI?

It does not work for Office 365 MAC. There is nothing in the Options to turn off Copilot.