Remove Copilot from Word

Hello,

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

Microsoft has recently been experimenting with new Microsoft 365 subscriptions (including the AI tool Copilot) to meet the needs of different users. As a result users in some areas may notice some changes to Microsoft 365 with Copilot being added to Microsoft 365. I fully understand the inconvenience this may cause, especially for some users who do not expect to use this AI feature.

If you prefer to use Microsoft 365 apps without Copilot at all. Please refer to the following to try to switch back to your old subscription.

• Visitaccount.microsoft.com/services.
• Select the Microsoft 365 Personal subscription you have and select “Manage”.
• Select “Unsubscribe”.
• View “Switch to a subscription that suits you better” and select “Microsoft 365 Personal /Family Classic”.
• After following the instructions to complete your subscription. Your subscription will automatically renew to Classic when its existing subscription expires.

However, the above method is for switching your subscription to Classic and you will not be renewing your subscription to Microsoft 365 Personal with Copilot, but since the update to the Microsoft 365 app has already been completed, you may not see the changes to the features and interface in 365 right away.

We recommend that you restore your Microsoft 365 version to a earlier version, see the following:

Restore your version of Office

• Close all Office software, in the "Start Menu", find "Command Prompt" (or "cmd"), right-click and select "Run as administrator" ;
• At the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter: cd %programfiles% \Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun
• Then enter the following and press Enter Officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.17531.20120 This will bring Office back to a stable version in February 2024.

If the above steps are successful, you'll be able to view Office version 17531.20120 under File -> Account -> Product Information. If another version is displayed here, it means that some of the steps were not executed successfully, please refer to the previous method and try again. After restoring, open any Office application, such as Word, click File -> account. On the right side, check the "Microsoft 365 and Office Updates" heading , click the "Update Options" button, and select the "Disable Updates" option to disable the auto-update feature. Please consider turning on automatic updates again after successfully switching to Classic to avoid updating again to a new version with Copilot.

I hope this is useful and please feel free to ask any questions.

Best regards,

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Thank you. That process proved successful for me. I was able to get rid of Copilot from my Microsoft Word program. Now I can do my personal work without disturbance.

What will happen when the next update is automatically downloaded? Is there a timeframe for the next update and how do I protect my documents?

There are other aspects of the updated Word features that i want kept for accessibility but i want to turn off copilot. Is this able to be done?

Consider university students that are forbidden to work with AI when writing their thesis! Any use of that, by inadvertently clicking that always shifting icon violates their terms!

Hello Ben,

I understand the concern and inconvenience this change causes.

Since Copilot is a connected service, it is my understanding that disabling the Microsoft 365 online experience accomplishes the same thing.

Please see Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps for home: your data and privacy - Microsoft Support

But this can also cause other online services to be unavailable. In the meantime, click File->Feedback in the Office app to let Microsoft development team hear your valuable thoughts.

Sincere greetings,

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist