Disable / Turn Off Copilot in Word - Solution! (Nov 2024)

See solution below - I have now turned Copilot off!!! NOTE: See Moderator's note at the end of this post.

Still frustrated, I was looking in my settings again (January 2025), and there is a new option!

[Moderator's note: This came out with update 2501.]

File Tab > Options (at bottom), then in the Word Options window > Copilot, then uncheck Enable Copilot.

The silly inline prompt was gone, and the Copilot icon in the toolbar greyed out! Yay!

I then right-clicked on the ribbon, and went Customise the Ribbon, then from the Home Tab, I just removed the Group that contained the Copilot Icon, I think it was called Assistance (gone now so not 100% sure).

Hopefully this is now available for other people too!

* * * * * * * * * *

I DO NOT wish to use Copilot in Microsoft Office, especially Word. It just started to show up for me and I have no interest in it, and it affects my work immensely.

I have tried to find a way to turn off / disable Copilot in Word and cannot.

I can't even see an option to turn the icon to the left of the page off.

I have uninstalled Copilot from Windows (currently on Windows 10) as I have no interest in using this all together, yet it is still showing in my Word 365 (program installed on my computer).

I am really hoping someone can please help me remove this so I can continue with my work.

Users should not be forced to utilise this option. There are many settings where this feature is inappropriate (and I shouldn't have to be part of a larger office network in order to disable it in the back end). There should be a way to easily turn it off.

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Moderator's note:

This has been locked because so much has happened in the months since the original post. That is not because the issue has gone away, but because this lengthy thread is likely to confuse. There are other threads on the issue that are more targeted than this one has become.

Much of this evolution of the issue is reflected in the various posts here, but it is difficult to follow and the issue has been conflated. Recent updates have added the option to turn off Copilot lite - the version added to Microsoft 365 without the user asking for it - in Word in the Windows and Mac desktop applications.

It has been promised that similar switches will be added to the other desktop applications, and perhaps the mobile and online apps.

If looking for help on this, try to search for both the application and the platform (i.e. Windows, Mac, Android, IOS, online.)

See How to Ask Questions In this Forum (to get the best and quickest answers).