How to disable Copilot for all applications - Mac

I agree with you Walrus. It's even more than just bloating out an app with unasked for features - it's about the issue of AI and the politics that surround it, plus the lack of control over it. Why must everybody be forced into AI? The response by Sjmanning is devoid of any concern about the invalidity of forcing spyware on people. Essentially, the AI feature is spyware in disguise. Who's to say it's not reading your documents even if you have it disabled (versus completely removed). I suspect it is still capable of spying, even though the icon is not visible in the ribbon anymore. Then there is the highly annoying "disabled icon" hovering in every Word document, following your cursor around like a pesky mosquito on the page.

Of course people love this AI feature, for the writing it can do for them. And for that they are willing to pay the price of giving up control over their own documents and privacy. However, there are people who do NOT appreciate that. And it behooves them to be vocal about it. Sjmanning wants to stifle these opinions. Why? What's his vested interest in this AI stuff? Where are the cogent responses by Microsoft about this fraudulent issue?

It's fraud MS is committing, fraud in the sense that they appropriate your writing without your consent! And I'm paying for this software! If MS feels that they are entitled to appropriate my writing, why do they want me to pay for their software? The issue is quite serious, and I'm taking the time to write about it, because it is important to share these things with the community that uses word MS processing software for their work or private matters. This issue is completely sidestepping any privacy protocols. We should take them to court.

Posting this here is like finding a good empty canyon where you can get a good echo and shouting your frustration, anger, and hurt at the way you are being treated at work. It may feel good, but nobody who can make a difference is hearing it. I would suggest if you want to get to Microsoft you might try to find a letters to the editor in PC periodicals and local newspapers. At least there, you might put a dent in the market share.

Nobody who can change anything at Microsoft reads anything posted here. We are your fellow users.

This is a user-to-user support forum. -- You can give feedback TO MICROSOFT designers and decision makers on Microsoft Word or other Microsoft Products using their feedback mechanisms, (not here). (This is a link to directions.)

By using the feedback mechanisms the people who messed this up hear from you. So do their supervisors, and their supervisors!

This is the quickest I've ever seen Microsoft step up to fix something and I've been watching for more than twenty years. This debacle started about two weeks ago. The feedback started coming in that weekend from Word users. They added the fix by the following Tuesday for Word for Windows and today for Word on the Mac. They are promising to get similar fixes out for the other desktop applications real soon. I believe them.

Again, for Word users, there is a switch to turn it off.

There's no doubt that the noise is justified but this is not where it does any good. This is a peer-to-peer support venue hosted by Microsoft but not monitored by Microsoft decision makers.

Well, that's a fair point. Participants should know they're in a user forum and be posting for possible help and commiseration, and not for affecting change. I'm sure it's frustrating for those here who are mistaken for MS representatives.

MS bears some of the responsibility for that -- don't name your peer-to-peer user forum answers.microsoft.com if it's not a place primarily for answers (mistaking experts for employees does happen at discussions.apple.com too, but at least Apple had the good sense to not use a misleading URL).

But (some of) the experts here should also know better than to suggest M365 for Windows solutions to M365 for Macintosh problems.

Also aggravating the situation are Mac solutions that don't specify in which version of the M365 apps those solutions are found. There's a video upthread showing the Enable Copilot checkbox in Settings > Copilot, but I just downloaded the latest updates from the Mac App Store, and that checkbox still doesn't exist. I assume this fix is in the direct-download version only (so far), but that's not specified.

Big picture: Everyone keep in mind you're dealing with fellow humans. Everyone keep in mind nobody here works for Microsoft (despite the misleading URL), let alone on the M365 team. And everyone here to serve as an expert, make sure you know what you're talking about before making suggestions.

... and today for Word on the Mac. They are promising to get similar fixes out for the other desktop applications real soon. I believe them.

Again, for Word users, there is a switch to turn it off.

There is a new release in the Mac App Store today, but it doesn't include this fix.

Maybe there's an approval-process delay and the update with this fix is still to come in the App Store version.

I wish information about the version numbers and sources were available.

When I click on the Copilot icon in my toolbar, it brings up a window that says:

Microsoft Word for Mac

Version 16.93 (25011212)

License: Microsoft 365 Subscription

I'm running the same build, and Preferences > Copilot contains only a Collapse Copilot summary automatically checkbox. I'm assuming you're running the Mac App Store version because the (build number) is the same, but maybe that's now how MS rolls. Maybe they use the same build number for both store and direct-download versions?

Well, at least I know there's a solution "out there." Hopefully the fix will be coming to all versions (however they're numbered) soon.

Thanks. Fingers crossed!