How to remove Copilot from your Microsoft 365 plan – before you have to pay for it
Those of you with Microsoft 365 subscriptions may have noticed that Copilot now pops up in Word and other applications in the suite. How did it get there when you didn’t buy or request Copilot and don’t necessarily want it? Blame it on Microsoft’s usual sleight of hand.
Also: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a total disaster
In an effort to push Copilot, Microsoft has added the AI to its Microsoft 365 Family and Personal plans. Open Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, and you’ll now see a Copilot icon on the ribbon. That’s not so bad, as you can easily ignore it. But launch Microsoft Word, and Copilot gets in your face with an icon in the left margin and a huge, annoying message prompting you to “Draft with Copilot.”
What about Outlook? Here, the situation is confusing. If you use the classic Outlook that comes with Microsoft 365, you may or may not have access to Copilot. But the new Outlook for Windows app does include Copilot.
Is Copilot free to use in Microsoft 365?
Is Microsoft freely bestowing Copilot on customers out of the goodness of its corporate heart? Not quite. There’s a price hike in tow.
For the privilege of using Copilot, US subscribers to Microsoft 365 Personal will end up paying $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month, up from $69.99 per year or $6.99 per month. Subscribers to Microsoft 365 Family will have to cough up $129.99 per year or $12.99 per month, up from $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month.
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Your cost will vary based on whether you receive a discount on your subscription. For instance, I used to pay only $69.99 for an individual Microsoft Family subscription thanks to a discount through my domain business plan. That price went up to $90.99 with the Copilot option added. That’s still 30% off the regular price, but it is a price hike nonetheless.
Plus, if I wanted to revert to a classic plan without Copilot, the discount would vanish, forcing me to pay more than I would for the discounted plan with Copilot.
Before you blow a fuse, the price increase doesn’t actually kick in until your next renewal date. Until then, you’re able to use Copilot without any increase in the cost of your plan. But if you do nothing and wait for your subscription to renew, the higher price will automatically kick in.
Can anyone try Copilot in Microsoft 365?
Microsoft’s hocus pocus doesn’t end there. The Copilot built into Microsoft 365 isn’t available to everyone, nor is it unlimited. A Microsoft 365 Family plan normally allows up to six people to take advantage of the different features. But here, only the plan owner gets access to Copilot.
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Plus, Microsoft doles out the use of Copilot in Microsoft 365 on a credit basis, granting the owner of the plan up to 60 credits per month. Each use of the AI chews up one credit. Try to use more than 60 in a month, and you’ll be stopped and prompted to upgrade to the unlimited and more expensive Copilot Pro plan.
It all seems pretty sneaky, right? To be fair, I can’t fault Microsoft for trying to add AI to Office. But the way the company went about it was, to use my favorite Yiddish phrase, meshugganah. My ZDNET colleague Ed Bott called the Microsoft 365 Copilot launch a total disaster.
Setting aside Microsoft’s messy rollout, what if you simply don’t want Copilot? How do you get rid of it? Here, you have a couple of options.
How to disable Copilot
For your first option, you can disable Copilot in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. The process is similar across the board, with just minor variations in the wording.
Before you try to disable Copilot in any Office app in Windows or on a Mac, make sure you’re running the latest version of Microsoft 365.Â
To do that in Windows, go to File in Word, Excel, or another program, select Account, click the Update Options button, and then select Update Now. Even then, you may need to refresh or close and reopen Microsoft 365 a couple of times before the option appears.
Also: How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 – 2 free options
To perform the same steps on a Mac, click the Help menu and then select Check for Updates. Allow the latest updates to download.
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Now, let’s try Word first. To disable Copilot in Word for Windows, click File, select Options, and then select Copilot from the Word Options window. Simply uncheck the box for “Enable Copilot” and click OK. When you return to Word, the Copilot icons and message will be gone.
To disable Copilot in the Mac version of Word, click the Word menu and select Preferences. Open the Copilot icon in the Preferences window and uncheck the box for “Enable Copilot.” Close the Preferences window and return to Word to see that Copilot is now gone.
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In Excel, click File, select Options, and select Copilot from the Options window. Uncheck the box for “Enable Copilot (requires restarting the app)” and click OK. Exit and then restart Excel, and the Copilot icons will be gone.
In PowerPoint, click File, select Options, and choose the setting for Copilot. Uncheck the box for “Enable Copilot (requires restarting the app)” and click OK. Restart PowerPoint, and Copilot will no longer be available.
And in OneNote, click File, select Options, click Copilot, uncheck the box for “Enable Copilot (requires restarting the app),” and click OK. After restarting the app, Copilot will be no more.
If you ever want to reignite Copilot in any of the apps, just go back to the Options window and recheck the box for “Enable Copilot.”
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The steps for disabling Copilot in the new version of Outlook are also straightforward. In Windows, go to the Start menu and click the shortcut for Mail. If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription with Copilot, you’ll see a Copilot icon on the top toolbar. Click that icon and select Settings. At the Settings screen, just turn off the switch for “Turn on Copilot” and then click Save.
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How to remove Copilot from your Microsoft 365 subscription
To get rid of Copilot entirely, you’ll need to change your Microsoft 365 plan. The change won’t take effect right away. Instead, Copilot waits until your next renewal period to vanish. But at least switching your plan now will ensure that you’re not automatically renewed at the higher price.
To view your current Microsoft 365 subscription, sign into your Microsoft account website. Click the link at the top for “Manage Microsoft 365 Family” or “Manage Microsoft 365 Personal.” The resulting page shows you your renewal date, the price you’d pay at that point, and the number of credits you’ve used so far.
Also:Â Agents have entered the Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
To switch your plan, click the dropdown box for Manage Subscription and select the link for Cancel Subscription.
To try to hang onto your business, Microsoft will offer other plans, including the Classic plan sans Copilot. Unless your plan with Copilot is discounted as in my case, you’ll see an option for Microsoft 365 Family Classic or Microsoft 365 Personal Classic at a lower cost. Click the button for Switch Plan and then just follow the steps to revert to the classic edition.
Ah, but there’s one last fly in the ointment. In an announcement about the new Microsoft 365 Copilot plans, Microsoft said that existing subscribers could switch to Microsoft Basic or to the new Personal Classic or Family Classic plans, but only for a limited time. So you’ll want to make the switch before it’s too late.
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Plus, the company said that “for certain new innovations and features” — whatever that means —Â you’ll need a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription with Copilot. Even if you’re able to change to a classic plan, you may eventually have no choice but to accept a Copilot plan with the higher price tag. But at least for now, you can rid yourself of Copilot using the methods I described.
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