How to Turn Off Copilot in Microsoft Word

Microsoft has rolled out Copilot, its AI-powered assistant, into several Office 365 tools, including Word. While many users appreciate Copilot’s ability to summarize content, help with writing, and offer contextual suggestions, not everyone is on board with this technological addition. Some users find it distracting, while others simply prefer to work in a more manual, hands-on manner. Fortunately, if you’re among those who’d rather write without an AI sidekick, disabling Copilot in Word is entirely possible.

TLDR (Too long, didn’t read):

If you’d prefer not to use Microsoft Copilot in Word, you can turn it off by adjusting your Microsoft 365 admin settings or local configurations, depending on your user permissions. Enterprise users can manage Copilot via the Microsoft Admin Center, while individual users may need to rely on in-app preferences or request changes from their IT administrator. Once disabled, Word returns to its standard interface, giving you control without AI suggestions. This guide explains each method step-by-step.

Why Might You Want to Turn Off Copilot in Microsoft Word?

Before diving into the “how,” it helps to briefly explore the “why.” While Copilot can boost productivity in many situations, there are legitimate reasons you might want to disable it:

• Privacy concerns: You might not want your document text to be sent to Microsoft’s servers for processing.
• Creative autonomy: Some writers prefer doing the work themselves without external assistance.
• Distraction: Pop-ups or suggestions might interrupt your workflow.
• Performance: On older machines, AI-enhanced features may slow down operations.

Whatever your reason, the good news is that Copilot isn’t mandatory—and removing or disabling it is straightforward with the right steps.

Methods to Disable Copilot in Microsoft Word

Depending on whether you’re using Word via an individual subscription or as part of an organization (like a company or school), the process to disable Copilot differs slightly. Let’s walk through both scenarios.

1. For Individual Users (Microsoft 365 Personal or Family)

Unfortunately, Microsoft does not currently allow individual users to completely uninstall Copilot from Word. However, you can minimize its intrusiveness by adjusting a few key settings.

Steps to minimize Copilot’s activity:

1. Open Microsoft Word.
2. Click on File in the top-left corner.
3. Navigate to Options at the bottom of the sidebar.
4. In the Options window, choose General.
5. Look for any settings labeled “Enable Copilot”, “AI suggestions”, or similar and uncheck them.
6. Click OK to save your changes.

While this doesn’t technically disable Copilot completely, it significantly reduces its interaction with your documents. For complete removal, administrative-level controls are required.

2. For Enterprise or Business Users (Microsoft 365 Business, E3/E5 plans)

If you’re using Microsoft Word through a workplace, school, or enterprise account, you or your system administrator can disable Copilot through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

Administrator steps:

1. Log into the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
2. In the left-hand panel, click Settings and then choose Org settings.
3. Under the list of services, locate and click Microsoft Copilot (or a similarly-named service connected with AI integrations).
4. Toggle the feature Off for selected users or groups.
5. Click Save to apply the changes.

Once disabled, users in your organization will not see the Copilot interface in Word, Excel, or other applicable Office apps.

What Happens After Disabling Copilot?

Turning off Copilot doesn’t reduce the core functionality of Word. In fact, the classic Word interface remains untouched, and features like grammar check, spellcheck, and reading mode still operate normally. The only difference is that the right-hand suggestion pane powered by Copilot (usually labeled with the AI icon) will no longer appear.

Additionally, documents are processed completely on your local machine, which can be a benefit for security-conscious users who want to avoid cloud-based AI processing.

Alternative Ways to Diminish Copilot Influence

Still noticing occasional hints of AI assistance? If you can’t disable Copilot completely, here are some extra steps you can take to reduce its interaction:

• Disable connected experiences: In the Word Options menu, under the Privacy section, turn off features that allow connected experiences with the cloud.
• Use Word Online with limited features: The online version of Word sometimes offers fewer AI-based tools depending on your settings and subscription.
• Switch to an older version: If you’re using Microsoft 365 and have control over your installations, using Office 2019 or older removes Copilot entirely.

Can You Re-enable Copilot After Turning It Off?

Yes! Disabling Copilot isn’t permanent. If you find yourself missing the AI help—perhaps while writing something technical or proofreading creatively—you can always return to the Microsoft settings portal or Word Options dialog and re-enable the necessary features. Just follow the same steps listed above, toggling each setting back on instead of off.

This flexibility means you can customize your working experience as your needs change.

Copilot Alternatives: Other Writing Assistants

If Copilot isn’t for you but you still want some form of writing assistance, consider these alternative tools:

• Grammarly: A well-known grammar and style checker that integrates with Word via an add-in.
• Hemingway Editor: Offers a desktop version to improve readability and clarity.
• ProWritingAid: A robust tool for detailed writing analysis and editing.

Final Thoughts

Microsoft Copilot in Word is a powerful tool, but it’s not the best fit for everyone. Whether your reasons are rooted in focus, creativity, performance, or privacy, turning off Copilot gives you back a more classic and distraction-free writing workspace.

The ability to opt-out of this feature, whether partially or entirely, provides flexibility and user control—an essential component of any intelligent software suite. Follow the steps tailored to your account type, and you’ll soon be writing without interference.

As Microsoft continues to evolve its AI tools, user feedback plays an important role. Who knows—you might just find a future version of Copilot that suits your needs better. Until then, happy writing—your way!