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I want to turn off or hide the draft with copilot dingbat that follows my cursor around in MS Word.
I have seen a few articles on this website, and I know it's not possible but I'm going to ask anyway.
For reference this is what I'm referring to:
It's more I find the little thing following me around on my screen to be annoying and distracting, I've managed to hide or disable anything related to copilot on my system except this little dingbat.
When a new document is open you get a little message that says "Select the icon or press Alt + i to draft with copilot"
It would be nice if I could hide that as well, yes copilot is a *feature*, and I don't care about it.
I also want to hide the paste with copilot and just used the local paste options that were built into previous versions of word.
I suspect that there is a copilot dingbat that is stored somewhere on my system, possibly in a font, and as I have already made a few detrimental modifications to my operating system registry, I'm not wary of messing up my computer any more than it could be.
The only saving grace I have at the moment is there is an issue with my account, so any accidental triggering of the feature causes it to crap out. (So long as I don't accidentally press the 'fix account" button)
I know that if it was easy to turn off there would be a button for it, I know Microsoft probably wants us to use this feature because it means more data for them to collect, an I'm disappointed in the loss of user agency that's resulted from this rollout, and there's a spike in animosity towards AI in general.
Found it, and unchecking the box worked. From inside of Word, File-->Options-->Copilot.
34 Replies
I downgraded my subscription to Basic and was able to get rid of it. I had to wait for my renewal date though.
On a Mac, I just clicked on the CoPilot icon near the top of a blank page and it allowed me to disable it.
Plus I saved $30!
thanks
I am at a point where I think I will be doing away with Microsoft products all together. And believe me, I was a fan even through blue screens and what not. I always considered Windows and Office superior precisely because I was always given options to choose. Because of flexibility (precisely what Apple lacks). This take they chose to violently enforce this useless crap on us is too much for me. I will be moving permanently onto Linux. I don't have time for this nonsense. I like AI and I use AI all the time, but it has to be on my terms. Shoving it down my throat doesn't make me want it more. I makes me resent the company at a whole new level - I detest what they are doing.
None of the above work, but I do have the real solution... I am using Wordperfect. Wordperfect can save files as word versions (just not edit them there). It's a bit of a pain, but since Microsoft cannot be bothered to change, I cannot be bothered to use their "services"
Came up with a great solution to this. I cancelled my Word 365 sub and moved to Libre Office. Saved myself $180 Australian and got rid of Copilot at the same time. Highly recommended!
Here's how to get rid of the stinking Copilot poop emoji that follows you around in Word (365 for Mac)—and save yourself $30 to boot! The option to turn it off does NOT exist in Word version 16.93 (25011212) Preferences. Turning off Connected Experiences does NOT remove it. After over an hour of frustrating chatting with M$ I was finally offered the solution: 1) Manage your subscription to Office 365; 2) Select CANCEL; 3) Choose Classic subscription for the old price of $69.99; 4) Restart Mac TWO TIMES; 4) Launch Word and go to Preferences, where the CoPoop option now appears; 5) Deselect it. You are now free of CoPoop and have saved $30.
Please be sure to inform M$ of how much you appreciate having Clippy 2.0 shoved down your throat with a 50% price increase and no simple way to remove it!
I was able to select Classic, but after restarting twice, the dang dingbat is still there. My subscription doesn't renew until April. Maybe I have to wait until then? On a Mac, which doesn't have the Options option in the File dropdown.
Does anyone know how to remove this dingbat on Mac?
I just updated my app this morning and am already pulling my hair out. Please please someone help get rid of it. So awfully distracting.
BTW, I closed Word and restarted it. The co-pilot icon appeared at the top of the document, but no where else. Such a relief. I like others, am a full-time writer and that icon was very distracting to the point where I was searching for alternatives and I've been using Word for 30+ years. Yeesh.
Found it, and unchecking the box worked. From inside of Word, File-->Options-->Copilot.
Wonderful. Worked. Thanks!!!
Unfortunately, this does NOT work for Chromebooks, or all versions of word. However, thank you for sharing a help for some people
YES! Life saver, you!
Yes! This worked for me. Within my Word document I went to File > Options > clicked on the Copilot tab (mine is 4th down between Proofing and Save) > unchecked the box that says "Enable Copilot." Thank you!!
