I want to disable Copilot in Word on MacBook Air

As of Word Version 16.93, Excel version 16.93.2, it should be possible to turn off Copilot individually for these two apps. The tentative schedule for Powerpoint is February 2025, according to Microsoft . They released a new version (16:94) two days ago. I just installed it - and the option appears in Preferences as reported by several.

Note however that in order to get it, you first have to enable "Turn on optional connected experiences", then close all Microsoft products, before restarting Word. After restart, the Copilot option should appear in preferences, so you can disable copilot. After this sequence of magic spells, you may again disable the connected experiences. If you do not first enable connected experiences, you will not get the option to disable Copilot. Great connected experience.

I had the same problem, same frustrations. I restarted the program, and Copilot suddenly appeared in my Word-->Preferences-->Authoring and Proofreading Tools. I disabled it from there, and also unchecked all the privacy options. I can only hope that will fix it.

Ugh. I want AI to clean my house, not write my stuff.

• First, make sure both your MacBook and Microsoft 365 have the latest software updates.
• Second, quit the Microsoft 365 App and restart your computer. When Microsoft introduced Copilot to Word the option to "enable"/un-enable it did not appear until I quit the app and restarted my computer. Unfortunately, trying the same thing when copilot was added to Excel as of 2/9/25 had no effect, so the option to un-enable does not seem to be automatically included in the update that added Copilot.
• Third, per the images below, go to the app menu at the top and select Preferences. The Copilot icon should appear. Click on it and de-select Enable Copilot.

• Fourth, I would also recommend disconnecting the app from its cloud backup service "optional connected experience". Merely disconnecting this may be enough to turn off copilot if the "enable" option does not appear. In Preferences, select Privacy, then deselect "Turn on optional connected experiences"

Wow! I opened up MS word today and found copilot. I have a master's degree and I can do a much better job of editing! How annoying can it get? Why do programs have to add annoying features like this, is it to keep the programmers busy?

I found the following solution which is working so far, for my MacBook Air:

1. Open Word
2. Click on "Word" on upper left of screen.
3. Click on preferences
4. Click on that ******* Copilot icon
5. Click on "disable".

Copilot disappeared on my document immediately!

Hope this helps!

I also find that feature very annoying so I researched the answer. To disable Copilot in Microsoft Word on a Mac, open your Word document, go to File > Options > Copilot, and then uncheck the "Enable Copilot" box. I'm happy to report it works!

You can find more detail here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-to-turn-off-copilot-in-microsoft-365-family-and-personal-subscriptions-bc7e530b-152d-4123-8e78-edc06f8b85f1

I had another look at my Microsoft products more carefully.

I have a Microsoft 365 subscription. My version of Word is:

Version 16.93 (25011212)

When I open Word, under Preferences, Authoring and Proofing Tools ... there is a Copilot icon among the other options. Selecting that Copilot icon brings up a Copilot checkbox, which I can check on and off. When I uncheck it (off), Copilot goes away in Word, although the icon remains on on the Ribbon but it is lightened out.

From what I can tell, Word was last updated January 14, 2025. I have Microsoft 365 on auto update so it happens without me noticing.

Now when I use the Office products, Copilot is completely gone (except for that lightened out Copilot icon on the far right of the ribbon).

It appears we have at last communmicated with Microsoft. "It" has put an icon in Preferences as one of us explained - I went to it and it's a toggle, resting state off, if you click it, Co-Pilot is on! HOORAY! I THINK, I HOPE!! Look in the second row in Preferences. The Co-Pilot icon is the first one. Please let the rest of us know if it's working (Or not).

Jack (the guy who started this thread).

i came late to this discussion but i am in exactly the same position. I downloaded the older version and it worked for about a week and then BOOM. copilot is back. it is nothing more than spyware. I have found an alternative and will be cancelling all microsoft apps effective immediately. this is just plain scary.

relarion wrote:

Steve, very Microsoft-y indeed! I had gone through those steps. I still get the prompt whenever I open a new document.

After disabling all the Connected Experiences, you also need to remove the CoPilot icon from the ribbon bar. Go to Word > Preferences > Ribbon & Toolbar > Main Tabs > Home > Assistance and remove the Assistance group (remove the group, you cannot remove just CoPilot). Also check Word > Preferences again; there should be a new CoPilot icon there; click on it and disable CoPilot again. That "should" remove all prompts for CoPilot.

Note that if you also use PPT, Excel and/or Outlook you need to repeat these steps in each app. Even when done, there is still an annoying CoPilot icon that remains on the PPT edit screen that so far no one has been able to remove. And unfortunately you need to repeat all this in each user account if you have multiple user accounts on your Mac.

I have used OneDrive. Your document and the previous versions are probably on a Microsoft cloud. Log into your Microsoft account and look for cloud storage. The backups work pretty well, but I can't always find them. I make it a point to store documents on my computer and not on their cloud because they can be difficult to find again.

wfd11777 - I followed your suggestions, starting with the process recommended by steve626 and it worked. I can now enable or disable Copilot in Word. Thanks to you both!

To summarize, here is what worked for me:

• In Word:
• Preferences > Privacy > Manage Connected Experiences > Turn off all connected experiences
• Quit all MS applications
• Restart Word
• In Word:
• Preferences > Copilot > Enable Copilot (on/off)

If don't have the Enable copilot checkbox in your preferences but you're seeing the copilot icon and prompt in your document, here's how to get the checkbox to appear. It took me ages to work this out, so I thought I'd share it here.

The process is to update your software, enable copilot fully, then you can fully disable it.

1. Go to Help > Check for updates and update to the latest version. You need 16.93 or later (check your version in Word > About Microsoft Word).
2. Once you've updated, go to Preferences > Privacy and click on Manage Connected Experiences. Use the checkboxes to turn everything on. Click on OK. You'll need to restart Word to apply this change.
3. When you restart Word, go to Preferences > Copilot and the Enable copilot checkbox is there. Uncheck it and all the copilot stuff disappears from your documents.

I'm a novelist and CoPilot was driving me crazy. This actually works!

1. In your app (for example, Word), select the app menu, and then go to Preferences > Authoring and Proofing Tools > Copilot.
2. Clear the Enable Copilot checkbox.

No—it doesn't just go away when you start to type. It reappears every time you hit "return."