I want to disable Copilot in Word on MacBook Air

This morning, I opened a new document in Word, and I got a prompt to "Press the icon or select ⌘+ \ to draft with Copilot." I do not want to use Copilot. When I search for a way to disable it, I'm directed to either click on Copilot on my toolbar or find it in Authoring and Proofing Tools in Word and uncheck it—Neither of these works. Clicking on it in the toolbar takes me to Privacy Preferences, and the only option is "Collapse Copilot automatically." Going to Settings/Personal Settings/Privacy/Connected Experience" and unchecking the analytical tools does not work either. Thanks.


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MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.2

Posted on Jan 17, 2025 8:26 AM

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Posted on Feb 13, 2025 6:44 AM

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.

98 replies

Jan 17, 2025 9:20 AM in response to relarion

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

Jan 17, 2025 9:50 AM in response to Carol B.

Carol B. wrote:

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!

I just double-checked in Word. I have no "File>Options". I also followed the instructions in the article you linked to, which say go to Preferences > Authoring and Proofing Tools > Copilot. I don't have Copilot there, either. So, I'm not sure what I would do if I wanted to turn it off. Fortunately, I don't.


Jan 17, 2025 11:04 AM in response to Carol B.

Carol B. wrote:

Well then, we are back to Barney-15E's suggestion. Contact Microsoft. Somehow I now only see the Co-Pilot icon at the top right of any Word document I'm working on. It's no longer popping up on its own. Maybe if you disregard it enough times, it goes away?

I'll have to check on that. I'm usually using Word with a work account that doesn't have Copilot, though.

Jan 18, 2025 11:03 AM in response to Carol B.

It works for some but not all users. Many (like me) have the most updated version of WORD on a Mac and still there is no way to turn off copilot. There is no "Enable Copilot" checkbox anywhere. There is no "Options" button under File. I'm glad you were able to fix the problem, Carol. But most of us are out of luck. In the meantime, I'm using Pages to write drafts and then edit them in Word. That's the only way to avoid the Copilot icon from following me.

Jan 18, 2025 7:29 PM in response to SSlaunwhite

I turned on copilot just for fun, I have a Microsoft 365 subscription. It doesn't look very useful or impressive. To remove it (or deactivate it), from Word, open Preferences from the Word menu, then Privacy. In Privacy, under Connected Experiences, choose Manage Connected Experiences, then uncheck all the Connected Experiences boxes. Going through these layers of nested menus that are not intuitive to do something simple that should be one click is very Microsoft-ish!

Jan 19, 2025 7:24 AM in response to steve626

Steve, very Microsoft-y indeed! I had gone through those steps. I still get the prompt whenever I open a new document. I just looked at a YouTube video ostensibly showing how to fix this. But all it does is disable Copilot and render the icon inactive. You still see "Select the icon or press ⌘ ..." I don't know why it annoys me so much.

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I want to disable Copilot in Word on MacBook Air

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