How to turn off copilot in word

While the recent task-aware design overhaul has streamlined Microsoft 365 Copilot for many, the automated inline text prompts, floating draft boxes, and prominent ribbon icons can feel highly intrusive if you prefer a clean, distraction-free environment for drafting documents.

If you don’t want the generative assistant constantly analyzing your paragraphs or interrupting your typing flow, Microsoft provides a direct way to turn it off. Because the configuration is app-specific, disabling Copilot in Word will not affect its operation in Excel or Teams unless you repeat the steps there.

💻 Method 1: Turn Off Copilot in Word for Windows

If you are running the desktop version of Word on a Windows machine, you can turn off the assistant directly through the software’s advanced configuration panel:

 [ Click File ] ──► Go to Options ──► Select "Copilot" Tab ──► Uncheck "Enable Copilot" ──► Restart Word

1. Launch Microsoft Word on your computer.

2. Click on the File tab in the upper-left corner of the window.

3. Look at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar menu and click Options.

4. In the Word Options window that surfaces, look at the sidebar category directory and click on Copilot.

5. Locate the checkbox labeled “Enable Copilot” and uncheck it.

6. Click OK to save your preferences, then completely close and restart Microsoft Word.

Once the app reloads, the Copilot icon will be greyed out on your ribbon, and the inline text draft pop-ups will stop showing up next to your cursor.

🍏 Method 2: Turn Off Copilot in Word for Mac

For macOS users, the setting is located within the core application utility properties instead of a file menu backdrop:

1. Open Microsoft Word on your Mac.

2. Click on Word in the top Apple menu bar next to the logo, and select Preferences.

3. Under the Authoring and Proofing Tools section block, click on Copilot.

4. Clear the “Enable Copilot” checkbox.

5. Close and restart the Word application to apply the changes.

🔒 Method 3: The Strict Privacy Bypass (Web App and Legacy Builds)

The dedicated “Copilot” menu box described above is available on updated desktop versions of Office. If you are running Word inside a web browser, on a mobile device, or on an un-updated legacy build where that specific button is missing, you can shut down the AI engine by modifying your account’s cloud data permissions:

 [ File > Account ] ──► Account Privacy > Manage Settings ──► Uncheck "Experiences that analyze your content"

1. In Word, click File > Account (or click your profile icon in the top web corner).

2. Under the Account Privacy column header, click Manage Settings.

3. Scroll down to the Connected experiences section block.

4. Uncheck the box labeled “Turn on experiences that analyze your content.”

5. Click OK and restart the app.

⚠️ Important Caveat: Because this privacy change explicitly cuts off Microsoft’s cloud servers from reading your live document content, it will also disable other non-AI automated features you might rely on, such as standard inline text predictions, automatic alt-text generation for dropped images, and advanced spelling style analysis.

📊 Summary: Management Action Matrix