How to Turn Off Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook

If Copilot keeps appearing in Word, Excel or Outlook and you'd rather it didn't, Microsoft gives you settings to turn it off. Which setting you need, and how far it reaches, depends on the app and on the account you're signed in with.

This is for home users and small-office staff on the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, and whoever looks after their computers. It covers Microsoft's own settings for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook, Excel's separate formula suggestions, where Copilot can't be turned off, and how to turn it back on. It doesn't cover uninstalling anything or third-party tools.

First, which account are you signed in with?#

This decides whether the steps below apply to you at all.

As of October 30, 2026, Microsoft's turn-off page says its settings apply only when you're signed in to the Microsoft 365 apps with a Microsoft account. Its example is a personal email address. It says they "aren't available if you're signed in with a work or school account."

• Personal Microsoft account (Microsoft's example is "a personal email address"): the sections below are for you.
• Work or school account: your organization's IT admin manages Copilot. Ask them rather than looking for a setting that may not be there. For admins, Microsoft Learn's Manage Copilot Chat page covers blocking Copilot Chat for users or groups in the Copilot app, Outlook, Teams and on the web. It isn't a guide to the Word, Excel and PowerPoint settings below.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote: the "Enable Copilot" checkbox#

Each of these apps has its own Enable Copilot checkbox. Microsoft's page says that when you clear it, the Copilot icon on the ribbon is disabled and you can't use any Copilot features in that app.

Which versions have it. Microsoft lists these as the first versions with the checkbox, "as of March 13, 2025":

If you don't see the checkbox, Microsoft's advice is to check your app version and update it.

On Windows#

1. In the app (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OneNote), go to File > Options > Copilot.
2. Clear the Enable Copilot checkbox.
3. Select OK, then close and restart the app.

On a Mac#

1. In the app (Word, Excel or PowerPoint), select the app menu, then go to Preferences > Authoring and Proofing Tools > Copilot.
2. Clear the Enable Copilot checkbox.
3. Close and restart the app.

How to check it worked. After the restart, the Copilot icon on that app's ribbon should be disabled, which is what Microsoft's page says happens.

Hiding the icon isn't turning it off#

You can also remove the Copilot icon from the ribbon by customizing the ribbon. Microsoft's page is clear that this "doesn't turn off Copilot; you can still access Copilot through other methods, such as the shortcut menu." Use the checkbox if you want it off.

Outlook: the "Turn on Copilot" toggle#

Outlook works differently from the other apps. Instead of a checkbox, it has a Turn on Copilot toggle. Microsoft's turn-off page lists where it is "as of June 3, 2025", and the list was the same on October 30, 2026:

On iOS and Android, Microsoft says to update to the latest Outlook from the app store first. On a Mac, update to at least Version 16.95.3. Outlook on the web needs no update.

Classic Outlook for Windows doesn't have the toggle. Microsoft's page says there's "currently no estimated date" for it.

Microsoft's two pages describe this toggle a little differently. The turn-off page calls it the way to "turn off Copilot in Outlook". The Copilot Toggle page describes it as a setting that lets you "hide Copilot entry points (e.g. Summarize this email) from the Outlook app."

To turn it off:

1. Open Outlook and go to the place listed in the table for your version (Settings or Quick Settings).
2. Select Copilot.
3. Turn off the Turn on Copilot toggle.

Those steps combine Microsoft's two pages: the table's locations from the turn-off page, and "go to the 'Copilot' tab" and "adjust Copilot toggle" from the Copilot Toggle page. Microsoft doesn't describe a restart for Outlook.

About work accounts in Outlook. Microsoft's two pages don't say quite the same thing here. The Copilot Toggle page says the per-account setting "applies to both their organizational email and to any personal email accounts they have in the app". The turn-off page says its settings aren't available with work or school accounts. If you don't see the toggle for a work account, that's a question for your IT admin.

Excel: turning off formula suggestions#

Excel's Copilot formula suggestions are a separate setting with their own Microsoft page. There are two check boxes under Copilot options, and you can turn off either or both:

• Show Copilot suggestions for completing formulas. This is formula completion: Copilot suggests a whole formula when you type = in a cell.
• Show Copilot suggestions for formulas based on patterns in your content. This is formula by example. You type a few example values, and Copilot suggests a formula to fill the rest of the column.

In Excel for Windows#

1. Select File > Options.
2. In the Excel Options dialog, select Copilot.
3. Clear the check box for each feature you want off: Show Copilot suggestions for completing formulas, Show Copilot suggestions for formulas based on patterns in your content, or both.
4. Select OK.

In Excel for the web#

1. Select File > Options (...) > Copilot Settings.
2. In the Copilot Settings dialog, clear the check box for each feature you want off.
3. Select OK.

In Excel for the web, you can also turn off formula completion from a suggestion itself. Select More options (...) on the suggestion card, then Turn off Copilot suggestions for completing formulas. Microsoft says this changes the same setting as Copilot Settings.

Where you can't turn it off#

As of October 30, 2026, Microsoft's pages say:

• Word, Excel and PowerPoint on iOS, Android and the web: "You can't turn off Copilot in the iOS, Android, or web versions of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint" (turn-off page). Excel for the web's formula suggestions are a separate setting, covered above. Outlook on those platforms does have its toggle, above.
• Classic Outlook for Windows doesn't have the toggle yet, with no estimated date.
• Designer, Notepad and Paint: "You can't turn off Copilot features" in them (Microsoft 365 subscriptions FAQ).

How to turn Copilot back on#

You turn each setting back on the same way you turned it off.

• Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote: repeat the steps for Windows or Mac above, but select the Enable Copilot checkbox, select OK on Windows, then restart the app.
• Outlook: turn the Turn on Copilot toggle back on in Settings or Quick Settings.
• Excel formula suggestions: follow the same steps for your version of Excel, select the check boxes you cleared, and select OK.

Next steps#

If you look after Microsoft 365 for a small office, the Microsoft 365 small-office guide covers the settings that protect the accounts themselves. They include admin accounts, multifactor authentication, email authentication and sharing. The Small Business Cybersecurity Checklist puts those in priority order alongside backups, updates and the rest.