The Copilot icon in Word 365 is annoying clutter in the left-margin of Word documents. Customers expect a way to remove it and there’s a lot of misinformation that wastes time.
First the bad news …
There’s no way, at the moment, to disable or hide the left-side Copilot icon in Word that looks like this.
There SHOULD be an option to hide the Copilot icon but there isn’t. Either because Microsoft could not be bothered, or it’s their way to promote Copilot.
The left-side icon has been an issue for customers since the beginning. Paying Copilot customers don’t like the distraction or intrusion, preferring to have Copilot appear when asked.
This will be a growing issue as Copilot is pushed to Microsoft 365 customers along with hefty price increases.
Copilot shortcut
The Copilot mini menu appears if you select some text then press Alt + i shortcut.
The shortcut key means the left-side Copilot icon could be hidden, leaving customers to start Copilot when they want it.
Copilot is a “Work in Progress”
Microsoft is still tinkering with Copilot’s interface in the Office apps. The exact version of Microsoft 365 matters a lot while Copilot is still in this unofficial but very real “in development” phase.
Copilot is very much a “Work in Progress”. Yes, Copilot is a paid add-on offered to the public, but it’s still not finished.
Work on the Copilot interface in Microsoft 365 is the visible part. There’s also enormous effort going on ‘behind the scenes’ with the server or cloud part of AI.
Copilot in Word tips that DON’T work
There are various are ‘fixes’ to remove the left-side Copilot icon, copied around forums and social media, despite them not working!
Some of these ‘tips’ might have worked at some stage, but they don’t now. Office Watch always tests for ourselves, in this case with the latest Public (current) and Insiders (Beta) releases of Microsoft.
Hide the Icon
“Hide the icon: Click the light bulb icon, then uncheck the Show Copilot in document checkbox in the pane on the right”
This is wrong in more ways than one.
- The Copilot icon looks nothing like a lightbulb.
- Clicking on the icon opens the Draft or Rewrite box – not the Copilot side-pane
- There’s no “ Show Copilot in document checkbox” option in any place. Not the Draft/Rewrite box nor the Copilot side-pane.
Disable Editor suggestions
“Disable Editor suggestions: Go to File > Options > Proofing, then uncheck the boxes for features like Show suggestions as I type”
There is no such option at that location or at AutoCorrect Options.
None of the current suggestion/tip options in Word affect the Copilot feature.
Work Offline
Another suggestion is to work offline or disable the computer connection to the Internet.
Turning off Internet access isn’t always practical because, for example, the browser is needed for research, email or messaging is in use or the Word document is collaborated with online.
And, if that wasn’t enough – it doesn’t work. The Copilot icon appears even if Word starts while offline.
The current Copilot integration in Office has little error checking and no test for online connection.
If offline, Copilot will accept a request then just linger from some time (“Pulling things together”) before showing an unhelpful “Something went wrong” error message.
There’s no known way to hide the Copilot icon from Word documents. There should be but it’s not in Microsoft’s self-interest to do that because their need is to push Copilot AI as much as possible.
Copilot comes to Microsoft 365 with many limits and a high price
