The first time I started Word after enabling connected experiences, I was presented with a screen that covered most of Word basically stating that Copilot was now available. There was a button to get started and a cancel button.
I clicked cancel and haven’t seen that screen again. I’m not sure how to make it reappear. Now I wish I had thought to take a snapshot…
I tried performing the same actions in Excel and PowerPoint, but nothing there. PowerPoint did show the Copilot button. I needed to enable connected experiences and restart the app in order to get the Copilot icon in the settings page. From there, I was able to turn it off. But no welcome screen there either.
In the 1990s I found I could disable Clippy by renaming the Actors folder (in MS Windows). A pity we cannot do the same for co-pilot. Like HAL I expect co-pilot will find ways to prevent us disabling it!
Clippy (aka the Office Assistant) was an optional installation. You could just re-run the installer and remove it. Or chose “custom installation” the first time around and uncheck its box.
Well, I think I have Costco’s answer.
I checked Costco.com and they now offer a subscription to Microsoft 365 Family with Copilot for $129.99. They do not offer a subscription without Copilot. On the good news side, the subscription they offer is for15 months (rather than the standard 12 months) and it comes with a Visa gift card for $10.
Not ideal from my point of view, but better than the standard autorenew from Microsoft.
Might be worth sending some feedback to Costco, but Costco doesn’t like to carry variations on products as a rule…they will pick one flavor and add value to it. The gift card and extra 3 months would be it in this case.
