Microsoft Lets Users Disable Copilot Button
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- Microsoft is rolling out Office app updates next week that let users disable a floating Copilot button that appeared in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in recent weeks.
- The button has drawn particular ire from Excel users because it floats above the bottom right-hand section of documents and obstructs cells, with no way to fully remove it until now.
- Katie Kivett, partner group product manager at Microsoft, admitted the company is "hearing the need for more control over how Copilot appears" and called the move a short-term adjustment while it evolves Copilot to be "more adaptive and flexible over time."
- Beyond a previously available dock option that shrinks the button, Microsoft is adding the ability to move it to the ribbon so it no longer floats on top of documents.
- The new option surfaces next week when users right-click the "Dynamic Action Button."
- The change comes roughly a month after Microsoft also began stripping "unnecessary" Copilot buttons from various Windows 11 apps, suggesting a broader pullback from the company's button-everywhere Copilot push.
Why it matters: For Excel users, a button that covers active cells and can't be removed is a direct productivity tax — turning a Copilot feature into a workflow obstacle. For Microsoft, this is a quiet concession that its aggressive Copilot rollout backfired: the company is now walking back interface changes it shipped weeks ago, just as Katie Kivett publicly acknowledges users want more control over where Copilot appears.
