Microsoft announces it will automatically install the Copilot AI app alongside desktop versions of 365 products like Word, Excel and PowerPoint this October—and it seems like there's no way for personal users to opt out
I've found that Microsoft Copilot splits opinion pretty evenly, in my casual conversations with unfortunate members of the public. While many begrudge the addition of AI tools into their daily lives, some find it very useful for summarising documents and spreadsheets, and helping them out with the odd bit of busywork.
Well, that last group should be particularly pleased with Microsoft's latest Copilot announcement, as the app is said to be installing alongside most desktop versions of Microsoft's 365 suite of apps next month—whether you like it or not.
"Starting in October 2025, Microsoft will begin automatically installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Windows devices that have Microsoft 365 desktop client apps," says MS in a message center update, according to Bleeping Computer.
"This app provides a centralized entry point for accessing Copilot experiences and AI-powered capabilities across Microsoft 365. This change simplifies access to Copilot and ensures users can easily discover and engage with productivity-enhancing features."
System admins can prevent the automatic install, but it looks like there's currently no way for personal users to do the same—although systems inside the European Economic Area appear to be excluded from the update.
Still, I hope the rest of you MS 365 users are ready to engage with some AI-based productivity enhancement, because it looks like the app might be heading your way regardless. You may have seen this coming, given that Microsoft rebranded the 365 app to the "Microsoft 365 Copilot app" at the start of the year, but nevertheless, here we are.
Microsoft seems to have been on a big push in recent months to integrate Copilot into all and sundry, including pushing it into Microsoft Edge as an "experimental feature" back in July—although for what its worth, it was purely an opt-in or opt-out affair. I can't imagine that the latest announcement of the app's forced installation will go down well with Microsoft 365 users, as they've already had to contend with a 43% price hike as a result of its inclusion in Personal and Family plans earlier this year.
It's also not exactly the sort of behaviour that inspires goodwill towards a new feature, is it? I would say that if your userbase really, really wants a product, you don't necessarily have to force it on them—and I'd also posit that this sort of mandatory installation technique doesn't speak well of Copilot's adoption among users as a whole.
Still, you get a whole 15 AI credits per month with the subscription, so if you're the sort of person who finds Copilot useful, this might not be particularly big news. For those of you who simply want to type the odd document and view the odd spreadsheet free from AI-involvement, though, and without Microsoft's AI app cluttering up your machine, it's a pretty bum deal.
Is this the point where I mention that the completely-free LibreOffice alternatives to all these 365 apps exist, and they're actually pretty good? Yep, I thought as much. Do with that information as you will.