Microsoft will force install the Copilot AI app for users with desktop versions of 365 apps like Word and Excel — coming October, with no way to opt out for personal users

Microsoft has announced that it will automatically install the Microsoft 365 Copilot AI app for users who have a desktop version of Microsoft 365 suite apps installed on their system, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. According to BleepingComputer, the rollout will begin next month and is expected to be completed halfway through November, affecting all Windows PCs worldwide, except those in the European Economic Area (EEA).

“Starting in October 2025, Microsoft will begin automatically installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Windows devices that have Microsoft 365 desktop client apps,” the company said on the Microsoft 365 message center. “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.”

Unfortunately, it seems that most personal users will have no way of opting out of this feature. But if you’re a system administrator, you can opt your organization out of this by disabling the automatic installation of Microsoft 365 Copilot in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center.

This update is part of Redmond’s push for the wider adoption of its Copilot AI app. Just this July, the Microsoft Edge browser introduced a Copilot Mode that can interact with your open tabs and find information you’re looking for. Furthermore, Microsoft bundled Copilot with the Microsoft 365 subscription, resulting in a 43% price hike.

And while this might be a welcome development for those who use AI tools, it will most likely be seen as an annoyance by those who don’t use Copilot or AI in general. After all, if you use AI apps and even subscribe to one, you likely already have it installed on your computer. But for those who aren’t interested, they will likely just see this as another piece of bloatware that Microsoft is forcing down their throats.

The software giant is spending billions of dollars on AI investments, and it likely wants users to start paying for services to recoup some of the cash it spent. However, statistics say that the AI adoption rate isn’t going as planned, with large companies reducing their reliance on these tools. It has even gotten to the point that an economist warned of an AI bubble that will be worse than the dot-com crash of 2000 when it bursts.

Unless you have an administrator who manages your Microsoft 365 subscription (which isn’t true for most personal users), it seems that the only way to avoid getting Microsoft 365 Copilot automatically installed on your computer is to not use Microsoft 365. Otherwise, you’ll just have to ignore it and add the app to the list of disabled apps in Windows’ Startup.

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