A floating Copilot button has frustrated Excel users the most.
Microsoft is introducing Office app updates next week that allow users to disable a floating Copilot button. The button has appeared in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, floating above the bottom right of spreadsheets or documents, and has particularly annoyed Excel users as it obstructs cells and cannot be fully disabled.
“While we are seeing increased engagement with Copilot in Office apps with this update, we are also hearing the need for more control over how Copilot appears,” admits Katie Kivett, partner group product manager at Microsoft. “While one of our goals is to evolve Copilot to be more adaptive and flexible over time, we are making some adjustments in the short term.”
While Microsoft already has a dock option for the floating Copilot button to make it slightly smaller and less annoying, it’s now adding an option to move the button to the ribbon so it will no longer float on top of documents. This new option will appear next week when users right-click the “Dynamic Action Button.”
This change to Office apps comes just a month after Microsoft also started removing “unnecessary” Copilot buttons from various Windows 11 apps. After years of adding Copilot buttons everywhere, it seems like Microsoft is realizing these additions can be more annoying than helpful.