Microsoft 365 pauses Copilot creep after admins cry foul
- Reference: 1773837494
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/18/automatic_deployment_copilot/
- Source link:
"This app provides a centralized entry point for accessing Copilot experiences and AI-powered capabilities across Microsoft 365," Microsoft [1]said .
"This change simplifies access to Copilot and ensures users can easily discover and engage with productivity-enhancing features."
[2]
Customers using Microsoft 365 desktop client apps were the target audience, and the Windows behemoth originally planned to start rolling it out in early October. This slipped to December 2025 and has now been temporarily halted.
[3]
[4]
In a post on the Microsoft 365 Message Center, Microsoft stated that existing installations were unaffected, and the change excluded customers in the European Economic Area (EEA), which were already out of scope.
Administrators wanting the rollout to resume "can deploy the app via other methods and should await further updates."
[5]
It was possible to stop deployment of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on eligible devices if an administrator opted out. Otherwise, the app appeared as an icon in the Start Menu, unless it had already been installed.
[6]Gartner suggests Friday afternoon Copilot ban because tired users may be too lazy to check its mistakes
[7]GitHub infuriates students by removing some models from free Copilot plan
[8]Microsoft veteran Rajesh Jha prepares to retire, triggers yet another reorg
[9]Microsoft Copilot now boarding your health information
It's an odd decision from Microsoft, although it might reflect a change of priorities as the policy of Copilot All The Things [10]reportedly undergoes a rethink, at least as far as Windows 11 is concerned.
It's fair to say the reaction from Microsoft's commercial customers was not [11]universally positive , which was likely also a factor in the decision to halt the rollout temporarily. Making it opt-out by default increased the administrative workload and forced IT leaders to make decisions and set policies based on Redmond's whims rather than a corporate schedule.
The automatic deployment was designed to encourage adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot, yet it is clear from social media posts that not all users welcomed the assistant's arrival.
Temporarily halting the rollout, regardless of duration, will give admins breathing space as Microsoft considers how to proceed. ®
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[1] https://mc.merill.net/message/MC1152323
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/saas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2abraNY1KkVqxTcX2fXX7gwAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/saas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44abraNY1KkVqxTcX2fXX7gwAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/saas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33abraNY1KkVqxTcX2fXX7gwAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/saas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44abraNY1KkVqxTcX2fXX7gwAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/17/gartner_copilot_security_mitigations/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/13/microsoft_github_removes_models_student_plan/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/13/organizational_changes_at_microsoft_as/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/12/microsoft_copilot_health/
[10] https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/microsoft-quietly-scraps-plans-to-bring-copilot-to-notifications-and-settings-on-windows-11-as-it-moves-to-reduce-ai-bloat-across-the-os
[11] https://www.reddit.com/r/WindowsHelp/comments/1o513b9/microsoft_365_copilot_installed_itself_on_my_pc/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
RE: automatic deployment
Trying to justify the AI spend by pushing it on users, regardless of what said user might actually want.
But you can't just blame MS for this, *every* "AI" hype-machine company involved with the fraud is doing the same thing. You have a hammer, everything turns into a nail.
Re: RE: automatic deployment
> Trying to justify the AI spend by pushing it on users, regardless of what said user might actually want.
But that's worked well in IT, right? From new Windows interfaces to new IPv6 "features."
10 worked fine, 11 creaking under the load
My work PC downgraded last year from 10 to 11, and as time goes on gets slower and slower.
Adds features I do not use, hogging RAM and CPU cycles.
Some I can turn off, or taskkill.
Yet MS word now no longer saves without ai.exe running.
Adds more and more junk, so I struggle to run what I need.
Now feels slower than a Q8300 with 4GB RAM running Windows 7, in fact compile speeds are no better.
More cores, more speed, slower.
The same compiler however is rapid under WINE on my Linux box.
No unwanted Copilot in Nextcloud + Collabora
We're data sovereign for our collaborative office needs. We aren't locked in, we don't get new "features" pushed on us by vendors, and AI isn't trained on our work product. We control our own data on our own systems.
It's not terribly difficult now, and it gets easier every day. Hoping the EU gets serious about awarding grants to open source office developers. Mainstream "office" tasks are effectively a solved problem and have been for many years. The top priority in development time is building features which help open source compete with proprietary collaboration platforms.
Can't wait for the day when installing a self-hosted collaborative office suite takes no more time than a wizard-guided installation of Microsoft Office.
I rolled back to Office 2024 in my SOHO environment
Minus 365 and all the "features".
Of note, it's taking me a while to turn off all the 365 features on my Win11 PC, biggest wrestle was to regain control of "My Documents" from One Drive.
On analysis, couldn't believe how much crap I had in one drive.
Reverted to my multi terabyte, on Motherboard SSDs, will now consider some sort of NAS on my home infrastructure as, if I'm honest, I'd become so lazy and was letting a 365 subscription slowly lock me into their infrastructure and billing, but the key trigger was yet another price hike and a realisation that we don't need all these features and an ongoing ever increasing bill and the inevitable AI creep too.
At some point I will get fully onboard with FOSS office software, but baby steps.
Re: I rolled back to Office 2024 in my SOHO environment
Are you doing anything outside of a browser or a typical office suite?
Microsoft is so proud of Copilot they promote it by saying it can be turned off
Copilot and Recall are not the first features that Microsoft (or other companies) have foisted on users who vocally and repeatedly rejected them.
The first stage of denial is " it's wonderful, you just don't appreciate it because you don't understand it yet, that's all ".
The second stage is " you're not using it properly, that's why you're not seeing the benefits of it ".
The third stage is " well, it's not for everyone, some users, like yourself may not need it, but the majority of users do benefit from it "
The fourth stage is " like it or not, it's here to stay, but if you really don't like it, you can disable it by doing this "
Microsoft has been dictating this to users for years now. They could absorb the loss of a sliver of users who migrated back to Windows 10, to Linux, or MacOS. But now big PC vendors like Lenovo, Asus, and Dell are starting to offer Windows-less machines for sale, and even some machines with Ubuntu installed. That's an actual threat that makes Microsoft sit up and take notice.
What can they do to stop the defections? First, identify the cause. It's not difficult, because people have been screaming about it for years. But their AI strategy is entrenched, and won't be changing. So, as a panacea, they offer people the option to disable the hated functionality.
Of course, given Microsoft's track record, a lot of people don't trust them, nor should they. Microsoft has a history of re-enabling features that users disable against their will.
The autmatic deployment was designed to encourage adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot
Did Copilot miss this?