In 2023 Microsoft announced Copilot, that is Microsoft version of an integrated AI chatbot, for Microsoft 365, commonly/formerly known as Microsoft Office. My clarifying statements alone would make for its own ranting post on Microsoft software package naming – oh wait, someone else already wrote that. Mid January Microsoft announced that Copilot will be included in the whole Microsoft 365 Personal and Family package and increased the subscription price by $36 per year ($3 per month).
Maybe you love a “smart” Clippy for anything you do in the Office apps, but if you don’t or if you just don’t want to pay extra, there’s currently still an option for existing Microsoft 365 subscribers to downgrade. Of course Microsoft didn’t make this simply another Tier, it’s not available to new customers, and nobody knows if it will be removed in a year or two.
Here’s how you switch to the classic plan without AI and for the previous price point:
- Open your Microsoft account page and login with the correct credentials
- In the subscription section click the “Manage” link on your Microsoft 356 subscription
- Then click the “Cancel subscription” button
- Note: The first “Cancel subscription” does not directly cancel your subscription
- You should get the option to downgrade to Microsoft 365 Personal Classic now
- Note: Do not click the “I don’t want my subscription” button, this will cancel your subscription
- Select the cheaper plan without AI by pressing the “Switch plan” button
It’s sad that Microsoft forces their “AI” stuff onto everyone and uses dark patterns (i.e. having to “cancel” instead of switching tiers) to still offer the old option.