Windows Central Insider
Earlier this week, I reported that Microsoft disrupted Excel’s user experience by introducing an un-dismissable floating Copilot button that obstructs data on the screen. "This is atrocious implementation," a user lamented. "I capture screenshots for validation, and this is inserting itself over the data, which already has limited space on my screen.
I reached out to Microsoft about the issue. While the company responded, it offered little beyond two resources: one explaining how to disable Copilot in Excel and Word, and another outlining its broader strategy of integrating Copilot into Office apps as part of an effort to "build an AI‑forward design system that supports work today, while carrying us into tomorrow."
And now, in a new report by Windows Latest, Microsoft has admitted that the floating Copilot button across its Office apps is getting in the way of users' workflows. Consequently, the company is now rolling out a fix that will allow users to move Copilot back to the ribbon.
We’ve been working to make Microsoft 365 feel more connected and integrated with Copilot, available as a helpful thought partner, when you need it. We’re listening, learning, and improving as we go… and making a few updates based on feedback.
Microsoft
"The placement of the Copilot button is the worst decision I've seen," a Windows Central reader complained. "I think I get the logic, of putting it in the lower right corner, where most chatbots and live chat buttons have been in web UI for decades, but Excel isn't a web app. There isn't a need for the button to be in the lower corner, covering usable working space. The toolbar is where everyone knows to go in Office, and it had a fitting home in the toolbar."
According to Microsoft:
"If intelligence doesn’t meet you at the right level of that cycle, it doesn’t feel like a partner. It feels like an interruption. That insight is the structural foundation of how Copilot behaves across Office apps. It sees what you’re working on and understands the context, allowing it to act within the given environment."
Microsoft has a big Copilot problem
But perhaps more interestingly, the tech giant indicated that it spotted higher Copilot interactions and engagement after it shipped the floating Copilot button as a default experience across its Office apps.
However, following backlash from users over the change, Microsoft is now rolling back the change and allowing users to move Copilot back to the ribbon. Windows Latest reports that Microsoft is expected to make this change in the last week of May 2026.
Elsewhere, Mat Velloso, a former Partner Director managing AI innovation in Windows at Microsoft, recently indicated that the company has already missed the AI wave, just like it did with the internet and mobile.
He argues that not even 3% of paying customers use Copilot, "even when the distribution is massive, and it's pre-deployed right in their faces," which lines up with a separate report suggesting that only 3.3% of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 users who interact with Copilot Chat actually pay for it, despite Microsoft spending $37.5 billion on its AI-themed efforts in Q2 FY26.
Interestingly, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella indicated that the company now has more than 20 million enterprise customers paying for Microsoft Copilot, representing a 33% increase in the platform's user base from January's 15 million.
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