Microsoft Turns Off Text Predictions by Default in Word and Outlook

Microsoft is turning off text predictions by default in Word and Outlook. The feature suggests the next words as you type, and Microsoft now acknowledges that some users find it more of an interruption than a help. It will still be available in settings for anyone who wants it, The Register reported.

The change covers Word for Windows, the web, iOS and Android, along with classic Outlook for Windows and Outlook for Mac. Microsoft announced it on its Microsoft 365 Insider blog. “While some people find these suggestions useful, others prefer to write without predictive text,” the company wrote. “This update helps ensure that predictive text remains available for people who find it helpful, while reducing unwanted interruptions for those who prefer to write without suggestions appearing automatically.”

The Verge’s Tom Warren compared the feature to Marmite, noting that a lot of people hate it in Word and Outlook. According to The Register, Microsoft didn’t say whether the change will switch off predictions for users who had deliberately turned them on, or whether it applies only to new installs and profiles. It also didn’t say whether telemetry or user feedback prompted the change.

Part of a broader pullback

This is the latest in a series of rollbacks. In August, Microsoft said it would merge its consumer Copilot app with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and drop several features that hadn’t caught on, TechCrunch reported. Consumers lost Group Chats, AI-generated podcasts, Copilot Labs experiments and Deep Research by Aug. 18, and the animated Mico character is going away too. TechCrunch also cited a July report from The Information that Microsoft EVP Jacob Andreou wrote in an internal memo that Copilot needed to earn “the right to exist” in customers’ lives.

On-demand Copilot tools in Word and Outlook aren’t affected. For IT admins, the practical effect is fewer help-desk complaints about suggestions appearing in the middle of a sentence. Users who relied on text predictions will need to turn them back on, and admins should tell those users where the setting is before the change reaches their tenant.