If you use Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you have probably noticed a floating Copilot button hovering over your documents. It has been there since December 2025, sitting at the bottom-right corner of your screen, and Microsoft is finally letting you move it.
Starting the last week of May 2026, an update will give users the option to send it back to the ribbon where it belongs.
Why did Microsoft add the floating Copilot button in the first place?
The short answer is numbers. Only around 3.3% of Microsoft 365 users actually pay for Copilot, and adoption has stayed well below what Microsoft expected. To push more people toward the feature, Microsoft rolled out what it calls the Copilot Dynamic Action Button, or DAB, and quietly expanded it to everyone by May 2026.
The idea was that making Copilot more visible would drive more clicks, which it did. However, it also drove a wave of complaints. Excel users were hit hardest, since the button floated directly over spreadsheet cells, blocking data with no easy way to dismiss it.
How to move the Copilot button off your screen
Once the update rolls out, you can right-click the Copilot icon and choose to move it back to the ribbon. Microsoft is not removing the dock option, so you will still be able to switch between the floating button, the docked version, and the ribbon placement depending on your preference.
Katie Kivett, partner group product manager at Microsoft, acknowledged the frustration, saying the company is making short-term adjustments while it figures out a better long-term approach.
This is not the first time Microsoft has quietly scaled back Copilot. Just a month ago, it began pulling Copilot buttons from various Windows 11 apps after similar pushback. It seems Microsoft is slowly learning that forcing AI into every corner of your workflow is not the same as making it useful.
