How to switch to Microsoft 365 Family Classic (without Copilot)

If you’re reading this, you have probably noticed that Microsoft Copilot is now included in Microsoft Office (or whatever Word, Excel, etc. are called now).

This seems to have first started in October 2024 in a few countries and has now been rolled out globally in what ZDNET called “a total disaster“.

This inclusion of AI also came with a considerable price increase (from 99€ to 129€/year in my case).

YouTuber Atomic Shrimp made a video that expresses my feelings quite well:

Microsoft’s Sneaky Forced-Upsell to 365 Users; If You Don’t Need/Want Copilot, Don’t Pay for It

However, there’s an easier method to “downgrade” back to your previous Microsoft 365 plan than the one he presented:

1. Go to your Microsoft account dashboard.
This is where you manage your Microsoft account and your subscriptions.

2. Select “subscriptions” in the menu.
Your existing Microsoft 365 subsciption should appear.

3. Ensure that “recurring billing” is on.
It appears that this is required for the next step to work.

4. Click on “Cancel subscription”.

Microsoft 365 Family account management

This will bring up a page that lets you switch to a “Classic” subscription without AI (you know, the kind of page you’d expect to find under “Switch plan”):

Lower cost without AI

5. Confirm the plan change and payment method.
From the way the confirmation is worded, it seems I will get to “enjoy” Copilot until my current subscription period ends, but at least I won’t have to pay for it.

Microsoft Analytics Beta – exclude webpage parameters!

After almost one month of collecting data with Microsoft’s new adCenter Analytics (beta)*, I wanted to have a closer look at the many detailed reports today (and then – of course – blog about it). Turns out I’ve been collecting largely useless data because I had failed to exclude parameters like “?gclid=…” and Microsoft Analytics diligently counted all clicks coming from AdSense as calls to different pages. Stupid me, the option is right there at the top of the management view:

I’ll get back to this in another month. Click here to add your name to the adCenter Analytics invitation list and try it out yourself.

*Why didn’t I use Google Analytics like everyone else? Well, sometimes I’m a maverick, too. 😉


Update March 2009: Since Microsoft decided to pull the plug on Analytics, I won’t be posting anything on this topic anymore. Their announcement and the comments contain links to lots of alternative web analytics solutions.