Yes, You Can Turn Off AI Features in Business Software

The renewal notice arrives, the price is higher, and the tool you have used for years now opens with an assistant you never asked for. Your email, your documents, your bookkeeping and your website builder all seem to be doing the same thing at once. You want to know whether you can turn off AI features in business software, what it will cost you either way, and what happens to your customers' information while the features sit there switched on. In several of the tools you already pay for, you can turn parts of it off, limit what it can reach, or move to a lower plan. The exact switch depends on the vendor, and with Microsoft it also depends on which kind of account you sign in with. Some vendors offer only partial controls, and it helps to know that before you spend an afternoon hunting for a setting that does not exist. You are allowed to decide you do not want these features, and you can make that decision tool by tool.

Can you turn off the AI features in the tools you already use?

Often, yes, at least in part. What you can do falls into three actions: switch the feature off, limit what data it can read, or move to a plan that costs less. Each vendor documents a different mix of those, and the menus change, so check the vendor's own help page again before you rely on a path. The tools below are the ones where the vendor's own documentation spells out what exists and what does not.

How do I turn off Copilot in Microsoft 365?

Start by checking how you sign in. Microsoft's own page on how to turn off Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps says those settings apply only when you are signed in with a personal Microsoft account, such as a personal email address. They are not available if you are signed in with a work or school account. If your business uses work accounts, the person who administers your organization's Microsoft 365 subscription controls this, not you from inside Word.

On a personal account, the steps are per app and per device. In desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OneNote on Windows, go to File, then Options, then Copilot, and clear Enable Copilot. On a Mac, go to Preferences, then Authoring and Proofing Tools, then Copilot. Repeat it in each app on each computer you use.

There is a broader option: turning off "experiences that analyze your content." That also shuts down other connected features that have nothing to do with Copilot, so try the per-app setting first. Microsoft also notes that removing the Copilot icon does not disable Copilot, so hiding the button is not the same as switching it off.

How do I disable Gemini in Google Workspace?

If you run a Google Workspace account for your business, an administrator can go to the Admin console, then Generative AI, then Gemini app, then Service status, and select Off for everyone or for a chosen group. Google documents this in its Gemini app admin help.

That switch covers the Gemini app. Your team may still see other smart features in Gmail and Docs, which have their own controls. Google's help on smart features and Gemini access to Workspace data covers turning those off and limiting what Gemini can read. If you want the whole team on one setting, the admin route is the one that holds.

Can I turn off AI in QuickBooks?

Only partly. Intuit's help on agents in QuickBooks Online documents a few controls: you can close the companion view, use the prompts it describes to stop the view opening on its own, and, where the option is offered, revert the Banking page to the earlier layout. Intuit's own help also says there is not a way to turn off the features individually.

You are not the only one asking. Intuit's community has repeated requests from 2024 and 2025 to opt out permanently, including one thread titled how do I permanently opt out of the AI assistant, where staff said some controls were not available. If a full off switch matters to you, that absence is a fact to put into your decision about the product.

What can you switch off in Notion?

A workspace owner can turn off Notion AI's web search, and Notion keeps its premium models off until an admin turns them on. Notion describes both in its Notion AI FAQs. Its help pages do not document one universal switch that removes every included AI feature, so plan around the controls that do exist.

Did AI features raise my software prices?

In some cases, a price change arrived at the same time as the AI, and the vendor said so in its own announcement. Whether the AI caused the whole increase is a separate question, and the vendors answer it differently.

Microsoft made Copilot part of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family in most markets on January 16, 2025, and raised US prices by $3 a month. In its announcement that Copilot is included in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family, Microsoft said the rise reflected all the benefits added over 12 years, not Copilot alone. The current US prices on Microsoft's plans page are $99.99 a year for Personal and $129.99 a year for Family.

Google included Gemini in its Workspace Business and Enterprise plans from January 2025, stopped selling Gemini as an add-on, and, using its own example, raised Business Standard from $12 to $14 per user per month on annual billing. Google explained the change in its post on bringing AI to Workspace business plans. Its Workspace pricing page lists Business Starter at $7 per user per month on annual billing.

HubSpot moved Breeze Customer Agent to a credit model in June 2025, with extra credits from $10 per 1,000, according to its credits announcement. That one is plainly a charge for AI use, so watch for usage alerts if you keep it.

QuickBooks, Mailchimp, Wix and Notion have all added AI features. The research behind this post did not find a vendor announcement from any of them showing a base-plan increase caused by AI in the last two years. So, if one of those bills went up, check the vendor's change email for the stated reason before you blame the AI.

What happens to your customers' data if you leave AI features on?

The risk depends on the feature and what it can reach. An assistant connected to your mail, files, calendar, customer records or books can pull that content and send the relevant parts to its provider, or to the subcontractors the vendor lists, to produce an answer. That is where to put your attention.

On training, the vendors make narrower promises than people often fear. Google and Microsoft say eligible business content is not used to train their foundation or Gemini models without permission. Microsoft covers its home plans in Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps for home: your data and privacy. Notion's AI security practices say customer data goes to AI subprocessors to run the feature, that those providers keep it for 30 days or less by default on non-Enterprise plans, and that it is not used to train models by default.

"Not used for training" still means the data is read and processed. Turning a feature off, stopping training use and stopping any processing are three different actions, and one setting rarely covers all three. Read which one a vendor's setting actually controls.

Accuracy is its own risk. Intuit's page on how it uses generative AI warns against making important financial, legal, tax or investment decisions based only on generated answers. NIST's July 2024 generative AI profile names made-up answers, which it calls confabulation, along with privacy, information security and intellectual property as risks to check. For anything that goes to a customer, have a person approve it first.

Regulators have said the promises count. The FTC wrote in January 2024 that AI companies must uphold their privacy and confidentiality commitments, and noted reports of leaked confidential data and exposed chat histories. If you serve customers in Europe, the European Data Protection Board's Opinion 28/2024 covers when personal data used in AI models needs a lawful basis. Neither is a checklist for a small business, but both point to the same steps: list what data a feature reaches, read the current terms and processor list, limit access, and do not act on output nobody has checked.

Is any of it worth keeping?

Maybe one piece, and the evidence for it is narrow. A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper on AI in customer support studied 5,179 support agents at one Fortune 500 software company. It found a 14% average increase in issues resolved per hour, about 34% for newer and lower-skilled agents, and very little change for experienced ones.

That result belongs to assisted customer support at a large firm. It does not show the same saving for a two-person company, for bookkeeping, for marketing copy, or for the assistant that just appeared in your word processor. Vendor claims about time saved are not the same kind of evidence.

A fair test is short and reversible. Pick one repetitive, low-risk task. Time it for two weeks with the feature on, count the corrections you make, and compare the result with what the subscription and the review time cost you. If you want help choosing which task to test, the post on what to automate first walks through picking a small, measurable one. Keep the feature if it saves measured time and its data handling is acceptable. Turn it off, or move to a simpler tool, if it mostly adds prompts, errors, distraction or a surcharge. A simpler tool can mean less training and less data exposure, though you may lose an integration you actually use.

How can you check your own subscriptions in twenty minutes?

You can run this yourself this week with a bank statement and your admin logins. Do not change anything until you know what you would lose and whether you can export your data.

The failures that follow this kind of change tend to be practical. A renewal or new credit charge goes unnoticed. Staff use a default assistant without knowing what it can read. Generated text or categories get accepted without a check. Someone assumes one setting covers every app and device. A downgrade removes storage or collaboration features nobody checked. There is no national data ranking how often each happens, so treat that order as a checklist, not a statistic.

When does it make sense to leave a platform?

Turn a feature off, downgrade, or move when the tool has no usable control, its data handling conflicts with what you owe your customers, the extra cost is not paid back in measured time, or its mistakes create more checking than it saves. That is a normal outcome, and keeping your simpler process is a sound decision.

Do not switch just to get away from a label, though. If the alternative costs more, drops records you need, carries the same embedded features, or means a risky move, staying and switching things off may be the better call. Before you leave anything that holds your books, customer messages or backups, request an export and compare the switching cost with the next 12 months of charges.

As rough planning ranges, not industry benchmarks: sorting out an invoice surprise takes about 15 to 60 minutes per vendor. Turning off access for a small admin-managed account takes about the same. Writing a rule that a person approves customer, financial, legal, tax and public content, then showing staff, takes one to three hours. A downgrade or move, with an inventory, an export and a tested rollback date, can take half a day to several weeks depending on your integrations and history.

Frequently Asked Questions About turn off ai features in business software

How do I turn off Copilot in Microsoft 365?

On a personal Microsoft account, clear Enable Copilot under File, Options, Copilot in each Windows desktop app, or under Preferences, Authoring and Proofing Tools, Copilot on a Mac. On a work or school account those settings are not available, and your organization's admin controls it.

Can I disable Gemini in Google Workspace for my whole team?

Yes, if you are an admin. In the Admin console, go to Generative AI, Gemini app, Service status, and choose Off for everyone or a group. Other smart features have separate controls.

Can I turn off AI in QuickBooks?

Partly. You can close the companion view, stop it opening automatically, and revert the Banking page where offered. Intuit says there is not a way to turn off the features individually.

Does turning AI off stop my data being used for training?

Not necessarily. Turning a feature off, opting out of training and stopping processing are different settings. Check which one each vendor's control covers.

Are AI features raising software prices?

Some price changes arrived with AI. Microsoft raised US Personal and Family prices by $3 a month when it added Copilot, though it tied the rise to 12 years of added benefits, and Google raised Business Standard from $12 to $14 per user per month on annual billing.

Do I need AI in my software at all?

No. Keep a feature only if a short test shows it saves measured time with acceptable data handling. Turning it off and keeping your current process is a legitimate choice.

Final Thoughts

You can often turn off AI features in business software, but the switch lives in a different place for each vendor. Microsoft's consumer settings work only on personal accounts, Google gives Workspace admins a Gemini off switch, and QuickBooks and Notion offer partial controls. Price rises came with some of these features, and the vendors' own announcements say how much was tied to AI. None of this means you are behind if you say no.

A twenty-minute review gives you a one-page record: what changed price, what is switched on, what each feature can read, and who approves anything a customer sees. After that, renewals stop being surprises, and your staff have one agreed way to work.

If you would rather have a second pair of eyes on it, Web Leveling can go through your tools with you, vendor by vendor, and write down what each one can reach and what it costs. Our AI consulting work starts from what you actually need, and sometimes that means we recommend turning features off and keeping the process you already have. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Tell us which tools are pushing AI at you, and we will help you sort what to keep from what to switch off.

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