Users of Microsoft Office have expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s recent rebranding efforts following the renaming of its widely-used software suite. The suite, which includes popular applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, was initially launched by Bill Gates’ global corporation in 1990 and has amassed a sizable user base of 400 million worldwide.
Last week, users were surprised by a notification indicating the suite’s new name. The dialogue box informed users about the rebranding to “Microsoft 365 Copilot app,” emphasizing its enhanced features for creating, sharing, and collaborating across various applications, now including Copilot.
Introduced in 2023 as a successor to Cortana, Copilot is an AI chatbot designed to boost user productivity by automating tasks and generating content.
In response to the rebranding, software creator and entrepreneur Peter Dedene criticized the change, lamenting the shift from MS Office to “Microsoft 365 Copilot.” Another user compared the rebranding to renaming Twitter, highlighting the significant impact of the decision on a globally recognized brand like Microsoft Office.
Despite the backlash, Microsoft defended the rebranding, explaining that the transition to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app signifies the integration of Copilot within the suite, aiming to enhance productivity and user experiences across different platforms.
Gareth Oystryk, Senior Director of Marketing at Microsoft 365, clarified that while there have been no recent changes to core Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the Office “hub” app was renamed to the Microsoft 365 app in November 2022 and later to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app in January 2025 to better represent its role in merging Copilot and Microsoft 365 functionalities.
Microsoft advised existing users to ensure they are connected to the internet and restart the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to see the updated changes reflected across web, mobile, and Windows platforms.
