Teams Adds a Button to Turn Off Copilot Mid-Meeting

Microsoft is adding a button in Teams that lets the organizer or a presenter switch meeting AI on or off live: Copilot, Facilitator and Recap. With it off, Teams stops producing Copilot answers, automatic notes and summaries. The rollout runs through July 2026 and requires a Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot licence for whoever flips the switch.

Microsoft is walking back a decision that annoyed a lot of people. Since early July 2026, the company has been rolling out that button in Teams. Until now, these features tended to turn themselves on, which eventually bothered enough users that Microsoft reversed course.

For a business in Trois-Rivières, the Mauricie or anywhere in Quebec, that is more than an interface detail. When an AI listens, transcribes and summarizes a meeting, it touches information that can be confidential: client files, numbers, internal decisions. Taking back control over what gets captured, and when, becomes a real governance question.

1. What is Microsoft actually changing?

The feature is straightforward: a switch for meeting AI, reachable during the call rather than only in the settings beforehand. The organizer or a presenter can turn everything on, turn everything off, or choose feature by feature. According to Microsoft’s documentation, when meeting AI is off, Teams stops producing Copilot answers, Facilitator answers and automatic notes.

• The button is for the organizer and presenters, not for every participant.
• A Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot licence is required for whoever uses it.
• Policies set by the tenant administrator always have the final say: if AI is barred at the organization level, the button does not even appear.
• The change applies to new meetings, not to ones already held.

One important point: transcription and meeting AI are linked. Turning AI on also turns transcription on and generates a summary, and the reverse holds too. A business that wants to leave no trace at all has to switch off both the AI and the transcription.

2. Copilot, Facilitator and Recap: which does what?

These three names come up often, but they do different things. Telling them apart helps you decide what to keep and what to switch off.

• Copilot answers questions during the meeting and summarizes the discussion on request.
• Facilitator takes notes in real time, tracks the agenda and the timer, captures action items and can even generate a Word or Loop document from the discussion. It requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence to be added.
• Recap is the automatic summary produced after the meeting, with the key points and the actions.

Each of these features consumes the content of your meeting in order to work. That is handy when everybody knows and agrees. It is much less so when a client, a supplier or an employee finds out afterward that the conversation was transcribed and summarized without being asked.

3. Why does this matter for your Quebec business?

In Quebec, Law 25 governs how personal information is collected and used. A meeting transcribed word for word and then summarized by an AI can hold exactly that kind of information: a client’s name, details of a file, decisions about a person. The basic principle is the same as for a conventional recording: people should know they are being captured and be able to agree to it.

The new button does not settle everything, but it gives you room to move. You can hold the sensitive part of a meeting with no AI, then switch it back on for the rest. You also avoid ending up with transcripts and summaries sitting in your files that nobody meant to create. To build a clear policy around this, support from managed IT services helps frame who may turn AI on, for which meetings and with what consent.

This touches the general public too. A medical appointment by video, a call with an advisor, a parent-teacher meeting: nobody wants their words transcribed and summarized without knowing. The fact that Microsoft backed down shows user pressure works, and that the habit of asking for consent is gaining ground.

4. How do you take back control without breaking anything?

Turning off AI in a meeting is good, but it takes a little preparation. A few simple habits avoid unpleasant surprises and keep your teams productive.

• Decide in advance which meetings deserve AI (an internal brainstorm, for example) and which do not (a client call about a delicate file).
• Name clearly who may turn AI on or off, since the button requires a specific licence.
• Tell participants at the start of the call when AI is active, as you would for a recording.
• Remember that turning AI off does not erase the notes already taken: whatever was captured before stays.
• Clean up your tenant settings so the features do not switch themselves back on at the next update.

A good Microsoft 365 and Teams configuration is as much about trust as it is about security. If you are unsure of your current settings, better to have them checked than to find out in the middle of a meeting.

Frequently asked questions

Does turning off AI delete the notes already taken?

No. The button stops new notes, answers and summaries from being created, but whatever was already generated during the meeting stays saved. To erase those items, you have to delete them manually afterward.

Do you need a licence to use this button?

Yes. According to Microsoft, the person turning meeting AI on or off (the organizer or a presenter) must hold a Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Other participants see the result but do not work the switch.

When is the feature available?

The rollout started in early July 2026 for a first group, with general availability expected by the end of July 2026 on Windows, macOS, mobile and the web. Whether the button appears also depends on your organization’s policies.

Stay in charge of your meetings

This Teams button sends a clear message: AI at work should stay a tool you choose to use, not a presence imposed on you. For a Quebec business, it is a chance to tidy up meeting practices, respect client consent and sleep easier on the privacy front. Our managed IT services can configure Teams and Microsoft 365 to fit your needs, and our team answers questions through the contact page.