Microsoft sparks backlash after it rebrands Office software

Microsoft Office users have criticised the tech giant’s latest rebranding decision after it changed the name of its widely-used software suite.

The package, featuring Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, was initially launched by Bill Gates’ company in 1990 and currently serves approximately 400 million users globally. However, last week users encountered a dialogue box informing them of the name change.

“Welcome to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app,” it stated. “The Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office) lets you create, share and collaborate all in one place with your favourite apps now including Copilot.”

Copilot, which was introduced in 2023 as Cortana’s successor, is an artificial intelligence chatbot designed to enhance user productivity through content generation and task automation. 

Upon learning of the rebrand, meanwhile, software developer and business owner Peter Dedene expressed his frustration: “RIP MS Office. RIP Microsoft 365. Now it’s ‘Microsoft 365 Copilot’. We’re one rebrand away from Excel being a prompt box that says ‘trust me bro, the math checks out’.”

A second person criticised the move: “Microsoft Office is one of the most recognisable brands in the world. This is worse than renaming Twitter to X. I want to have a 2-hour podcast discussion with the middle manager who approved this decision.”

A third observer remarked: “It’s dumb and brand destroying, yes, but note that the brand destruction actually happened back in 2020 when they renamed Office to ‘Microsoft 365’ – it didn’t have anything to do with AI.”

Whilst a fourth X user weighed in: “They spent decades building the most recognisable brand in productivity only to hide it behind a new AI label! It is a clear signal that they want to be seen as an AI company first and a software suite second. Most of us will probably still call it Office until the sun burns out regardless of what the icon says.”

Microsoft defended the rebrand, explaining: “The Microsoft 365 (Office) app is now called the Microsoft 365 Copilot app across web (office.com, microsoft365.com), mobile (iOS, Android), and Windows. The new app name and icon reflects the integration of Copilot within the Microsoft 365 app.”

The tech giant added: “The Microsoft 365 Copilot app continues to serve as your everyday productivity app for work and life. But in the era of AI and integration of Copilot, it’s become much more than that. We’ve made several enhancements to innovate the work and education experience, as well as for consumers with a personal account.”

Elsewhere, Gareth Oystryk, Senior Director of Marketing at Microsoft 365, addressed the backlash, clarifying: “We have not made any recent naming changes to our Office apps. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the Office apps within the Microsoft 365 productivity suite, remain unchanged.

“In November 2022, we renamed only the Office “hub” app for web and mobile to the Microsoft 365 app. In January 2025, we updated it to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to reflect its role in bringing Copilot and Microsoft 365 productivity experiences together in one place.”

Microsoft has advised users: “Existing users with a work and/or personal account can see these changes reflected on their web (office.com, microsoft365.com), mobile (iOS, Android) and Windows app.

“If you’re signed in and still not seeing the change, make sure to connect to the internet and then restart the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.”