Microsoft Office not renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot, naming causes confusion

Microsoft's Office suite has not been rebranded to Microsoft 365 Copilot, despite social media posts claiming the change, according to ZDNET. The confusion comes largely from Microsoft product pages and a history of renames.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot app product page states, "The Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office) lets you create, share, and collaborate all in one place," while another page says users can "Get free access to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint using Microsoft 365 for the web (formerly Office)." Posts on X, Reddit and Hacker News — and reporting from The Verge — spread the mistaken claim that the familiar Office name had been replaced.

Microsoft did rebrand Office to Microsoft 365 in 2022 to emphasize a cloud-focused suite. The company added Copilot to Microsoft 365 in 2024, along with a price increase for Personal and Family subscriptions, and rebranded Microsoft 365 to Microsoft 365 Copilot at the start of 2025. Despite that, consumer subscription pages still refer to Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium without "Copilot" in their names.

The Office name remains in use for the one-time desktop purchase (Microsoft Office 2024), and there is also a separate Microsoft 365 Copilot product, a free Copilot chatbot included with Microsoft 365. ZDNET said Microsoft "ultimately botched the entire process," leaving the official consumer naming unclear.

Key Topics

Tech, Microsoft, X, Reddit, Office, Copilot Chatbot