How to remove/disable Copilot Free?

[IBBoard]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot in GitHub

Body

Hi,

I read that you can identify projects with LLM contributions by blocking the LLM bot accounts (because GitHub adds a "contains code from blocked accounts" banner on repos). I blocked Claude and then tried to block Copilot, but it turns out that searching for owner:copilot doesn't get you the Copilot user, it gets you the Copilot prompt page.

After I hit that page (and closed the tab without doing anything) then I got an email from GitHub saying "Your free Copilot access is ready". I didn't ask for it, but apparently it's enabled and ready.

How do I remove Copilot from my account? I don't care that it's free (for now). I don't want it. I don't want to appear in user metrics. I don't want to have it enabled on my account and constantly worry about which features GitHub have added and automatically enabled now.

I've followed the instructions from the docs, but a) I already had Copilot disabled under "visibility settings", b) there's some settings that are locked to Enabled, and c) disabling individual features isn't the same as removing the free license from my account entirely.

[AVauraTech]

Here is what happened and how to deal with it:

Why did this get enabled automatically?
GitHub automatically grants free Copilot access to certain accounts (like active open-source maintainers, students, or teachers). Simply hitting certain /copilot URLs can trigger GitHub’s backend to automatically "claim" that free perk for your profile, which sends out that automated email.

How to completely remove or disable it
Option 1: Turn off all features in settings (Immediate fix)
If you don't have a paid subscription, there isn't an instant "delete feature" toggle, but turning everything off shuts it down completely:

Head over to your Copilot Settings.

Set Suggestions matching public code to Block.

Turn off Copilot in GitHub.com and any individual features listed.

Make sure the option allowing GitHub to use your code snippets for product improvement is unchecked.

When these are disabled, Copilot won't index your code, show up in your editor/UI, or process any prompts.

Option 2: Check Billing Settings
Go to Billing & Licensing. If Copilot shows up with a Manage subscription button next to it, click it and select Cancel subscription or Cancel free access.

Option 3: Request complete removal via Support
Because GitHub doesn't offer a self-service button to drop zero-cost/complimentary licenses, the only way to completely remove the license from your account history is through a quick support ticket:

Open a request with GitHub Support under Account or Billing.

Ask them to manually revoke/remove the free Copilot entitlement from your account backend.

[IBBoard]

Option 1: Turn off all features in settings (Immediate fix)

I specifically said I'd done that and it's not sufficient. Also, there are several options that you're forced to have enabled.

If Copilot shows up with a Manage subscription button next to it, click it and select Cancel subscription or Cancel free access.

There's no such option. You can upgrade your subscription from Billing & Licensing, but there's no "manage subscription" button or "Cancel free access" button

Open a request with GitHub Support under Account or Billing

Oh, that's some wonderful design by GitHub. The Contact link at the bottom of each github.com page takes you to https://support.github.com/?tags=dotcom-footer, which only lists articles, blog posts, this community and sales. But this isn't sales, so you think that there's no contact option apart from this forum (because nothing says "respect for customers" like public forums and no contact option).

Except there is a link. But it's in the footer. Looking like a generic link that probably just takes you back to the same page (because it's a footer, so it's consistent).

I'll try that and see how far I get, and whether support can understand the idea of "remove a free license".

[AVauraTech]

I’m sorry—you’ve already done the sensible thing, followed GitHub’s own instructions, and still been left with an entitlement you never asked for and no obvious way to remove it. That is genuinely frustrating, especially when the support pages make it feel like there is no real human contact option.

What to do
Use the footer Contact link on GitHub Support, then look specifically for “Contact us” or “Create a ticket”—not the article-search page. You are not asking for sales help or generic Copilot troubleshooting; you are asking GitHub to correct an account-level entitlement that was attached without your explicit request.

If the portal initially shows only help articles, try:

Go to https://support.github.com/contact

Sign in

Choose Account rather than Sales or Copilot product help

Look for an issue category such as Account access, Account settings, or unwanted product access

If “Create a ticket” or “Submit a request” appears, use it

GitHub’s documentation does say that the Support portal supports ticket creation, and that Free-plan users can contact Support for account, security, and abuse issues. An unwanted complimentary entitlement fits much better under account than under “Copilot product help,” where you may be pushed back to the same settings you have already changed.

Ticket wording
You could copy and adapt this:

Subject: Request removal of unwanted GitHub Copilot Free entitlement

I did not opt in to GitHub Copilot Free. After visiting a Copilot URL, GitHub sent me an email stating that “free Copilot access is ready,” indicating that a complimentary Copilot entitlement was attached to my account.

I have already set Copilot visibility to Disabled, disabled all individually available Copilot features, and configured the cloud agent not to access repositories. Several Copilot-related settings remain locked to Enabled, and Billing & Licensing provides no “Manage subscription” or “Cancel free access” control.

Please remove the GitHub Copilot Free entitlement from my account backend, confirm that I have no active Copilot plan or license, and confirm that my account will not be included in Copilot usage metrics. If GitHub cannot remove a default/free entitlement, please state that explicitly and confirm the strongest available account-level opt-out, including opt-out from AI-model training and interaction-data use.

The final paragraph is important: it asks for a clear, concrete answer rather than another instruction to toggle features off. GitHub’s docs also direct users with a Copilot access restriction to request an account review through Support, so this gives them a specific account-level action to investigate.

Keep evidence
Before submitting, save:

The “Your free Copilot access is ready” email, including its headers if you can access them.

Screenshots of Settings → Copilot, showing visibility set to Disabled, the locked-on settings, and the cloud-agent restriction.

The Billing & Licensing page showing Copilot with only an upgrade option and no cancellation control.

A brief timeline: the Copilot URL you visited, when the email arrived, and exactly which settings you changed.

This is not about being difficult—it is simply making it easy for Support to see that you have already exhausted the normal settings and that the issue is the underlying entitlement, not a feature toggle.

One small correction
The idea that merely opening a /copilot URL automatically “claims” the free perk is plausible given the email you received, but GitHub does not appear to have publicly documented that exact mechanism. For the ticket, I would focus on the facts you can prove: you did not opt in, GitHub says access is ready, and no self-service removal option exists. That framing is harder to dismiss and avoids giving Support an easy reason to debate the trigger rather than fix the account.

I hope this helps your case.

[IBBoard]

Thank you for slopping that together. I can't follow it all, though. Please repeat those instructions in rhyming couplets.