How to get rid of AI Overview on Google in 2026: 6 steps that work

You can't switch off AI Overview, but you can stop seeing it. Google's own help page says AI Overviews are "a core Google Search feature" and that "Features cannot be turned off" (Google Search Help). What Google does offer is the Web filter, which shows plain links with no AI Overview. Make that filter your default search engine and the AI box is gone from every search you start in the address bar. That's the fix I'd go for first.

The six steps below run from a one-click fix to a permanent setup on computer and phone. They're built from Google's help pages and published guides from Proton, GEO Toolbox, TechRadar and Tuta, checked in late October 2026. Nobody at The AI Future tested them hands-on, so we flag where a method breaks.

If you'd rather watch first, this short video from Pixel & Bracket covers turning off AI in Google Search.

Before you start

Google's results page is a stack of modules: ads, the AI Overview, panels, maps, links. The Overview is generated on Google's servers for queries that trigger it, which gives you three levers at different layers.

• Request a different page. The Web filter (URL parameter udm=14) asks Google for a results page that never contains an AI Overview, and it's probably the strongest fix.
• Change the query. Adding -ai usually stops the Overview from triggering, but Google doesn't document it.
• Hide it locally. A browser extension hides the box after the page loads. GEO Toolbox points out that "An extension does not prevent the AI Overview from being created" (GEO Toolbox).

AI Overviews aren't the same as AI Mode, the chat-style tab. Google's AI Mode help page explains how to use it, but there's no off switch there either. If AI Mode is your main problem, see our guide on how to turn off AI Mode on Google.

You need your usual browser and about two minutes per device.

Step 1: Click the Web filter for one search

This is the method Google itself recommends. In the help page, Google says you "can select the Web filter after you perform a search", which "displays only text-based links without features like AI Overviews" (Google Search Help).

1. Search Google as usual, for example how to descale a kettle.
2. Look at the tabs under the search box (All, Images, News, Videos and so on).
3. Click Web. If it isn't visible, click More, then Web (Proton).

TechRadar agrees there's "currently no official way to disable them entirely" and recommends the same filter (TechRadar). Expected result: links only, no AI box. The filter resets on your next search, which is why Steps 3 and 4 exist, and why I find it tiresome as a daily habit.

Step 2: Add -ai or &udm=14 to a search

Two text tricks do the same job without a tab click.

The -ai trick. Type your query and add -ai at the end. Copy this example:

how to descale a kettle -ai

Proton says results "should appear without AI Overviews, but this isn't always guaranteed" (Proton). GEO Toolbox adds that the minus operator also drops pages that mention AI, so it likely distorts results on AI-related topics (GEO Toolbox).

The udm=14 trick. After any search, click the address bar, go to the end of the address, type &udm=14 and press Enter (Proton). Or paste a full address like this one:

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+descale+a+kettle&udm=14

Step 3: Make AI-free Google your default on a computer

This is the closest thing to a permanent way to disable Google AI Overview. You add a search engine that applies udm=14 to every address-bar search, and honestly it's the one step most people should do.

Chrome, Edge and Brave

1. In Chrome, go to Settings, then Search engine, then Manage search engines and site search (Proton). In Edge, go to Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, then Search and connected services, then Address bar and search (GEO Toolbox). Brave mirrors Chrome.
2. Next to Site search, click Add.
3. Name: Google Web. Shortcut: @web.
4. Paste this into the URL field (Proton):

https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14

5. Click Add, open the three-dot menu next to Google Web and choose Make default.

Firefox

Under Settings, then Search, add a custom search engine with this URL and set it as default (GEO Toolbox):

https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=%s

Safari on Mac

Safari doesn't allow custom search engines. GEO Toolbox suggests a udm=14 bookmark, a Safari extension such as "udm14 for Safari" (check its permissions first), or the -ai trick (GEO Toolbox).

Step 4: Set it up on your phone

Mobile has a hard limit. GEO Toolbox says "the Google app ships no AI-free setting, and neither does the search widget on your home screen" (GEO Toolbox). Every fix below works in a browser, not the Google app, and that seems unlikely to change soon.

• Chrome on Android: visit tenbluelinks.org once, then open Chrome's Settings, then Search engine. Pick Google Web under recently visited engines (GEO Toolbox).
• Firefox on Android or iPhone: add a search engine in Firefox's search settings with the same URL as Step 3 and make it the default (GEO Toolbox).
• Safari on iPhone: Apple limits search engines to a fixed list, so save a udm=14 search (or udm14.com) to your home screen, or use Chrome for iOS (GEO Toolbox).
• The Google app: your only lever is typing -ai into the query.

This walkthrough from Elle's Notes covers removing AI Overview on iPhone and Android.

Step 5: Hide the box with an extension (optional)

If you search from google.com rather than the address bar, an extension can hide AI Overviews on that page too. GEO Toolbox names Bye Bye, Google AI, which can also hide the AI Mode tab and "People also ask" (GEO Toolbox).

Install only from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons, and check the permissions: an extension that can rewrite your results page can read everything on it. The limit is that extensions depend on Google's page markup and can fail silently when Google changes it (GEO Toolbox). I'd treat this as a top-up to Step 3, not a replacement.

Step 6: Remove other AI from your phone

If you're asking how to remove AI from your phone, search is only part of it. The settings allow the following as of late October 2026.

Android: Gemini

1. Open the Gemini app and tap your profile picture.
2. Open Apps and switch off Google Workspace and each connected app such as Messages, Phone and WhatsApp (Tuta).
3. Go to Gemini Apps Activity, tap Turn off, then delete past activity (Tuta).

Tuta notes Google still keeps Gemini activity for up to 72 hours with Activity off. Fully uninstalling Gemini needs developer tools on a PC (Tuta).

iPhone: Apple Intelligence

Apple now ships Apple Intelligence "automatically" as part of the 27.0 software releases (Apple Support). iThinkDiff reports that iOS 27 "removes the master Apple Intelligence toggle" that older versions had, so you switch features off one at a time (iThinkDiff). A MacRumors forum user adds that iOS 27 doesn't expose options to disable every individual strand (MacRumors Forums). The main switches, per iThinkDiff:

• Siri AI: Settings, then Siri, then Turn Off Siri. Turn it back on and choose Siri Classic if you want the older Siri.
• Summaries: turn off Summarize Notifications (Notifications), Summarize Messages (Messages) and Summarize Message Previews (Apps, then Mail).
• ChatGPT: Settings, then Apple Intelligence & Siri, then ChatGPT, then turn off Use ChatGPT.

Example: a complete worked example

Take Priya, who uses Chrome on a Windows laptop and Safari on an iPhone, and runs roughly 30 Google searches a day.

1. Laptop, 2 minutes: she adds Google Web with the Step 3 URL and clicks Make default. She types train times london to bristol in the address bar. The results page opens on the Web view: links only.
2. iPhone, 1 minute: she saves a udm=14 search to her home screen and starts searches from it.
3. Google app: she keeps it for Lens and types -ai on the few searches she runs there.
4. iPhone AI, 3 minutes: she switches off notification and message summaries and the ChatGPT extension.

Result: about 6 minutes of setup. If 25 of her 30 daily searches start from the laptop address bar or the shortcut, about 83% skip AI Overviews with no extra clicks. The other 5 need the Web tab or -ai. It isn't perfect, but it's a sensible trade for six minutes.

Which method should you use?

Method	Lasts	Works in Google app	Trade-off
Web filter	One search	No	Click every time
-ai	One search	Yes (not guaranteed)	Drops pages that mention AI
udm=14 default engine	Permanent (address bar)	No	Loses maps, shopping, panels
Extension	Until Google changes the page	No	Overview still generated
Different search engine	Permanent	n/a	Different index and results

The comparison follows GEO Toolbox's breakdown (GEO Toolbox). Most people will probably land on the udm=14 default engine. If you're weighing the last row, see our picks for a non-AI search engine and browsers that don't use AI.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• The AI box is back on the next search: you used the Web tab, which lasts one search. Set up Step 3 or 4.
• The address bar still shows AI Overviews: you added Google Web but didn't click Make default.
• Searches on google.com still show the Overview: that's expected, because the default engine only covers address-bar searches (GEO Toolbox). Add an extension or bookmark a udm=14 page.
• Maps and shopping results disappeared: the Web view strips shopping results, knowledge panels and most local map packs (GEO Toolbox). Use normal Google for "near me" searches.
• Turning on Search Labs settings didn't help. GEO Toolbox says the Labs "AI in Search" opt-out only stops experimental features, not regular AI Overviews (GEO Toolbox).

Tips to get better results

• Keep the @web shortcut: prefer normal Google as default? Type @web and a space in Chrome's address bar for one AI-free search.
• Check Web Guide in Labs: this experiment adds AI summaries back into the Web tab. Turn it off and the plain tab returns (GEO Toolbox).
• Re-check every few months: GEO Toolbox notes udm=14 isn't a documented, stable interface, and clicking the Web tab now writes udm=web into the address instead (GEO Toolbox).
• Cut AI training data too: Proton suggests unchecking Save Media under Search Services History in your Google Account (Proton).

Next steps

With AI Overviews out of the way, the rest of Google's AI is next. Our guide to turning off AI Mode on Google covers Chrome's AI Mode button, and our AI Mode review explains what you're opting out of. If you'd rather use AI search on your own terms, compare the best AI search engines. For background on what these systems are, read our explainer on the types of AI.

FAQ

How to turn off Google AI Overview?

You can't turn it off; Google says AI Overviews are a core feature that "cannot be turned off". The workaround is the Web filter under the search box. For a lasting fix, add a search engine with udm=14 in its URL and make it your browser's default, so every address-bar search skips the AI Overview.

How to remove AI Overview from Google?

For one search, click Web (or More, then Web) under the search bar, or add &udm=14 to the results address. For every search, set Google Web as your default engine in Chrome, Edge, Brave or Firefox. An extension can also hide the box on google.com, but the Overview is still generated behind it.

How to turn off AI Overview Google?

There's no toggle in your Google account, Search settings or Search Labs. Incognito and signing out don't help. Your options are the Web filter, the -ai operator, a udm=14 default search engine or a hiding extension; I'd guess most people need only the third. On a phone, use Chrome or Firefox with Google Web as the default, since the Google app has no AI-free setting.

How to remove AI from my phone?

No phone has a single switch. On Android, open Gemini, switch off connected apps and turn off Gemini Apps Activity. On iPhone with iOS 27, the master Apple Intelligence toggle is gone, so turn off Siri AI, summaries and the ChatGPT extension one by one. For search, use a browser with udm=14 as default.

How to get rid of AI Overview -ai?

Add -ai to the end of your query, for example price of eggs -ai. The minus operator usually stops the AI Overview from appearing and works even in the Google app. It isn't guaranteed, and it removes pages that mention AI, so it's likely a poor fit when you're searching for AI-related topics.