How to turn off AI Mode on Google in 2026: every device, step by step

Here's the short answer to how to turn off AI Mode on Google: there is no official off switch, but you can get plain results in seconds. Click the Web filter under the search bar, or add &udm=14 to the search address, and Google shows ordinary links with no AI Overview and no AI Mode answer. To make that stick, set a "Google Web" search engine as your browser's default.

By the end of this guide you'll have AI-free Google results on your computer and phone in about 10 minutes. We pulled these steps from Google's own help pages and from published guides by Proton, Tuta, GEO Toolbox and others, checked as of late October 2026. Nobody at The AI Future tested them hands-on, so we tell you where sources disagree.

What you need before you start

It helps to know what you are switching off. Google has two AI features in Search:

• AI Overviews are the AI summaries at the top of normal results. Since May 2026 you can ask follow-up questions from an Overview and it carries on as a conversation in AI Mode, according to PPC Land's I/O 2026 coverage.
• AI Mode is the chat-style tab. Google says you reach it from google.com/ai, the AI Mode button on Google.com, or the Google app home screen (Google Search Help). Our AI Mode review explains what it does.

Google's help page explains how to use AI Mode and delete its history. It does not offer a way to switch it off. Proton puts it plainly: "There isn't a simple built-in off switch to disable AI Overviews on Google" (Proton). GEO Toolbox agrees: "No official setting turns off Google AI Overviews" (GEO Toolbox).

So every method below is a workaround. You'll need:

• The browser you normally use (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Brave).
• About two minutes per device.
• For the Windows registry method only: an administrator account.

Step 1: Use the web filter for a single search

This is the quickest way to turn off AI search on Google, and it works in any browser.

1. Go to Google and search for anything, for example best hiking boots.
2. Look at the row of filters under the search box (All, Images, News and so on).
3. Click Web. If you can't see it, click More and then Web.

You should now see a plain list of links with no AI box at the top. GEO Toolbox notes that a Web-filtered page carries no AI Overview and no AI Mode answer (GEO Toolbox).

Watch out: the filter resets every time you search again. Steps 3 and 4 fix that.

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

Two text tricks do the same job without clicking anything.

1. The -ai trick. Type your search, then add -ai at the end. Tom's Guide says this works on any device without changing settings (Tom's Guide). It also works in the Google app, where no AI-free setting exists (GEO Toolbox).
2. The udm=14 trick. After a search, click the address bar, go to the very end of the address, type &udm=14 and press Enter (Proton).

Copy this example into your address bar to see the result:

https://www.google.com/search?q=best+hiking+boots&udm=14

Watch out: Proton warns that -ai "isn't always guaranteed" to remove AI Overviews. It also removes pages that mention AI, which matters if you are searching for AI topics.

Step 3: Make Google Web your default on a computer

This is the closest thing to a permanent way to disable AI on Google. You add a custom search engine that always adds udm=14 for you.

Chrome, Edge and Brave (Windows, Mac, Linux)

1. Type chrome://settings/searchEngines in the address bar and press Enter. In Edge, go to Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, then Address bar and search (GEO Toolbox).
2. Next to Site search, click Add.
3. Name: Google Web. Shortcut: @web.
4. Paste this into the URL field (Tuta):

{google:baseURL}search?q=%s&udm=14

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

You should now get plain results every time you search from the address bar. Try it: type a question and press Enter.

Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux)

1. Open Settings, then Search.
2. Add a custom search engine with this URL (GEO Toolbox):

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

3. Set it as your default search engine.

Safari on Mac

Safari doesn't support custom search engines. GEO Toolbox suggests bookmarking a udm=14 page, using a Safari extension, or adding -ai to searches instead (GEO Toolbox). In a normal search you can still scroll the filters and pick Web (Tuta).

Step 4: Set it up on your phone

Chrome on Android (and iPhone)

1. Visit a site that offers a "Google Web" search engine once. GEO Toolbox suggests tenbluelinks.org; Tuta's guide uses its own site (GEO Toolbox, Tuta).
2. Open a new tab and do one Google search.
3. Tap the three-dot menu, then Settings, then Search engine.
4. Under Recently visited, choose Google Web.

Firefox on Android or iPhone

1. Open Settings, then Search (on Android: Default search engine).
2. Tap Add search engine and paste the same Firefox URL from Step 3 (GEO Toolbox).

Safari on iPhone and the Google app

Safari on iPhone has no custom engines, so use a home-screen bookmark to a udm=14 search or tap the Web filter. In the Google app, add -ai to your searches (GEO Toolbox).

Step 5: Remove the AI Mode button from Chrome

Chrome now puts AI Mode in the address bar and on the new tab page. Hiding it there is separate from your search results.

1. Right-click inside Chrome's address bar.
2. Untick Always show AI Mode shortcuts (Chrome Story).

Chrome Story notes the main AI Mode button may still appear. Older guides then send you to chrome://flags to set AI Mode omnibox entrypoint to Disabled, but Pureinfotech reported in September 2026 that "The flags page settings no longer work" in newer versions (Pureinfotech).

On Windows, the more reliable route is a Chrome policy. Back up first, because editing the registry carries risk.

1. Press Start, type regedit and open Registry Editor.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies. Create a key named Google, then a key named Chrome inside it.
3. In Chrome, create a DWORD (32-bit) value named AIModeSettings and set it to 1 (Pureinfotech).
4. Restart your computer, then open chrome://policy and click Reload policies to check it applied (UC Strategies).

To undo it, delete the value or set it to 0 (Winaero). Pureinfotech says the change sometimes takes a while to show up.

Example: a complete worked example

Let's follow Sam, who uses Chrome on a Windows laptop and an Android phone and wants Google to stop showing AI answers.

1. On the laptop, Sam opens chrome://settings/searchEngines, adds "Google Web" with the udm=14 URL from Step 3, and makes it the default.
2. Sam types how long to boil an egg in the address bar. The results page shows the Web filter selected and a list of links. No AI box.
3. Sam right-clicks the address bar and unticks Always show AI Mode shortcuts.
4. On the phone, Sam visits a Google Web search site once, does a search, then picks Google Web under Chrome's Settings, then Search engine.
5. Sam searches train times to Leeds on the phone. Plain links appear.

Total time: under 10 minutes. The only thing Sam gives up is the richer results page, which the next section covers.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• The AI box came back on the next search. You used the Web filter, which only lasts one search. Set up Step 3 or 4.
• The address bar still uses normal Google. You added the engine but didn't click Make default.
• The custom URL does nothing. Check for typos. The address must contain %s where the search words go, plus udm=14.
• Maps, shopping and knowledge panels vanished. That's expected. The Web view drops shopping results, knowledge panels and most local map packs (GEO Toolbox). Switch back to All for those searches.
• A Chrome flag isn't there. Flag names change between versions and may disappear. Use the registry policy instead (Pureinfotech).
• The policy didn't apply. UC Strategies says policies must sit in the right registry hive with exact spelling (UC Strategies).

Tips to get better results

• Keep your @web shortcut. If you'd rather keep normal Google as the default, type @web and a space in Chrome's address bar to run one AI-free search.
• Know that Google keeps tweaking. In August 2026 Google tested AI Overviews that expand by default "for some queries" (Search Engine Roundtable). GEO Toolbox warns Google has never documented udm=14 as stable. Check your setup now and then.
• Extensions hide, they don't stop. Tools like Bye Bye, Google AI hide the box, but "An extension does not prevent the AI Overview from being created" (GEO Toolbox).
• Clear your AI Mode history. If you used AI Mode before, Google lets you delete it from AI Mode History or your Search History page (Google Search Help).
• Turn off Web Guide in Search Labs. This experiment can add AI summaries to the Web tab. Turning it off in Labs gives you the plain tab back (GEO Toolbox).

Next steps

You've now turned off AI search on Google everywhere you use it. If you decide you want AI answers on your terms, compare options in our guide to AI search engines or read our Bing AI review. And if you do give AI Mode a go later, our guide to writing better AI prompts will help you get clearer answers.

FAQ

How to turn off Google AI?

Google has no official switch. The simplest fix is the Web filter under the search bar, which shows plain links with no AI Overview. For a lasting fix, add a custom search engine with udm=14 in its URL and make it your browser's default, as shown in Step 3.

Can you turn off Google AI?

Not fully. Proton and GEO Toolbox both report there is no built-in off switch for AI Overviews, and Google's AI Mode help page lists no off option. You can avoid AI answers with the Web filter, udm=14 or -ai, and hide Chrome's AI Mode button with a setting or policy.

How to disable AI on Google?

On a computer, set "Google Web" (google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14) as your default search engine in Chrome, Edge, Brave or Firefox. On Android, pick Google Web in Chrome's search engine settings. On iPhone Safari or the Google app, use the Web filter or add -ai to searches.

How do I turn off AI on Google?

For one search, click Web under the search box or add -ai to your query. For every search, follow Steps 3 and 4 to make udm=14 your default. To remove the AI Mode button in Chrome, right-click the address bar and untick Always show AI Mode shortcuts.

How to get rid of Google AI?

Combine three things: a udm=14 default search engine, the Chrome address-bar setting from Step 5, and, on Windows, the AIModeSettings policy set to 1. Extensions can also hide AI Overviews, but they only hide the box and can break when Google changes its pages.