Mo ExplainsThe AI Off-Switch Checklist
Every AI setting worth changing on a normal person's phone, email and social accounts, in one place. Each row comes from a guide on moexplains.com, so if a menu moved, the linked post is the one to check. The last column is the part most guides skip: what stays on no matter what you do.
Last updated: · 22 settings · Download the PDF
How to use it
- Tick the rows that apply to you. Most people only need five or six.
- The setting path is in plain words. Menus vary a little by phone and version, so if a step looks different, search Settings for the last word in the path.
- Read the last column before you click. Some switches take useful things with them.
Your phone
| Done | What | Where the switch is | What it does | What you can't turn off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Turn off Gemini | Settings, then Apps, then Default apps, then Digital assistant app. Pick None (Gemini is listed as Google). Then Settings, System, Gestures, Press and hold power button, and choose the power menu. | Stops Gemini answering the power button and Hey Google. | You can't switch back to Google Assistant on a phone that moved to Gemini. Deleting the app doesn't remove it as the default assistant. | |
Turn off Gemini | Gemini app, Menu, your profile picture, Gemini Apps Activity, then Turn off, or Turn off and delete activity. | Stops new chats being saved to your account or used to train Google's models. | Google keeps chats for up to 72 hours anyway, and chats a human reviewer already saw are kept for up to three years, even if you delete your history. | |
Turn off Gemini | Settings, Advanced features, Side button, and under Long press pick Bixby or Power off menu. Galaxy AI has its own switches under Settings, then Galaxy AI. | Takes Gemini off the side button. Process data only on device turns off cloud processing for Galaxy AI features. | Samsung says some Galaxy AI features may be integrated into the system and cannot be disabled. | |
Turn off Siri AI | Settings, Siri, scroll down, Turn Off Siri, then Turn Off Siri again. To get the old one back, tap Turn on Siri and choose Siri Classic. | Puts the pre-iOS 27 Siri back. Message, Mail and notification summaries each have their own switch under Apps and Notifications. | Apple doesn't say what happens to your past Siri AI conversations when you turn it off. Turning it back on puts you back on the waitlist. | |
Turn off Gemini | Tap your profile picture, Messages settings, Gemini in Messages, and turn off Show Gemini button. | Removes the Gemini button from your texts. | Google's own promo texts from a chat called Google Messages are separate. Tap No thanks or Unsubscribe in that chat. | |
Turn off Gemini | Settings, Preferences, Gemini features in Photos. Turn off Search with Ask Photos for the old search, or Use Gemini in Photos for all of it. | Brings back the classic Search tab. | Nothing noted. Ask Photos is opt-in to begin with. |
Windows and Office
| Done | What | Where the switch is | What it does | What you can't turn off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Turn off Copilot | Settings, Apps, Installed apps, search Copilot, the three dots, Uninstall. To only hide the button, right-click the taskbar, Taskbar settings, switch Copilot off. | Removes the Copilot app, or just its taskbar button. | Uninstalling the Windows app doesn't touch Copilot in Office or Edge. On a work PC, IT policy wins. | |
Turn off Copilot | Settings, Copilot, and turn off Turn on Copilot. | One switch for your account, on Windows, web, Mac, iPhone and Android. | Nothing noted. This is the one that works the way you'd expect. | |
Turn off Copilot | File, Options, Copilot, uncheck Enable Copilot. Repeat in each app, on each computer. | Turns Copilot off in that one app on that one device. | There's no master switch. The Connected Experiences option under File, Account, Manage Settings turns it off everywhere but also kills text predictions and design suggestions. | |
Turn off Copilot | Settings, Appearance, Copilot and Sidebar, Copilot, turn off Show Copilot button on the toolbar. Also look at Allow Microsoft to access page content. | Hides the button and stops Copilot reading the page you're on. | Hiding the button only hides the button. On a work laptop the toggle may be locked on by policy. |
| Done | What | Where the switch is | What it does | What you can't turn off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gmail AI guide | Gear icon, See all settings, General tab, Google Workspace smart features, Manage Workspace smart feature settings, turn off Smart features in Google Workspace. On the phone it's Settings, General, Data privacy. | Removes Gemini summaries and drafts, events from Gmail in Calendar, and personalized search in Drive. Applies on every device. | Thread summaries have no switch of their own. The other setting, Smart features in Gmail, Chat and Meet, takes your inbox tabs and Smart Compose with it, so leave that one on. | |
Gmail AI guide | Settings, Inbox, uncheck Show AI Inbox. Proofread goes off with Grammar suggestions on the General tab. | Hides the AI Inbox view without losing everything else. | Turning off Grammar suggestions also stops regular grammar checks. |
Search and browser
| Done | What | Where the switch is | What it does | What you can't turn off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Turn off AI Mode | After any search, click Web under the search bar. To make it stick in Chrome: Settings, Search engine, Manage search engines and site search, Add, paste https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14, then Make default. | Plain blue links, no AI answer, on every search from the address bar. | AI Overviews on a normal Google search can't be turned off. The old Search Labs toggle is gone for most accounts, and Google could retire udm=14 without notice. | |
Turn off Gemini | Three dots, Settings, AI innovations, Gemini in Chrome, turn off Show Gemini at the top of the browser. Right-click the address bar and uncheck Always show AI Mode. | Hides Gemini and the AI Mode button in Chrome on a computer. | Google doesn't document a switch that removes Gemini from Chrome completely, and there's no hide option in Chrome on Android. |
Chatbots
| Done | What | Where the switch is | What it does | What you can't turn off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ChatGPT human review | Profile icon, Settings, Data Controls, turn off Improve the model for everyone. In the app it's the sidebar, profile icon, Data Controls. | Stops new chats feeding the training pipeline that contractors review. One switch covers every device you're signed in on. | Nothing is retroactive, and it deletes nothing. Safety review is separate. Temporary chats are still reviewed to monitor for abuse. | |
ChatGPT memory | Settings, Personalization, Memory, toggle it off. Manage memories shows what it has and lets you clear it. | ChatGPT stops building and using a profile of you. | The memory summary doesn't show everything ChatGPT remembers. Deleting a chat doesn't delete the memory it created. Turning memory off doesn't opt you out of training. | |
ChatGPT human review | Account settings, then Privacy. | Controls whether your chats are used to improve Claude. Anthropic says it's your choice. | Conversations flagged for safety review are still looked at. |
Social and video
| Done | What | Where the switch is | What it does | What you can't turn off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Instagram opt-out | Profile, the three lines top right, Sharing and reuse, turn off Allow people to use your content on Instagram with AI features on Meta. Do it for posts and for reels. | Stops other people pulling your public photos into Meta's AI features. Private accounts were never included. | It doesn't remove anything already made, and it doesn't stop a screenshot going into a different AI tool. | |
Stop AI videos on YouTube | On a video, More, then Not interested. To block the channel, More, then Don't recommend channel. On the Shorts grid, More, then Show fewer Shorts. | Trains your feed away from the channels pumping out AI videos. | YouTube has no AI filter at all. The AI label tells you what you're looking at. It doesn't filter anything, and it depends mostly on creators disclosing. |
Kids and teens
| Done | What | Where the switch is | What it does | What you can't turn off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ChatGPT for Teens | On your account: Settings, Parental controls, Add family member, and your teen accepts. Then set quiet hours, and turn off memory, voice, image generation and model training. | Quiet hours, study mode hours, and a narrow safety alert to you. | You can't read or monitor the conversations. It covers ChatGPT only, and guardrails can be bypassed by someone trying. | |
Turn off Siri AI | Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, Siri. Choose Don't Allow Siri, Siri (Classic Version) or Siri AI (Beta), and block single features like Image Creation. | Locks the choice so the kid can't flip it back. | Nothing noted beyond the Siri AI row above. | |
Gemini in Classroom | There is no parent switch. It lives in the school district's Google Admin console under Generative AI, and only an administrator can change it. | Nothing you can do in the app. Email the school and ask if it's on for your child's grade and whether there's an opt-out process. | All of it, from your side. Google's education terms do say student data isn't human-reviewed or used for training. |
The Starter Sheet
The free AI tools worth trying, and the settings to change first.
The free tools
- ChatGPT (chatgpt.com). The default. Good at everything. First thing to do: Settings, Data Controls, turn off Improve the model for everyone.
- Claude (claude.ai). Best for writing and long documents. Check the Privacy section of your account settings once.
- Gemini (gemini.google.com). Best if you live in Gmail and Docs. Decide on Gemini Apps Activity before you connect your Gmail.
- NotebookLM (notebooklm.google.com). For reading your own files. Upload the PDF, then ask it questions.
How to get good answers
- Talk to it like a competent person who doesn't know the details of your life yet. Tell it the details.
- Paste the thing. A bill, a lease, your messy meeting notes. Then ask what it means and what you should do.
- If the first answer is close but not right, say so in plain English. Too formal. Make it shorter. You missed the deadline part.
- Don't ask it to write for you. Ask it to interview you, one question at a time, and build the thing from your own words.
Settings to change first
- ChatGPT: Settings, Data Controls, Improve the model for everyone, off.
- ChatGPT: Settings, Personalization, Memory. Look at what it has, then decide.
- Gmail: Settings, General, Google Workspace smart features. Know what the big switch takes with it.
- Android: Settings, Apps, Default apps, Digital assistant app. Pick what you actually want.
- Instagram: Sharing and reuse. Turn off AI reuse for posts and reels if your account is public.
What this leaves out
Only settings I've written up with a source make the list. If a product isn't here, it's because I haven't checked the menu myself yet, not because it's fine. The page is refreshed monthly, and the PDF you get by email is the same content.
Related reading: How to turn off Gemini | How to turn off Copilot | The ChatGPT setting to flip | New to AI? Start here