How to Turn Off AI Overviews in Google Search (and Meta AI Everywhere Else)

What AI Overviews and Meta AI Actually Are

Google AI Overviews is the AI-generated summary block that appears above the normal blue links on many searches, introduced broadly in 2024 and expanded significantly since. Google AI Mode is a separate, related feature, a full conversational search experience you opt into through Search Labs, not the same thing as AI Overviews even though the two get confused constantly in search results and in support forums.

Meta AI is Meta's assistant, built into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Unlike AI Overviews, which only appears in search results, Meta AI shows up as a chat icon, inside comment threads, and in direct message suggestions across every Meta app you use.

That last column is the honest summary of this entire guide. Two of these four have a real switch. Two do not, and the fastest path forward is a workaround that reduces exposure rather than a setting that removes the feature entirely.

How to Turn Off Google AI Overviews

Google has not published an official way to disable AI Overviews across regular search. Every method below is a workaround, and each has a different tradeoff.

Method 1: The Web filter (works per search, no setup)

After running any search, look for a filter bar below the search box. If you do not see "Web" directly, click "More" to expand the full filter list, then select "Web". This strips the page down to traditional links only, no AI Overview, no image carousel, no video previews.

The catch: this only applies to the current search. Run a new query and the AI Overview is back, so you need to click the Web filter every single time.

Method 2: The udm=14 URL trick (the closest thing to a permanent fix)

Adding a specific parameter to the end of any Google search URL forces the Web filter automatically.

https://www.google.com/search?q=your+search+here&udm=14

This parameter has worked since May 2024 and continues to function as of October 2026. You can go one step further and make this your browser's default search engine, which means every search you type in the address bar skips the AI Overview automatically.

Set it as your default search engine in Chrome

1. Open Chrome Settings
2. Go to Search engine, then Manage search engines and site search
3. Click Add next to "Site search"
4. Name: Google (no AI)
5. Shortcut: anything you want, e.g. gna
6. URL: {google:baseURL}/search?q=%s&udm=14
7. Click Add, then click the three-dot menu next to it and select "Make default"

Set it as your default search engine in Firefox

1. Open Firefox Settings
2. Go to Search
3. Scroll to "Search Shortcuts" and click Add
4. Name: Google (no AI)
5. URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14
6. Save, then set it as your default from the same Search settings page

The tradeoff: udm=14 removes AI Overviews, but it also strips other rich elements from the results page, image previews, video carousels, and the "People also ask" box. You get plain blue links, nothing else. For most people searching for information rather than browsing visually, that is a fair trade.

Method 3: Add "-AI" to your query

A quick, no-setup trick: typing `-AI` at the end of a search sometimes suppresses the AI Overview for that specific query. It is unreliable and Google has not confirmed it as an intentional behavior, so treat it as a fallback, not a primary method.

Method 4: Turn off AI Mode in Search Labs (the one official toggle that exists)

This is the single setting Google documents officially, though it is important to understand what it does and does not cover.

1. Open Google Search on desktop or the Google app on mobile
2. Click or tap the Search Labs icon (a flask symbol, usually near your profile picture)
3. Find "AI Mode" in the list
4. Toggle it off

This setting is tied to your Google account, so it follows you across every signed-in device. The catch: this only controls AI Mode, the separate conversational search experience. It does not disable AI Overviews in regular search results, these are two different features that frequently get conflated. If you do not see AI Mode listed in Search Labs at all, you were never opted in, so there is nothing to turn off there, and AI Overviews are the feature actually showing up in your results.

Some users have reported AI Mode features appearing even without an explicit opt-in as Google continues rolling the feature out more broadly, which would mean the Search Labs toggle stops being available to opt out of. If that happens to you, the udm=14 method above is the fallback that still works regardless of your Labs status.

How to Turn Off Meta AI on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

Meta has stated plainly that Meta AI cannot be fully removed from its apps. What you can do is hide its most visible entry points and mute its notifications, platform by platform.

WhatsApp

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings
2. Tap Chats
3. Look for "Show Meta AI Button" or a similar toggle
4. Turn it off

This hides the Meta AI icon from your chat list. The rollout has been phased, so if you do not see this option yet, your version of WhatsApp may not have it enabled for your account or region. As a fallback, you can mute the Meta AI conversation itself the same way you would mute any other chat, which stops its notifications without removing the icon.

Facebook

There is no setting that removes Meta AI from Facebook entirely. Two things reduce its presence:

1. Go to Settings, then Audience and visibility, then Posts
2. Turn off AI-generated comment summaries

If you are in the EU or UK, Meta's Privacy Center includes an objection form for AI training on your data specifically, which is a separate control from hiding the assistant itself. It affects what Meta can train on, not whether the AI icon appears in your app.

Instagram

Same limitation as Facebook: no full removal. Mute the Meta AI chat from its own settings menu the same way you would mute a person, and check the Privacy Center objection form if you are in a region where it applies.

What stays on no matter what

Meta AI-generated content in your main feed (posts, Reels, and suggestions it decides to inject) is not covered by any of the settings above. There is currently no documented way to remove algorithmic Meta AI content from your feed itself, only the chat assistant and comment-summary features have real hide controls.

How to Turn Off the Zoom AI Companion

Zoom is the one platform in this guide with a genuine, working off switch, for both individual accounts and organization-wide deployments.

If you manage your own Zoom account

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal (not the desktop app) at zoom.us
2. Go to Settings
3. Click the AI Companion tab
4. Find the general AI Companion toggle and switch it off
5. Scroll down and also switch off individual features like Meeting Summary and AI Companion Questions, since some remain active separately from the main toggle

If you are on a company or school Zoom account

1. An admin signs in to the Zoom web portal
2. Go to Account Management, then Account Settings
3. Click the AI Companion tab
4. Use the account-level toggle to disable features for everyone on the account

If your personal toggle is grayed out, your organization has locked the setting at the account level, and you will need to ask your Zoom admin to change it rather than trying to override it yourself.

During a live meeting

A host can stop AI Companion mid-meeting without changing any account settings: open the AI Companion panel during the call and select "Stop AI Companion".

Troubleshooting

Frequently Asked Questions