Want Siri to respond on your iPhone alone, think it slows down your Mac or feel queasy about your computer listening to you either way? Find out here how to disable Ask Siri on a Mac, how to turn off Siri suggestions, and how to stop it from collecting application data.
First, Lights, Film, Rainbow Colors
A soap bubble is made of thin, thin, and almost translucent film.
When light hits such a bubble, part of it is reflected on the (outer) surface of the film, and part of it on the (inner) surface. The two beams are returned in parallel—and interfere with each other fantastically.
As the light waves mix, some colors (where mountain meets mountain) get more intense, and others cancel entirely. That’s how soap bubbles get their rainbow colors.
Now, want some waves of sound interfere to cancel certain sound output on your Mac entirely?
How to Turn Off (Disable) Siri on a Mac
Time needed: 3 minutes
To turn off Siri (for spoken or written commands) on a Mac:
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences) on the Mac.
Here’s how: You can select System Settings from the Apple menu, for instance, to open Mac System Settings.
- Open the Siri & Spotlight category.
macOS Monterey and earlier: Go to the Siri category.
- Turn off Ask Siri.
macOS Monterey and before: The setting is Enable Ask Siri instead.
Enable Siri again on a Mac
To turn Siri back on to control your Mac:
- Go to the Siri settings in System Settings (see above).
- Turn on Ask Siri (or Enable Ask Siri).
- Click Enable for Do you want to enable Ask Siri?.
How to Turn Off (Disable) Siri on a Mac: FAQ
Will disabling Siri on a Mac also disable it for other devices?
No.
You can enable or disable Siri on all your devices separately.
Can I remove Siri from the menu bar?
Yes.
macOS Ventura and Later
To remove the Siri icon from the macOS menu bar and still have Siri enabled:
- Open System Settings.
- Go to the Control Center category.
- Select Don’t Show in Menu Bar for Siri (under Menu Bar Only).
macOS Monterey
- Open System Preferences.
- Go to the Dock & Menu Bar category.
- Select Siri.
- Turn off Show in Menu Bar.
Will disabling “Ask Siri” also disable Siri suggestions in applications and apps?
No.
You can turn on Siri suggestions separately for each application.
To disable Siri for any app:
- Go to Siri settings in System Preferences (see above).
- Click Siri Suggestions & Privacy….
- Select the app on the left.
- Disable Show Siri Suggestions in App to disable Siri suggestions
- Turn off Learn from this App to prevent Siri from collecting usage data from the application.
(How to disable Siri on a Mac tested with macOS Sonoma 14.2, Ventura 13.3 and Monterey 12.6; updated January 2024)