How to Turn Off AI Overview on Google: Every Method That Actually Works

You searched for something simple. A recipe, a error code, a historical date. Instead of links, you got a wall of AI-generated text you didn't ask for, sometimes confidently wrong, always in the way. If you want to turn off AI overview on Google, the bad news is there's no permanent account-level toggle. The good news is there are several workarounds that range from one click to fully automated, and they all work right now. Here's every method, ranked by effort.

Key Takeaways

• Google has no official permanent setting to disable AI Overviews across all searches and devices. Every method below is a workaround, not a product feature.
• The fastest option: click the "Web" filter tab under the search bar after any query. One click, no install, traditional blue links only.
• The most durable option: append &udm=14 to any Google search URL, or set it as your default search engine so it happens automatically.
• On mobile, your options are narrower. A site called tenbluelinks.org lets you set a Web-only default without installing anything.
• All of these workarounds still send your full query to Google's servers. You're hiding the summary, not changing what data gets collected.

Why Doesn't Google Just Offer an Off Switch?

Because AI Overviews are not a feature bolted onto search. They are becoming search. Reports suggest roughly half of Google searches now include AI-generated summaries, affecting billions of users. The design intent is to answer your query inside Google's own page rather than sending you elsewhere. An off switch would undermine that goal. So one doesn't exist.

During the initial 2024 rollout, Google Labs briefly offered an opt-out toggle. Fine print on that toggle read that turning it off "does not disable AI Overviews in Search outside of Labs." Even the toggle that appeared to be a toggle wasn't really a toggle. That Labs option has since been removed for most users.

So you're left with workarounds. They're reliable, well-documented, and not going anywhere soon. Here they are.

How Do I Use the "Web" Filter to Remove AI Overviews?

Click the "Web" tab that appears under the search bar after running any query. That's it. Google formalized this as a standing filter on May 15, 2026, and it strips AI Overviews along with other generated content, leaving traditional ranked web results.

The downside is that you have to click it every single time. It doesn't persist across searches. If you search again from the results page, you're back to the default view with AI Overviews. It's a per-query fix, not a setting.

Still, for occasional use, this is the path of least resistance. No extensions, no URL hacking, no configuration. Works across desktop and mobile browsers alike.

What Is the "-ai" Search Modifier?

Appending -ai to the end of your search query suppresses AI Overviews from the results. This modifier isn't widely publicized but has been confirmed to work as of late May 2026.

Example: instead of searching best noise cancelling headphones under $200, you'd search best noise cancelling headphones under $200 -ai.

The - operator in Google search has always meant "exclude this term." What's happening here is that Google interprets -ai as a signal to suppress the AI-generated block. Whether this is intentional design or a happy side effect of how the exclusion operator interacts with the Overview system, nobody outside the search team knows. It works. That's what matters.

Drawbacks: you have to remember to type it every time. And if your actual query is about AI (say, "ai image generators"), the modifier will also exclude results containing the word "ai," which is obviously not what you want. Context-dependent tool.

How Does the udm=14 URL Parameter Work?

This is the most reliable and automatable method. Appending &udm=14 to any Google search URL forces the results into a web-only mode that excludes AI Overviews entirely. This parameter has been available since May 2024 and continues to work as of 2026, making it the most durable workaround by a wide margin.

Try it manually first. Run a normal Google search, then look at the URL in your browser's address bar. It will look something like:

https://www.google.com/search?q=your+search+terms

Add &udm=14 to the end:

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

Hit enter. The AI Overview disappears. You get a clean list of web results.

Can I Make udm=14 My Default?

Yes. Most browsers let you define a custom search engine. You set the search URL template to include &udm=14, and every search you run from the address bar automatically uses the web-only mode.

In Chrome, go to Settings, then Search engine, then Manage search engines and site search. Under "Site search," click Add. Fill in the fields:

• Search engine: Google Web (or whatever you like)
• Shortcut: google.com
• URL with %s in place of query: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14

Save it, then click the three dots next to your new entry and select "Make default." Every address-bar search now bypasses AI Overviews automatically.

Firefox: Preferences, then Search. The custom search engine process is similar but uses the OpenSearch plugin format or the add-keyword-for-bookmark approach. Slightly more manual but equally permanent once configured.

What About Mobile Browsers?

Mobile is harder. Most mobile browsers don't support extensions, and you can't always manually add a custom search URL template the way you can on desktop.

Your best options on mobile:

• Use the Web tab. Same one-click method as desktop. Tap the "Web" filter after every search. Annoying but functional.
• Use tenbluelinks.org. This site provides instructions to set "Google Web" (the udm=14 variant) as your default search engine on iOS Safari, Chrome for Android, and Firefox mobile. It works as a redirect configuration, not as a proxy. Your queries go directly to Google, not through the site. The site itself never sees your search terms.
• Add -ai manually. Works in any mobile browser's search bar or Google's own app. Just extra typing on a small keyboard.

None of these are great. Mobile is where Google has the tightest grip on the search experience, and it shows.

Are There Browser Extensions That Block AI Overviews?

Yes. The most straightforward one is "Hide Google AI Overviews," available on the Chrome Web Store. It removes the AI-generated summary block from Google search results pages. The developer states it does not collect or use user data.

There's also an open-source option on GitHub called Google AI Overviews Blocker that you can inspect, fork, and install manually if you prefer not to trust the Web Store listing.

Extensions have an advantage over URL parameter tricks: they work even when you click a Google search link from another page, or when a site embeds a Google search box. The udm=14 approach only works when you control the URL, which usually means the address bar.

The tradeoff is that you're granting a third-party extension permission to read and modify Google's search results pages. For an open-source extension you've reviewed, that's a reasonable tradeoff. For a closed-source one from an unknown developer, use your judgment.

Does Any of This Actually Stop Google From Collecting My Data?

No. This is the part most how-to guides skip, and it matters.

Every method described above, the Web filter, the -ai modifier, udm=14, the extensions, still sends your complete search query to Google's servers. You're signed in (probably). Your IP, device info, and location go along for the ride. Google retains search data, AI responses, feedback, and associated metadata like location and device info for up to 18 months unless you change your settings.

Hiding the AI Overview hides the output. It doesn't change the input pipeline. Google still processes your query, still feeds it to its models, still logs it. You've changed what you see, not what Google sees.

If that distinction matters to you (and if you're reading this, it probably does), the real question isn't how to hide a summary block. It's whether you want your queries flowing through an ecosystem designed to retain and monetize them in the first place.

What About Google's "AI Mode" Tab?

Google has been layering a separate "AI Mode" conversational tab alongside AI Overviews. Unlike Overviews, AI Mode doesn't activate on its own. It only engages when you explicitly click the tab or a "Keep exploring with AI Mode" suggestion.

There's no setting to remove the AI Mode tab from the results page. It sits alongside Web, Images, and News regardless. But since it requires an explicit click, ignoring it is sufficient. It won't generate content unless you ask it to.

The concern is scope creep. AI Overviews started as an opt-in experiment in Google Labs, then became default for everyone. AI Mode is "opt-in" today. Whether it stays that way is a business decision, not a technical constraint.

Why Is the EU Investigating AI Overviews?

The European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation in December 2025 into whether Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode unfairly use publisher and content-creator material. In February 2026, the European Publishers Council filed a formal antitrust complaint, arguing the issue "is not about resisting innovation or artificial intelligence... it is about stopping a dominant gatekeeper from using its market power to take publishers' content without consent."

The publisher complaint surfaces a detail relevant to end users: publishers who opt out of AI Overviews also lose visibility in regular search results. There's no clean opt-out for them either. The parallel is obvious. Individual users can't toggle off the feature without resorting to workarounds. Publishers can't decline having their content summarized without being penalized in rankings. Both are locked into a system that doesn't provide a real exit.

Whether this investigation leads to structural changes (like a mandatory user toggle) is unknowable right now. EU antitrust proceedings move slowly. But the regulatory framing validates what millions of annoyed searchers already feel: the absence of an off switch is a choice, not an oversight.

Which Method Should I Actually Use?

Depends on your tolerance for setup effort versus daily friction.

• Lowest effort, highest daily friction: Click the Web tab each time. No configuration. Works everywhere.
• Medium effort, zero daily friction (desktop): Set udm=14 as your default search engine. Five minutes of setup, then never think about it again.
• Medium effort, zero daily friction (mobile): Follow the tenbluelinks.org setup instructions for your mobile browser.
• Low effort, low friction: Install the Hide Google AI Overviews extension. Works for all Google searches, not just address-bar ones. Desktop only.
• Quick and dirty per query: Add -ai to the end of your search. No setup. Mild typing overhead. Doesn't work if your query is literally about AI.

My recommendation: set up udm=14 as your default search engine on desktop, use tenbluelinks.org on mobile, and install the extension as a backstop for when you click Google links from other sites. Belt, suspenders, and a backup belt.

Will These Methods Keep Working?

Probably, for now. The udm=14 parameter has survived two years without being deprecated, which in Google's product lifecycle is practically a commitment. The Web filter tab is now a formalized UI element, not a hidden option. Extensions can always break if Google changes the DOM structure of its results pages, but the open-source community tends to patch those quickly.

The real risk is Google deciding that web-only results are a legacy mode they no longer want to maintain. That would be a significant product decision with regulatory implications, especially given the active EU investigation. But it's not impossible. As of mid-2026, there is still no permanent, account-level toggle, and relying on workarounds means accepting that they could stop working without notice.

What Does This Tell Us About How Search Works Now?

The fact that millions of people are searching for how to disable a search engine's primary new feature says something about the gap between what platforms build and what users want. Google decided AI Overviews should be the default. Users were not consulted, and no meaningful opt-out was provided. The workarounds in this guide exist because the feature was imposed, not offered.

This is a pattern, not an anomaly. Products built around data collection tend to make data-minimizing choices difficult. The UI defaults to maximum engagement and maximum data flow. Anything that reduces either requires the user to actively fight the interface.

If you find yourself spending time disabling features you didn't enable, that's a signal worth listening to. The question isn't just "how do I fix this specific annoyance" but "am I using tools that are designed to work for me, or designed to work on me?"

If you want an AI assistant that remembers your preferences without building an ad profile around them, that's the problem we built Selina to solve. Start a free 7-day trial, no card required.

Michael C.

Founder & Principal Engineer, Selina Labs

Michael builds Selina, a privacy-first AI that remembers you across conversations. He ships security-sensitive AI in production — real attacks, real fixes, measured in minutes and dollars — and writes about privacy, security, and LLMs from that seat. Top Rated Plus and expert-verified on Upwork.

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