As if Siri’s unhelpful answers were not irritating enough when you actually want them, Siri often interrupts a conversation, meeting or TV show when you haven’t asked for anything at all. The good news is you make it stop — if you know how to deactivate Siri on your Apple devices.

How to deactivate Siri

Yes, Siri can be helpful — we previously covered six surprisingly useful things Siri can do. And, when Apple Intelligence arrives in iOS 18 (or maybe a little later), Siri supposedly will gain remarkable new capabilities. However, Apple’s AI assistant often feels like an unwelcome guest, activating randomly when you didn’t want it to. And, as of iOS 17, Siri will activate every time it hears “Siri,” not just “Hey Siri.”

Luckily, you can strategically deactivate Siri on iPhone, Apple Watch and more. Here’s how.

Table of contents: How to deactivate Siri

You can also watch these instructions in this video:

How to deactivate Siri on Apple Watch
Raise to Speak saves you the work of saying “Hey Siri,” but in my experience, there are more false positives than what it’s worth.Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch is the only device that listens for commands without you having to say “Hey Siri” first. By default, anytime your Watch is raised or active, it listens for something Siri might be able to take action on. It’s slightly more convenient, but most people are trained to start with “Hey Siri” anyway.

You can turn off this functionality, along with a few other Siri triggers, in the Watch app on your iPhone. Go to Watch > Siri and turn off Raise to Speak. While you’re there, I also recommend setting Listen for to Off to further reduce random Siri activations.

Finally, if you wear thick, long sleeves and/or gloves in the winter, or if you have big hands, you might accidentally activate Siri by pressing the Digital Crown. You can disable this Siri activation as well. From the same place (Watch > Siri), turn off Press Digital Crown to stop Siri this way. Keep in mind that with all three of these settings off, you won’t have Siri on your Apple Watch.

How to disable Siri on Mac
It’ll look different if you’re running an older version of macOS.Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple brought Siri to the Mac in 2016 with macOS Sierra. However, because most Mac apps are built differently from iPhone apps, Siri doesn’t always work in the same way on the two types of devices. Personally, I never use Siri on my Mac. But I have accidentally triggered Siri on my Mac more times than I can count.

Siri is activated with a dedicated Siri key on newer Macs with Apple silicon and a keyboard shortcut on older Macs. Apple also put a Siri button in the Mac’s menu bar. If you have AirPods, “Hey Siri” will work on the Mac, too.

To deactivate Siri on your Mac, go to System Settings > Siri & Spotlight (or System Preferences in older versions of macOS). Set Keyboard shortcut to Off. If you recently connected AirPods to your Mac, you should consider setting Listen for to Off. If you don’t want Siri at all, turn off Ask Siri.

Also in System Settings, click on Control Center in the sidebar, scroll down, and set Siri to Don’t Show in Menu Bar.

How to turn off Siri on iPhone and iPad
Turn off a few settings to make Siri less annoying. Or turn off everything to remove Siri completely.Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The iPhone served as Siri’s original home when Apple released the iPhone 4s in 2011. If the intrusive AI assistant has worn out its welcome and you want to evict Siri from your iPhone (or iPad), go to Settings > Siri & Search to find Siri settings. Then, turn off Allow Siri When Locked to eliminate most accidental “Hey Siri” activations when your phone or tablet is sitting idly on a nearby desk or table. Set Listen for to Off to disable the feature entirely, even when your phone is in use.

If you want to take things even further, you can turn off Press Side Button for Siri to prevent Siri from being activated by squeezing the power button on accident. With all three turned off, you won’t be able to activate Siri at all.

How to disable Siri on AirPods
I set mine to Play/Pause and Next Track.Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

On AirPods, you activate Siri with a tap (AirPods and AirPods 2), a squeeze (AirPods Pro and AirPods 3) or a button press (AirPods Max).

To disable Siri, make sure your AirPods are connected to a device. On an iPhone, go to Settings > [Your AirPods name] right at the top. From there, you can customize the left and right AirPod controls. Tap on each and change it from Siri to either Play/Pause, Next Track, Previous Track or nothing. (If you don’t see this menu, make sure your AirPods are connected to your iPhone first.)

How to turn off Siri on Apple TV
It’s especially annoying if something sets off Siri in the middle of an episode.Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The latest Apple TV Siri Remote puts the Siri activation button in a weird spot: the side, in the exact spot one might grab the remote while picking it up from a table or a couch crack. And that’s not to mention the critically panned old Apple TV remote, which put the Siri button right next to the Back button, the Pause button and the Volume button.

If you want to stop inadvertently activating Siri on your remote, open the Apple TV app on your set-top box. Then go to Settings > General > Siri and turn Siri off.

If you’re interested in an Apple TV remote without Siri, we recommend the Function101 Button Remote.

How to disable Siri on HomePod

“Hey Siri” is the primary way to interact with a HomePod. But if, for some reason, you want to physically press the button on top of the smart speaker, or use AirPlay to send your music and podcasts from your device to your HomePod and nothing else, you can disable Hey Siri.

This one’s the simplest yet. Just say, “Hey Siri, turn off Hey Siri,” and confirm with “Yes.”

If you want to turn this back on later, press and hold the top of the HomePod and say, “Turn on Hey Siri.”

We originally published this post on how to deactivate Siri on Apple devices on October 11, 2023. We updated the information.