How to Turn Off Apple Intelligence on a Mac

How do I turn off Apple Intelligence on a Mac?

On macOS Sequoia 15 and macOS Tahoe 26, turn off Apple Intelligence by opening System Settings, clicking Apple Intelligence and Siri, then clicking the button next to Apple Intelligence. That is the whole procedure in Apple's Mac User Guide for those versions. On macOS 27, Apple's guide lists a switch per feature instead, covered below.

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   Step 1: Check your macOS version

   Choose Apple menu > About This Mac. The steps differ between macOS 15 or 26 and macOS 27.

   Mark step 1 done
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   Step 2: Open the settings pane

   On macOS 15 or 26, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Apple Intelligence and Siri in the sidebar.

   Mark step 2 done
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   Step 3: Turn it off

   Click the button next to Apple Intelligence so it is off. Apple's guide uses the same button to turn it back on.

   Mark step 3 done

Not every Mac has these settings. Apple's requirements page says Apple Intelligence runs on a MacBook Neo and on a Mac with M1 or later, with the device language and Siri language set to the same supported language. On an Intel Mac there is nothing to switch off. Other tools have their own controls, listed in every AI switch on a laptop.

How do I turn off Apple Intelligence features on macOS 27?

On macOS 27, Apple's page titled Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac lists switches feature by feature. As of November 2026 it starts with Siri: open System Settings, click Siri in the sidebar, click Turn Off Siri, then click Turn Off Siri again to confirm. Summaries and suggestions are switched off inside each app.

Apple's requirements page says the next generation of Apple Intelligence is automatically available on eligible devices as part of the operating system when you update to macOS 27. So the single button from earlier versions is not what Apple's macOS 27 guide describes, and switching things off there is a short checklist. Siri Classic is the middle option if you still want voice requests.

How do I turn off Writing Tools and the chatbot extension?

Writing Tools and the optional third-party chatbot extension are blocked through Screen Time or switched off in Siri settings. On macOS 15 and 26, go to System Settings > Screen Time > Content and Privacy, turn on the restrictions, click Intelligence and Siri, then turn off Writing Tools, Image Creation or Intelligence Extensions.

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   Step 4: Open Screen Time

   Go to System Settings and click Screen Time in the sidebar.

   Mark step 4 done
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   Step 5: Turn on restrictions

   Click Content and Privacy, then turn on Content and Privacy restrictions.

   Mark step 5 done
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   Step 6: Block the features

   On macOS 15 or 26, click Intelligence and Siri and turn off Writing Tools, Image Creation and Intelligence Extensions as needed.

   Mark step 6 done
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   Step 7: On macOS 27, use Siri restrictions

   Click Content and Privacy Restrictions, then Siri. Under Allowed Siri Version choose Don't Allow Siri or Siri Classic, and set capabilities such as Writing Assistance and Image Creation to Blocked.

   Mark step 7 done

The chatbot extension also has a direct switch. On macOS 27, Apple's guide says to open System Settings, click Siri, click the extension's name and turn off its Use switch; with Siri AI the path is Extensions, the extension's name, then turn off Use Extension. On macOS 26 the same switch sits under Apple Intelligence and Siri. Apple describes the extension as something you turn on, so if you never set it up there may be nothing to switch off.

Does turning off Apple Intelligence free up storage?

Apple does not say that turning Apple Intelligence off frees the storage its on-device models use, so do not count on getting that space back. Apple's requirements page lists up to 14 GB of storage on Mac models with M3 or later and at least 12 GB of unified memory, and up to 8 GB on other supported Macs.

The same page warns that storage used by Apple Intelligence may temporarily exceed those figures during and shortly after a software update, while new models are downloaded and older ones are removed. To see what your disk looks like before and after, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General, then click Storage. If space is the real problem, the backup guide shows how to move large files off the laptop safely first.

Does Apple Intelligence turn back on after a macOS update?

Check the switch after every major macOS update. Apple's pages do not state that an update re-enables a switch you turned off, but they do say the next generation of Apple Intelligence becomes automatically available on eligible devices when you update to macOS 27, and the settings moved between versions.

After the update, open System Settings and look at the Siri pane, or Apple Intelligence and Siri on older versions, then confirm the summary switches in Messages, Mail and Notifications are still off. If you used Screen Time, confirm Content and Privacy restrictions are still on.

What changes on a school or work Mac?

On a Mac that a school, employer or parent manages, the Screen Time or device restrictions may already block these features, and you may not be able to change them. If Content and Privacy restrictions are locked with a passcode you do not know, the person or team who set it up controls the switches described here.

If the reason you want this off is privacy, Apple's privacy page explains that many requests run on the device and larger ones go to its Private Cloud Compute servers, and that you can export a log from System Settings > Privacy and Security > Apple Intelligence Report. The guide to AI tools and laptop privacy covers the wider question. Related guides in the how-to hub: turn off Grammarly, turn off Gemini, and for Windows users turn off Copilot in Windows 11.