How to Disable Apple Intelligence on Mac in 2026: Every Switch

Yes, you can disable Apple Intelligence on a Mac, but on macOS 27 there's no single switch. You turn off Siri AI in System Settings > Siri, switch off summaries in Notifications, Mail and Messages, and block the rest (writing help, image creation) with Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri. Apple's own guide lists each setting.

If you updated your Mac and suddenly your notifications read like someone else rewrote them, you're not imagining it. Apple says it makes these features available automatically when an eligible Mac moves to macOS 27. Below is every switch, in the order I'd flip them, how to check nothing is still running, what happens to the storage, and the shorter route if your Mac is still on macOS Tahoe 26 or earlier.

Quick answer: where each Apple Intelligence switch lives on macOS 27

Each Apple Intelligence feature on macOS 27 has its own setting, spread across System Settings and the apps that use it. This table maps them, based on Apple's macOS 27 guide to turning off Apple Intelligence features.

Is there one switch to turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS 27?

No. Apple's macOS 27 guide, Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac, lists separate steps for Siri AI, summaries, Smart Replies, Journal prompts and Screen Time, and doesn't describe a master switch. A user guide on the Apple Support Community makes the same point: the old all-in-one Apple Intelligence switch is gone from the settings pane.

The closest thing to one switch is Screen Time. Setting Siri to Don't Allow Siri or Siri Classic and blocking each capability covers most of it in one window, and the summary settings are a few quick switches on top. On macOS Tahoe 26 and earlier the master switch still exists; that's covered further down.

How to turn off Siri AI on Mac

To turn off Siri AI on macOS 27, open System Settings, click Siri, click Turn Off Siri and confirm. If you still want to talk to Siri without AI-generated answers, turn it back on with Use Siri Classic. Both steps are in Apple's guide.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Click Siri in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
3. Click Turn Off Siri, then click Turn Off Siri again to confirm.
4. Optional: to keep the older Siri for timers and quick questions, click Turn On Siri and select Use Siri Classic.

Siri Classic is what I chose on my own Mac. I mostly ask Siri to set a timer or open an app while my hands are full, and the classic version does that fine. Siri AI is labeled beta, runs in a limited set of languages to start, and isn't available to anyone under 13, per Apple.

How to block Apple Intelligence with Screen Time

Screen Time can block Siri AI and individual Apple Intelligence capabilities from one place. Go to System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri, choose Don't Allow Siri or Siri Classic, then set each capability to Blocked. Apple documents this on its Siri restrictions page.

1. Turn on Screen Time if it's off. Apple says you need it on before you can set restrictions.
2. Open System Settings and click Screen Time in the sidebar.
3. Click Content & Privacy Restrictions.
4. Click Siri.
5. Choose a version: Don't Allow Siri, Siri AI (Beta) or Siri Classic.
6. Under the version choices, open the pop-up menu next to each capability and choose Blocked. Apple names Broad World Knowledge and Writing Assistance as examples, and mentions Math Assistance and Image Creation.
7. Click Done.

Apple doesn't publish a full list of capabilities, and it says the options vary by Siri version, country or region, and language. So go down the list on your own Mac rather than looking for a fixed set. This is also the route to use on a Mac a child shares: when I set up an older Mac for a family member, Screen Time was the only place where blocking it once covered every app.

How to turn off Apple Intelligence summaries on Mac

Apple Intelligence summarizes notifications, emails and messages, and each summary has its own switch. Turn them off in System Settings > Notifications, Mail > Settings > Viewing and Messages > Settings, as Apple's guide shows.

Notification summaries

1. Open System Settings and click Notifications in the sidebar.
2. Click Summarize Notifications.
3. Turn it off.

Notification summaries were the first thing I switched off. A group chat about dinner came through as a one-line summary that made the plan sound settled, and it wasn't. When I'm deciding whether to answer now or later, I want the actual words.

Mail summaries

1. Open Mail, then choose Mail > Settings.
2. Click Viewing.
3. Turn off Summarize Message Previews. The inbox goes back to showing the first lines of each email.

If you also want to stop the inbox being sorted for you, the Apple Support Community guide suggests unchecking Show Mail Categories and Show Priority Messages in Mail's View menu. Our guide to Mail's view options covers the rest of the layout, and Apple Mail AI in 2026 explains what each Mail feature does before you decide to drop it.

Messages summaries

1. Open Messages, then choose Messages > Settings.
2. Turn off Summarize Messages.

How to turn off Smart Replies and writing prompts

Personalized Smart Replies in Mail and writing prompts in Journal are switched off inside each app. In Mail, choose Mail > Settings > Composing and turn off Personalize Smart Replies. In Journal, choose Journal > Settings > General and turn off Get Writing Prompts (Apple).

1. Mail: open Mail, choose Mail > Settings, click Composing, and turn off Personalize Smart Replies.
2. Journal: open Journal, choose Journal > Settings, click General, and turn off Get Writing Prompts.

How to turn off ChatGPT in Siri on Mac

ChatGPT in Siri is an extension you turn off in System Settings > Siri > ChatGPT by switching off Use ChatGPT. With Siri AI, the path is Siri > Extensions > ChatGPT > Use Extension. Both are on Apple's ChatGPT page for macOS 27.

1. Open System Settings and click Siri.
2. Click ChatGPT and turn off Use ChatGPT.
3. To stop Siri suggesting ChatGPT for a request, also turn off Setup Prompts.
4. On Siri AI instead: click Extensions, click ChatGPT and turn off Use Extension. Apple says Setup Prompts isn't offered with Siri AI.

Turning off the extension removes ChatGPT only. Apple's own models keep working until you switch those features off too.

How to stop Siri learning from your apps

Siri Suggestions and app learning are controlled per app under System Settings > Siri. Click Excluded Apps to keep chosen apps away from Siri, Search and suggestions, or Suggestions to turn suggestions off app by app, as Apple's Siri settings guide describes.

1. Open System Settings and click Siri.
2. Click Excluded Apps, then Add Apps, select the apps and click Done.
3. Go back and click Suggestions, then turn suggestions off for each app you don't want included.

This one takes the longest, because it's per app. I did Mail, Messages, Notes and Calendar first, since those hold the most about my week, and left apps like Calculator alone.

A few smaller suggestion settings

The Apple Support Community guide, written by a user rather than Apple, lists a few more places with suggestion features on macOS 27. Treat them as worth a look rather than official steps:

• Finder > Settings: uncheck Suggest file names.
• Safari > Settings > Tabs: set Organize Tabs to Never.
• Reminders > Settings: turn off Show Suggestions.
• Phone > Settings: turn off the option that uses Apple Intelligence for suggested voicemail actions.

How to check Apple Intelligence is really off

The Apple Intelligence Report shows the requests your Mac has sent to Apple's servers. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Intelligence Report, choose last 7 days, then click Export Activity to save a file you can read (Apple).

1. Open System Settings and click Privacy & Security.
2. Click Apple Intelligence Report.
3. Choose last 15 minutes or last 7 days.
4. Click Export Activity, pick a folder and click Export. The file is named Apple_Intelligence_Report.json and opens in any text editor.

Read the result carefully. Apple says many Apple Intelligence tasks run entirely on the Mac, and only harder requests go to Private Cloud Compute, so the report shows server requests, not every on-device feature. It may also be empty if nothing was sent during the time range you picked. An empty report a week after you've switched everything off is a good sign; a quiet one the same afternoon proves very little.

Does turning off Apple Intelligence free up storage?

Don't count on it. Apple says Apple Intelligence uses up to 8 GB on most Macs, and up to 14 GB on Macs with M3 or later and at least 12 GB of unified memory (Apple). Apple's macOS 27 guide to turning features off doesn't say any of that space comes back.

If you're switching things off mainly to get disk space back, note the figure in System Settings > General > Storage first and look again once you're done, so you're looking at your own Mac's numbers rather than a guess. Apple also notes that storage use can run above those figures for a while during and right after a software update, so let an update settle before you judge.

How to turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS Tahoe 26 or earlier

On macOS Tahoe 26 and earlier, the Apple Intelligence & Siri pane in System Settings has a switch next to Apple Intelligence. Apple's macOS 26 help gives that switch as the way to turn Apple Intelligence on, so switching it off is the one step you need.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Click Apple Intelligence & Siri.
3. Click the switch next to Apple Intelligence to turn it off.

On Tahoe, Screen Time works a little differently: under Screen Time > Content & Privacy > Intelligence & Siri you can block Writing Tools, Image Creation and Intelligence Extensions separately (Apple). If you're not sure which version you're on, choose Apple menu > About This Mac.

What I'd turn off first, and what's worth keeping

Not everything has to go. If what bothers you is AI rewriting what other people said, turn off the three summaries and Personalized Smart Replies, and leave the rest. If it's privacy, start with the ChatGPT extension and Siri AI, then run the Apple Intelligence Report a week later. And if you want none of it, Screen Time is the place: Don't Allow Siri plus every capability set to Blocked.

• Annoyed by summaries: Notifications, Mail and Messages summaries off, and nothing else.
• Worried about data leaving the Mac: ChatGPT extension off, Siri Classic on, Excluded Apps for Mail and Messages (so Siri doesn't learn from them), then check the report.
• Sharing the Mac with a child: Screen Time restrictions, so the choice holds across every app.
• Want it all gone: everything in the table at the top, then Screen Time on top of it.

Proofread, one of the Writing Tools, is the one I'd think twice about blocking. It catches the typo in a client email that I'd otherwise see only after sending. If you'd rather have that help from a tool you open on purpose, our guide to summarizing text on a Mac covers the built-in options, and advanced AI assistants compares the rest.

What if a setting is missing or grayed out?

A missing or grayed-out Apple Intelligence setting usually comes down to your Mac, your language or who manages it. Check these in order:

1. Your Mac: Apple Intelligence needs a Mac with M1 or later (Apple). On an Intel Mac there's nothing to turn off.
2. Your macOS version: the steps above are for macOS 27. On macOS Tahoe 26 or earlier, look for the switch in Apple Intelligence & Siri instead.
3. Your language and region: Apple says the Mac's language and Siri's language must match a supported language, and some features aren't offered in every region. Settings for unsupported features may not appear at all.
4. A work or school Mac: if your Mac is managed by an employer or school, IT can set or lock these options. Ask them before trying workarounds.
5. Screen Time locked: Content & Privacy Restrictions need Screen Time turned on first (Apple).