How to Turn Off AI Overviews in Google Search

Google does not let you turn off AI Overviews. Its help page calls them a core Search feature and says "Features cannot be turned off." What Google does offer is the Web filter, which shows plain text links without them. With one URL trick you can make that filter the default on a computer.

Method 1: Use the Web filter

1. Search as usual.
2. Under the search box, select Web. If it is not in the row, open More and choose it.

The results page now shows text links only, with no AI Overview. It also drops other features such as video and image blocks. This is the route Google itself points to for anyone who wants text-only results.

Method 2: Make the Web filter your default (desktop)

Selecting Web adds udm=14 to the search URL. Put that parameter in a custom search engine and everything you type in the address bar opens straight into Web results. Google has not documented the parameter, so treat this as a workaround that could stop working.

Chrome

1. Open the More menu, then Settings, Search engine, and Manage search engines and site search.
2. Next to Site search, select Add.
3. Fill in the fields. Search engine: Google Web. Shortcut: gw (any keyword). URL with %s in place of query: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14
4. Select Add, then open More next to the new entry and select Make default.

Microsoft Edge

1. Open Settings and more, then Settings, Privacy, search, and services, Search and connected services, and Address bar and search.
2. Open Manage search engines and select Add.
3. Enter a name, a shortcut, and the URL https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14.
4. Open the menu next to the new entry and choose Make default.

Edge renames these pages from time to time, so the last two labels may differ slightly on your version.

Firefox

Firefox 140 and later can add a custom engine without an add-on:

1. Open Settings and select Search.
2. Under Additional search engines, select Add search engine.
3. Enter a name, the URL https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14, and an optional keyword, then select Add Engine.
4. Pick the new engine under Default Search Engine at the top of the same page.

On older Firefox versions you need a search engine add-on instead.

Safari

Safari only lets you choose from its built-in list of search engines, with no custom URL option. Use the Web filter per search.

Method 3: Hide it with an extension

Extensions that hide the AI Overview block exist for Chrome and Firefox. They only hide the box, so other result features still show. Check an extension's permissions and reviews first, and see how to audit your Chrome extensions.

On phones

Chrome on Android and iPhone only lets you pick from a preset list of search engines (plus some sites you have visited), and the Google app has no engine setting at all. So on a phone, tap Web after each search. If you are tired of AI features elsewhere, see how to disable Copilot in Windows 11 and Google search tricks.

Is the trade-off worth it?

The Web filter gives cleaner results but also hides some helpful features, and the default-engine trick relies on a parameter Google could change. If you want a search engine without AI summaries at all, look at the best privacy browsers and their default search options.

FAQs

Can I turn off AI Overviews in Google settings?

No. Google says AI Overviews cannot be turned off. The AI in Search toggle in Search Labs only controls opt-in experiments; you manage it under Labs, Manage. It does not remove AI Overviews.

What is udm=14?

It is the parameter Google adds to the search URL when you select the Web filter. A search URL that includes it opens directly in Web results.

Does the Web filter hide AI Mode too?

AI Mode is separate. You reach it from its own tab or by selecting Show more under an AI Overview and asking a follow-up. The Web results page has no AI Overview, so there is nothing to continue from there, but the AI Mode option is still available if you go looking for it.

Will the default-engine trick keep working?

Google has not documented the parameter, so it could change. The Web filter button is the supported route.

Does it work on Android and iPhone?

Only the per-search Web filter. Mobile Chrome and the Google app do not accept a custom search URL.