How Do I Turn Off AI Mode?
Find out where to check for AI Mode controls in Google Search, how to leave or disable the experience when options are available, and what to do if you can’t find an off switch.
Overview
If by “AI Mode” you mean Google Search’s conversational AI experience, the answer depends on which version you are seeing. You can turn off the optional AI Mode experiment in Search Labs, and Pixel users can remove the AI Mode shortcut from the home-screen search bar. Neither action disables standard AI Mode across Google Search. Google does not document a universal switch for disabling AI Mode everywhere. If the feature you want gone is an AI Overview in ordinary results, Google’s documented alternative is the Web filter, which shows text-based links without AI Overviews.
Choose the setting that matches what you see
| What appears | What you can do | What the control affects |
|---|---|---|
| AI Mode opened and you want ordinary results again | Select All or Close, if shown; otherwise return to the results page | Leaves the current AI Mode view |
| AI Mode marked as a Search Labs experiment | Turn off AI Mode in Search Labs | Stops the Labs experiment, not standard AI Mode in Search |
| AI Mode button in a Pixel home-screen search bar | Turn off AI Mode under Customize Pixel Search Box | Hides that Pixel shortcut |
| AI Overview above Search results | Select the Web filter after searching | Shows text links for that search; not an account-wide preference |
The distinctions matter: Google’s help page says the Labs article applies to people who opted into the experiment, and Google’s Labs listing explicitly warns that turning the experiment off does not disable AI Mode in Search outside Labs (“AI Mode” in Search Labs - Computer - Google Search Help; AI Mode - Search Labs).
Turn off the AI Mode Search Labs experiment
This option is useful if you previously enrolled in the experimental version. The steps currently documented by Google are:
On a computer
- Sign in to the Google Account used to join the experiment.
- Open a new tab in your browser and select Search Labs.
- Select Manage.
- Switch AI Mode off.
On Android
- Sign in to your Google Account in a browser and open Google Search.
- Tap Search Labs, then Manage.
- Switch AI Mode off.
Google notes that the Labs setting applies to users who opted into the experiment; if the Labs icon is not shown next to AI Mode, the experiment is not enabled for that account. The Search Labs controls and labels can vary as Google updates Search settings. Most importantly, this only opts out of the experiment’s early or experimental capabilities; it does not switch off AI Mode that is part of standard Search (“AI Mode” in Search Labs - Computer - Google Search Help; “AI Mode” in Search Labs - Android - Google Search Help; AI Mode - Search Labs).
Remove the AI Mode shortcut from a Pixel search bar
If the problem is an easily tapped button in the Google search bar on a Pixel phone, Google provides a shortcut-specific control:
- Tap the G icon in the home-screen search bar.
- Tap your profile picture, then Settings.
- Open Customize Pixel Search Box.
- Switch AI Mode off.
This removes the shortcut from that Pixel search box. It does not disable the feature on Google Search’s website or in other places where AI Mode may be available. Google says the shortcut is available only in selected locales, and the setting may not appear on every device or account (Search on your Pixel phone - Pixel Phone Help).
Leave AI Mode and return to regular Search
If AI Mode has opened for one search, use the visible All tab to go back and forth between AI Mode and search results, where that control is present. When a mobile AI Overview expands into an AI Mode conversation, Google’s instructions say to select Close to return to the Search results page. Interface details can differ between the Google app, mobile browsers, desktop browsers, and current Search versions (Get AI-powered responses with AI Mode in Google Search - Android phone & tablet - Google Search Help; Find information in faster & easier ways with AI Overviews in Google Search - Computer - Google Search Help).
Hide AI Overviews from a results page
AI Overviews are short AI-generated summaries within ordinary Google results; AI Mode is a separate, more conversational Search view with follow-up questions. Turning off the Search Labs AI Mode experiment does not, by itself, remove AI Overviews.
Google says AI Overviews are a core Search feature and cannot be turned off through a general feature switch. After searching, select Web in the result filters; if it is not visible, look under More. Google says this filter displays text-based links without features such as AI Overviews. It changes the view for that search rather than setting a permanent preference (Find information in faster & easier ways with AI Overviews in Google Search - Computer - Google Search Help; Frequently asked questions about AI Overviews - Google Search Community).
| Feature | Where it appears | What Google documents for opting out or avoiding it |
|---|---|---|
| AI Mode | Dedicated conversational Search experience | Turn off Labs experiment only; no universal Search off switch is documented |
| AI Mode Labs experiment | Search Labs | Toggle off in Labs; standard AI Mode may remain available |
| AI Mode Pixel shortcut | Pixel home-screen search bar | Turn off in Customize Pixel Search Box |
| AI Overview | Search results page | Use Web filter to see text-based links without the Overview |
Turning off history or personalization is different
Search history and personalization settings control whether activity is saved or used to tailor features; they are not AI Mode on/off controls. Google’s help explains that deleting AI Mode history may not remove the same interaction from Search history, so a person seeking to erase it may need to delete both entries. Search history can also be managed separately in a Google Account (“AI Mode” in Search Labs - Computer - Google Search Help; Find & manage Search Services History - Google Search Help).
Why instructions online may conflict
AI Mode launched as an opt-in Search Labs experiment on March 5, 2025. On May 20, 2025, Google announced a rollout of AI Mode in U.S. Search that did not require Labs enrollment, while Labs remained the route to early experimental capabilities. The Labs toggle therefore became narrower than a global setting: it governs the experiment, not necessarily the standard Search feature (Expanding AI Overviews and introducing AI Mode; AI Mode in Google Search: Updates from Google I/O 2025).
Google describes AI Mode as using “query fan-out”: it breaks a question into subtopics, searches across them, and combines the results into a response that supports follow-up questions. AI Overviews, by contrast, appear within the regular results when Google’s systems determine that a generated summary may be useful. The different product behavior explains why a Labs toggle, a Pixel widget toggle, and the Web filter do not have interchangeable effects (Get AI-powered responses with AI Mode in Google Search - Android phone & tablet - Google Search Help; Find information in faster & easier ways with AI Overviews in Google Search - Computer - Google Search Help).
Bottom line
To disable the Labs experiment, turn off AI Mode in Search Labs. To remove its home-screen button, turn off the Pixel shortcut in Customize Pixel Search Box. To get text links instead of an AI Overview, use the Web filter. These are scoped workarounds, not a universal way to turn off AI Mode or every AI-generated feature in Google Search.