How to Turn Off AI Overviews in Google Search (What Works and What Doesn't)

You can’t fully turn off AI Overviews. Google’s help page says they are a core part of Search and “cannot be turned off.” But you can search Google without them. Use the Web filter, or add udm=14 to the search address and make that your browser’s default search.

Below are the methods that work, step by step, and the tricks that don’t.

Can you turn off AI Overviews in Google?

No. Google calls AI Overviews a core Search feature, like knowledge panels, and there is no switch for them in your Google Account or in Search settings.

People often point to Search Labs, Google’s opt-in area for test features. Its “AI in Search” toggle only covers new experiments. AI Overviews are no longer an experiment, so turning that toggle off does not remove them.

Signing out does not help either: our test fetches on October 9, 2026 were not signed in to any account, and they still showed AI Overviews.

Method 1: Use the Web filter

The Web filter is Google’s own way to get plain results. Google’s help page says it “displays only text-based links without features like AI Overviews.”

1. Search for anything on Google.
2. Look at the row of filters under the search bar: All, Images, Videos, News, and so on.
3. Click Web. On a computer, it may be hidden under More.

The page reloads with plain links. The catch is that it lasts for one search only, and the next search goes back to the normal page.

Method 2: Add udm=14 to the search address

When you click the Web filter, Google adds udm=14 to the address. You can also type it in yourself by adding &udm=14 to the end of any Google search address:

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+boil+an+egg&udm=14

Google has never documented this setting. Writer Ernie Smith of the blog Tedium spread it in May 2024. It still worked when we tested it in October 2026. For what other parts of the address do, see our list of Google search parameters.

Our test: does udm=14 still work?

We fetched these pages on October 9, 2026, from the United States, signed out. Each pair is the same search with and without udm=14.

So udm=14 removes more than the AI Overview. It also drops People Also Ask, videos, and the other extra blocks. If you like the question box, you lose it too. Our guide to SERP features shows what each of those blocks is.

Method 3: Make udm=14 your default search

Typing udm=14 every time gets old, so set it once. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox let you add a custom search engine: you give it a Google address with %s where the search words go, and the browser fills them in. The address to use is:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14

Chrome (computer)

1. Open Settings, then Search engine, then Manage search engines and site search.
2. Next to Site search, click Add.
3. Enter a name (for example “Google Web”), a short shortcut (for example “gw”), and the address above.
4. Click Add.
5. Find the new entry, click the three-dot menu next to it, and choose Make default.

Microsoft Edge

1. Open Settings, then Privacy, search, and services.
2. Go to Search and connected services, then Address bar and search.
3. Open Manage search engines and click Add. Enter a name, a shortcut, and the address above.
4. Use the three-dot menu next to the new entry and choose Make default.

Menu names in Edge shift between versions. If you can’t find them, search “search engine” in the Settings search box.

Firefox (computer, version 140 or newer)

1. Open Settings and select Search on the left.
2. Under Additional search engines, click Add search engine.
3. Enter a name and paste the address above. Click Add Engine.
4. At the top of the same page, pick your new engine as the Default Search Engine.

Safari (Mac, iPhone, iPad)

Safari only lets you choose from a short built-in list of search engines, so there is no box for your own address. You can tap the Web filter after each search, or install a Safari extension that adds udm=14 for you. Check what access an extension asks for before you install it.

Method 4: On your phone

Phones are harder, because the biggest mobile browsers don’t take custom addresses.

• Chrome on Android and iPhone. Google’s help page says you pick from a list, and recently visited search engines get added to it. There is no field to type your own address. Use the Web filter after each search.
• The Google app. Same answer: tap Web in the filter row after you search.
• Firefox for Android. This one works. Open the search settings, tap Default search engine, then Add search engine. Paste the address above and set it as the default.

What doesn’t work, or has side effects

• Search settings and Google Account settings. There is no AI Overview option in either.
• The Search Labs toggle. It only covers experiments, as noted above.
• Incognito mode or signing out. AI Overviews still appear.
• Adding “-ai” to your search. In our October 9, 2026 test, how to boil an egg -ai came back with no AI Overview. But the minus sign is a search operator that drops every page containing the word “ai”. That changes your results, and you have to type it every time.
• Extensions that hide the box. Some browser extensions hide AI Overviews after the page loads. They can break when Google changes its page, and they need permission to read and change the Google pages you visit.

Why Google has no off switch

Google has not given a full reason. It treats AI Overviews as a standard part of the page, like the knowledge panel. In May 2025, Google said people search more when they use AI Overviews. It reported a usage rise of over 10 percent for the kinds of searches that show them, in the US and India.

Not everyone is happy about it. Many searchers want the plain list back, which is why udm=14 spread so fast. Website owners worry too. A Pew Research Center study of March 2025 browsing found people clicked a normal result on 8 percent of visits with an AI summary, against 15 percent without one. If you run a site, you can track AI Overviews to see whether they cite you.

If you are curious about the bigger version of Google’s AI search, read what Google AI Mode is. Unlike AI Overviews, AI Mode only opens when you choose it, so there is nothing to turn off.