How to Disable Siri on a MacBook Air

To disable Siri on a MacBook Air, open the Apple menu, choose System Settings, click Siri in the sidebar, and click Turn Off Siri. Siri stops responding to your voice, the keyboard shortcut, and the menu bar icon until you turn it back on.

These steps are for macOS 27, the current version. On macOS Tahoe 26 the setting is a switch instead of a button, and older versions use different labels, so each has its own short section below. The steps are the same on any Mac, not just a MacBook Air. To see which version you have, choose Apple menu > About This Mac.

Turn Off Siri in macOS 27

1. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen and choose System Settings.
2. Scroll down the sidebar and click Siri.
3. Click Turn Off Siri.
4. Confirm if your Mac asks. The page now shows Turn on Siri, which means Siri is off.

Apple describes this screen in its Siri settings guide for Mac.

Turn Off Siri in macOS Tahoe 26

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Click Apple Intelligence & Siri in the sidebar. On a Mac without Apple Intelligence, the item is called Siri.
3. Turn off the Siri switch.

Turning off Siri here doesn’t turn off Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools. Those have their own switch on the same page. Apple’s macOS Tahoe Siri settings page lists every option on this screen.

Turn Off Siri on Older Versions of macOS

• macOS Ventura 13 and Sonoma 14: Open System Settings > Siri & Spotlight and turn off Ask Siri.
• macOS Sequoia 15: Open System Settings, click Apple Intelligence & Siri (or Siri), and turn off the Siri switch.
• macOS Monterey 12 and earlier: Open Apple menu > System Preferences > Siri and clear the Enable Ask Siri checkbox. The same steps are in Apple’s Monterey Siri preferences guide.

Stop “Hey Siri” but Keep Siri

If your MacBook Air keeps answering when people talk nearby, you don’t have to turn Siri off completely. You can stop it from listening and still open it by hand.

1. Open the Siri settings page for your version (see above).
2. Find Listen for (or Listen for “Hey Siri”) and set it to Off. On macOS 27 this option is part of the Requests settings.

Siri now opens only when you use the keyboard shortcut or click the Siri icon.

On the same page, the Keyboard shortcut menu controls which keys open Siri. If Siri pops up because you press a key combination by accident, pick a different shortcut or choose Off there.

If the problem is how Siri sounds rather than when it starts, you can keep it on and pick a new voice instead. For iPhone, read about changing Siri’s voice on iPhone.

Hide the Siri Icon in the Menu Bar

Hiding the icon removes it from the top of the screen but doesn’t turn Siri off.

• Hold the Command key and drag the Siri icon down off the menu bar, then let go.
• Or open System Settings > Menu Bar (macOS Tahoe and later) or System Settings > Control Center (Ventura through Sequoia) and turn off Siri in the list of menu bar items.

If you’re cleaning up other icons too, read about the Mac menu bar and status icons to add and remove them.

Delete Your Siri History

Turning off Siri stops new requests but doesn’t remove requests Apple already has. To delete them, open the Siri settings page, find Siri history, and click Delete Siri & Dictation History. To see what this removes, check Apple’s guide to deleting Siri and Dictation history.

If Siri Still Responds

• Another device is answering. An iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or HomePod near your Mac may be the one replying to “Hey Siri.” Each device has its own Siri setting.
• You only hid the icon. Go back to the Siri settings page and make sure it shows Turn on Siri or that the Siri switch is off.
• You only turned off listening. Siri still opens with the keyboard shortcut. Turn Siri off completely if you don’t want it at all.
• The setting is grayed out. Work and school Macs are often managed by an administrator who controls Siri. Ask your IT department.

Turn Siri Back On

Return to the same settings page and click Turn on Siri (macOS 27), turn the Siri switch back on (macOS Tahoe 26 and Sequoia 15), turn on Ask Siri (Ventura and Sonoma), or check Enable Ask Siri (Monterey). Your Mac may walk you through Siri setup again, including choosing a voice and whether it listens for “Hey Siri.”

Frequently Asked Questions