How to Turn Off AI Overview in Google (2026): 5 Methods That Actually Work

If you've searched for anything on Google recently and gotten a wall of AI-generated text before the actual results, you're not alone. Google's "AI Overviews" are now on most searches, and there is no official setting in your Google account to turn them off.

The good news: there are five reliable ways to get back to clean, ten-blue-links Google — ranked here from easiest to set up once and forget to one-time tricks for a single search. Every method below has been tested in April 2026 on the latest version of Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.

TL;DR — the fastest fix. Add &udm=14 to the end of your Google search URL. It strips AI Overviews instantly and has worked since May 2024. To make it permanent, set it as your default search engine (Method 2 below).

Why Google pushes AI Overview so hard

Before the fix, a bit of context. Google started rolling out AI Overviews (originally "Search Generative Experience" or SGE) in May 2024. By early 2026, an estimated 60–70% of US Google searches trigger an AI Overview. The summaries are generated by Gemini, occupy the prime real estate above the organic results, and frequently push the actual links users are looking for below the fold.

Google has repeatedly declined to offer a global opt-out toggle. Their stated reason is that AI Overviews are "part of Search." In practice, users are on their own to work around them.

Method 1: The -AI trick (fastest, for one search)

Append -AI to any search query. That minus sign followed by "AI" tells Google to exclude pages containing the term "AI" — and because the AI Overview is itself labeled with "AI," Google suppresses it.

Example:

• Normal search: how long to boil an egg
• AI-free search: how long to boil an egg -AI

When to use it. When you just want one search to be clean and don't want to install anything.

The catch. It also excludes genuinely relevant results that mention "AI" in their content (bad if you're actually researching AI). For general searches it works fine.

Method 2: The udm=14 URL parameter (best permanent fix)

This is the cleanest, most reliable method. Adding &udm=14 to a Google search URL forces Google into its "Web" mode — the old-school, ten-blue-links view with no AI Overview, no shopping, no AI Mode, no People Also Ask.

One-time use

Search Google normally. In your browser's address bar, append &udm=14 to the URL and press Enter. Your AI Overview disappears.

Make it permanent (Chrome / Edge / Brave)

1. Open your browser settings.
2. Search for "search engine" → click Manage search engines and site search.
3. Under Site search, click Add.
4. Fill in:
   • Name: Google (Web)
   • Shortcut: g (or any keyword)
   • URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14
5. Click Save.
6. Find your new "Google (Web)" entry, click the three-dot menu, and choose Make default.

You're done. Every Google search from your address bar now strips AI Overviews automatically.

Make it permanent (Firefox)

1. Go to https://www.google.com/search?q=test&udm=14
2. Right-click in the browser's address bar.
3. Choose Add "Google (Web)".
4. Open Settings → Search → Default Search Engine and select the one you just added.

Make it permanent (Safari)

Safari doesn't let you directly add a custom search engine, so use an extension like xSearch or Smart Keyword Search to route Google searches through a udm=14 URL. Alternatively, install the NoAI extension (see Method 5).

Why this is the best method. It's free, requires no software install, doesn't break when Google ships UI changes, and has worked reliably since May 2024.

Method 3: Use the "Web" filter tab

Google added a "Web" filter tab to the results page in May 2024, partly in response to user demand for AI-free search. It does the same thing as udm=14 but requires an extra click per search.

1. Search as normal.
2. Under the search box, look for filter tabs: All · Images · Videos · News · Maps · Shopping.
3. Click the ⋮ More overflow menu.
4. Choose Web.

The downside: Google frequently A/B-tests the placement and sometimes hides the Web tab behind a dropdown, and on mobile the tab is often missing entirely. The URL parameter approach (Method 2) is more reliable.

Method 4: Sign out or go incognito

If you only occasionally see AI Overviews and don't want to change any settings, a quick workaround is to sign out of your Google account or open an Incognito window. Google shows AI Overviews less aggressively to signed-out users in some experimental buckets.

Why it's not ideal. It's inconsistent — Google still shows AI Overviews to signed-out users for many queries — and you lose access to your search history, saved passwords, and other signed-in conveniences.

Method 5: Use a browser extension (one-click, works everywhere)

If you want a truly set-and-forget solution that also hides AI summaries in other places Google has started injecting them — Discover feeds, Gmail, YouTube descriptions, Maps — you need a browser extension.

Several free extensions exist: Hide Google AI Overviews, Bye Bye Google AI, Disable AI Overview. They all do the basic job of hiding the overview panel on search results via CSS rules.

We're building NoAI as a more polished, cross-browser, cross-device alternative — it hides AI Overviews across Google Search, AI Mode, Gemini suggestions in Chrome, plus other AI intrusions in Gmail, Docs, LinkedIn, and Meta products. Free tier ships in May 2026; $3/mo Pro includes mobile support, cross-device sync, and auto-updates as Google changes its UI.

If you need something free today, "Bye Bye Google AI" on the Chrome Web Store is the best-maintained of the existing free options.

Method comparison

Method	Setup	Mobile?	AI Mode too?	Cost
-AI trick	0 sec	Yes	No	Free
udm=14 + default engine	2 min	Partial	Yes	Free
Web filter tab	1 sec/search	Inconsistent	Partial	Free
Sign out / incognito	10 sec	Yes	No	Free
Browser extension	30 sec	Android only	Yes	Free / $3 mo Pro

FAQ

Can I disable AI Overview from my Google account settings?

No. As of April 2026 there is no global setting in your Google account, Google Search preferences, or Chrome settings to turn off AI Overview. Google has explicitly declined to provide one. All the methods above are workarounds.

Does udm=14 still work in 2026?

Yes. It has worked continuously since May 2024 and is confirmed working as of April 2026 on desktop and mobile. It is, however, an undocumented URL parameter — Google could change it without notice. If they do, methods 1, 3, 4, and 5 still apply.

Will turning off AI Overview make my searches worse?

The opposite, for most power users. You get faster page loads, more organic links visible above the fold, and fewer hallucinated or outdated facts. For casual factual lookups ("what time is it in Tokyo"), the AI Overview is sometimes useful — but you can always remove the &udm=14 for one query when you want it.

Does this remove Google's AI from other products like Gmail?

No — Methods 1–4 are search-only. For Gmail "Help me write," Docs AI suggestions, YouTube AI summaries, and other Google AI intrusions, you need a browser extension. NoAI (waitlist open) will handle all of these in a single install.

What about Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Perplexity?

Bing Copilot has its own summaries; you can hide them via a similar URL parameter. DuckDuckGo has no AI Overview by default — it's a good alternative if you want to ditch Google entirely. Perplexity is the opposite: it is an AI answer engine, so opting out doesn't apply.

Is there a mobile version?

On Android Chrome you can set udm=14 as the default search engine the same way as desktop. On iOS Safari, you're limited — Safari doesn't allow custom search URL parameters without an extension like xSearch. This is one of the reasons we're building NoAI: a native iOS and Android extension that handles all of this automatically.

Bottom line

For a one-shot search: add -AI to your query.

For a permanent fix on desktop: set udm=14 as your default search URL (Method 2 above).

For cross-product AI removal including Gmail, LinkedIn, and mobile: join the NoAI waitlist — we're shipping in May 2026.