While Siri can be helpful for setting quick timers or asking about the weather on an iPhone, many Mac users find the voice assistant unnecessary on a desktop computer. Accidentally triggering Siri by brushing the Touch Bar or hitting the wrong keyboard shortcut can interrupt your workflow. Furthermore, having an active microphone constantly listening for the “Hey Siri” wake word raises privacy concerns for some users. Fortunately, you can turn Siri off completely.
How to Turn Off Siri
Disabling Siri only takes a few seconds via the System Settings.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select System Settings… (or System Preferences on older versions of macOS).
- Scroll down the left-hand sidebar and click on Siri & Spotlight.
- At the very top of the main window, you will see a toggle switch labelled Ask Siri.
- Click the toggle switch to turn it Off.
- A confirmation popup will appear warning you that your Siri data will be deleted from Apple’s servers. Click the Turn Off button to confirm.
Removing the Menu Bar Icon
Even after you disable the assistant, the Siri icon (the colourful circle) might still be sitting in your top menu bar taking up space.
- In the System Settings, scroll up the left sidebar and click on Control Centre.
- Scroll down the main window until you reach the “Menu Bar Only” section.
- Find Siri in the list.
- Click the dropdown menu next to it and change the setting from “Show in Menu Bar” to Don’t Show.
Siri is now completely disabled, and its icon has been entirely removed from your Mac’s interface.