How to Turn Off Siri Suggestions in Safari on Mac

When you type search queries or web addresses into the Smart Search field in Safari on macOS, the browser automatically surfaces proactive suggestions powered by Siri. While these recommendations can provide quick shortcuts to news topics, Wikipedia articles, weather updates, or sports scores, they can also clutter the address bar dropdown and transmit query data to Apple servers. Disabling Siri Suggestions in Safari restores a streamlined address bar focused solely on your browsing history and bookmarks.

Why Turn Off Siri Suggestions in Safari?

Safari integrates Siri intelligence across the operating system to anticipate user intent. However, several practical advantages exist for turning this feature off:

• Enhanced Privacy: Preventing Siri from analysing real-time keystrokes stops unnecessary search telemetry and location metadata from being processed by external recommendation engines.
• Distraction-Free Address Bar: Removing unrelated news snippets, trending topics, and sponsored application suggestions keeps the drop-down menu clean and legible.
• Faster Navigation: Users who prefer direct keyword lookups or quick access to local bookmarks experience faster responsiveness without external query fetching pauses.
• Targeted Search Control: You maintain strict separation between your default web search engine and Apple-curated platform services.

Step 1: Disable Siri Suggestions Directly in Safari Settings

The primary control for Siri suggestions within web browsing resides inside Safari’s internal application preferences:

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Click Safari in the top menu bar and select Settings (or press Command + Comma).
3. Click the Search tab represented by a magnifying glass icon.
4. Under the Smart Search field section, locate the checkbox labelled Include Safari Suggestions (or Include Siri Suggestions depending on macOS version).
5. Untick the checkbox to immediately prevent Siri recommendations from populating the drop-down list.
6. Optionally, untick Include search engine suggestions if you also wish to prevent your chosen search engine (such as Google or DuckDuckGo) from anticipating your keystrokes.
7. Close the Settings window to apply your changes.

Step 2: Prevent Siri Suggestions from Interacting with Safari in System Settings

In addition to browser-level controls, macOS allows you to stop Siri from indexing Safari browsing habits across the broader operating system, such as in Spotlight Search or App Shortcuts:

1. Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner of the screen and open System Settings.
2. Scroll down the left sidebar and select Siri & Spotlight (or Apple Intelligence & Siri).
3. Scroll down to the Siri Suggestions & Privacy section and click the Spotlight Privacy or Siri Suggestions configuration button.
4. Locate Safari in the list of installed applications.
5. Toggle off Show Suggestions from App and Show App in Search to prevent Siri from surfacing Safari history cards across macOS system searches.
6. Click Done to save the configuration.

Step 3: Remove Siri Suggestions from the Safari Start Page

If you also notice Siri recommendations or “Siri Suggestions” tiles appearing on your new tab Start Page, you can hide that specific section:

1. Open a new blank tab in Safari to bring up the Start Page.
2. Click the Customise (sliders) button in the bottom-right corner of the browser window.
3. In the pop-up options panel, untick the checkbox labelled Siri Suggestions.
4. Click anywhere on the Start Page canvas to close the customisation menu.

Following these steps thoroughly isolates Safari from Siri recommendations, providing an uncluttered, private browsing environment focused strictly on your deliberate web activities.