How to turn off Siri on AirPods

Siri has been a reliable virtual companion on Apple devices of all sorts for years now, but sometimes it’s nice not having your device listen and interject based on half-heard conversations. How do you turn off Siri integration with your Apple AirPods? Read on to find out.

How to turn off Siri on your Apple AirPods on an iPhone

Siri’s got a handful of useful AirPods integrations, like text message dictation and hands-free calling, but if you just don’t want a microphone always on and listening to you, or even one you can summon with a single tap. If you want to turn off Siri integration with your AirPods, it’s a pretty straightforward process.

First, go into the iOS settings app when you have the AirPods paired to your device, select your AirPods (or AirPods Pro, if that’s what you’ve got). This will bring you to the earbuds control panel, where you can customize what their tap controls do. There should be a “left” and “right” menu option, and when you tap either, you’ll be able to select a control option. Set both to any option other than Siri, and you’ll no longer have to worry about turning on your iPhone’s virtual assistant with tap controls.

However, there’s still Hey Siri to take care of. Head back to the main page of the iOS or iPadOS settings app and select the Siri and Search menu. Once there, the top option should be a “Listen for Hey Siri” toggle—switch it off, and Siri will no longer be listening through your AirPods, or anywhere else for that matter.

How to turn off Siri on your Apple AirPods on a Mac

The process for turning off Siri integration with your Apple AirPods on a Mac computer is similarly straightforward to what it’s like on iOS. Instead of the iOS settings app, go to the macOS system preferences page, and open the Bluetooth menu while your AirPods are paired to your computer. From there, click the “options” button and select any option other than Siri in the “Left double-tap” and “Right double-tap” dropdown menus. This will make Siri inaccessible with your AirPods tap controls.

After that, go back to the main System Preferences page and select the Siri option. On the Siri page, you’ve got two options. You can uncheck the “Listen for Hey Siri” box to turn off hands-free Siri access, or if you want to go further you can uncheck the “Ask Siri” box on the left to turn off the virtual assistant entirely.

If having a virtual assistant always listening is creepy to you, hopefully this guide helped!