There are plenty of legitimate reasons to turn off the voice assistants on your smart devices. Maybe you’re tired of accidentally triggering your Alexa, or maybe you don’t want tech company microphones listening to every word you say.
Whatever the reason, turning off voice assistants is, for the most part, a simple process regardless of the device you’re on. Here’s a rundown of the steps you need to take to stop your devices from listening in.
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Siri
Apple’s voice assistant Siri was one of the first widely available voice assistants, so it’s no surprise if you’re tired of the technology.
How To Turn Off Siri:
- Go to your Settings;
- Go to Siri & Search;
- Turn off all of the options for Listen for “Hey Siri,” Press Side Button For Siri, and Allow Siri When Locked;
- Check Turn Off Siri in the popup.
Google Assistant
If you own a Google phone or an Android, your device probably uses “Google Assistant,” Google’s answer to Siri.
How To Turn Off Google Assistant:
- Open the Google app on your phone;
- Go to More at the bottom right of your screen;
- Go to Settings;
- Go to Google Assistant;
- Scroll down to Assistant Devices. Select all devices on which you want to turn off Google Assistant;
- Tap the Google Assistant toggle to turn the feature off.
Cortana
Cortana, named after a character from the HALO video game series, is Microsoft’s voice assistant. It’s used across the board on any computer running Windows 10.
How To Turn Off Cortana
- Click the Start button;
- Click the Settings icon (this looks like a small gear);
- Type “Cortana” into the search bar within Settings;
- Click “Change how you talk to Cortana,” which should show up in the search results;
- Click the button next to the option “Let Cortana respond to ‘Hey Cortana’ “ to turn it off.
