How To Turn Off OK Google

The “Ok, Google” command has become super useful. Whether you’re on an older version of Android or one of the latest versions, “Ok, Google” will allow you to open up the Android voice assistant — Google Now or Google Assistant, depending on your Android version — and allow you to ask it a question or request a command. It operates similar to Siri over on iOS. However, it’s as much useful as it is annoying — it can be a serious battery drain, and then there’s some folks who don’t like the “always listening” part of the software, even though it’s only listening for that specific keyboard.

Still, that keyword can be a serious battery drain since it’s always looking for it. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to turn off OK, Google as well. Here’s how you can do it.

Why Is OK, Google enabled?

OK, Google, most of the time is enabled automatically when you first setup your Android phone, as it’s an integral part of the Android system. In most smartphones, OK, Google is a keyword that allows Google Assistant to pop up to the forefront, and listen for your command. You could say something like, “OK, Google, how is the weather today?” or “OK, Google, who was the first president of the United States?” You could even say things like, “OK, Google, I need directions to New York, New York.” As we already mentioned, it functions similarly to how “Hey Siri” works over on Apple’s iOS software for iPhone, iPad, and even Mac.

There are a couple of reasons why you might want to get rid of it. As we already mentioned, with your phone always looking for that “OK, Google” keyword, battery life can be impacted. You might also just not use it, or you’re tired of it launching Assistant every time it hears it mentioned in conversation or even on the TV (we’re looking at you Burger King).

It’s worth noting that, by turning off OK, Google, you won’t impact Google Assistant that dramatically either. Assistant just won’t be looking for that keyword anymore. But, you can still access Assistant by long-pressing the home button on supported Android phones. You’ll still be able to use Assistant like normally, you just won’t have access to that quick voice shortcut.

How Do I Turn This Thing Off Anyway?

Turning the “Ok, Google” detection off is super easy. It’s built into Google Assistant, which comes from the core Google app that almost every Android phone has. There’s no accessing it in the Settings app, as you might expect. With that in mind, we can just launch the Google app to turn off the keyword detection.

So, open your app drawer and look for the Google app. Once located, you can launch the app. We’ll need to look for the menu now, which is the three-dot icon at the top left of the app. Click it, and select the Settings button in the navigation menu that appears.

After clicking on the Settings button, the menu for Google Assistant and general core Google settings should appear. You’ll want to go all the way down the menu until you find the “Voice” subsection. You will want to click it, or in this case, tap it.

Next, we’ll want to find the menu option that says “Ok Google detection.” Once you find it, tap it, and this is where we can finally turn the keyword detection off.

You should see an option that says “Say ‘Ok Google’ Any Time.” This is the option that allows you to say “Ok Google” from anywhere, even with your phone’s display off, and open up Google Assistant to answer you. Once you turn this off, you won’t be able to do that anymore.

So, to turn it off, simply hit the slider. If it grays out, congratulations, you turned the “Ok Google” detection off. If it’s a light blue, the “Ok Google” detection is on. You might also see a “Trusted Voice” option. This doesn’t matter all, we just want to make sure the detection is off. To turn it back on, you can always hit that slider again by repeating the steps we outlined.

Verdict

Congratulations! You successfully turned off “Ok Google” detection. Your phone will no longer be looking for that keyword. That should hopefully save you some battery life, or even some piece of mind that your phone isn’t always listening anymore. If you ever need to turn it off again (or even turn it on), you can just repeat the steps we outlined. And keep this in mind, as you might have to turn it off again after any system updates, such as an upgraded Android version.