How-To

How to Disable Google Now on Your Android Device

By Bogdan Bele

Updated October 9, 2020

Google Now studies your phone habits and collects a lot of personal data…data you might not want it collecting. If you don’t use it, it can be turned off.

Does Google Now scare you with its method of providing you with information you need, before you even realize you need it? Or do you think it invades your privacy? Maybe you don’t like the fact it scans your Gmail, or want to get better battery life from your smartphone or tablet.

There are a lot of reasons why you’d want to turn off Google Now; here’s how to do it.

Turning Google Now Off

The feature is very easy to enable, so it should be just as easy to turn off. That is indeed the case — if you know where to look.

First, start the Google app on your Android device. It’s in the main apps menu.

Then, scroll all the way down and tap the three-dots menu button. It’s on the right side of the screen.

A menu will appear. Tap Settings.

Set the button at the top of the screen to OFF.

You will be asked to confirm the action and also whether you want to turn off your Google Location History, too. If you don’t use it for anything else than Google Now, I suggest you switch it off. You can find out more details about the Google Location History service here.

Once you tap Turn off, Google Now will no longer be active. You will be able to reactivate it straight from the Google Search app, as it will show a “Get Google Now” link.

Or you can follow the steps above and turn it back on from the same place where you’ve turned it off.