Turn Off AI Summaries on iPhone: Mail, Messages, and Apple Intelligence (2026)
April 24, 2026 · 7 min read
Apple Intelligence on iOS 18 generates AI summaries in three places most users notice: above email threads in the Mail app, above message threads in Messages, and inside notification previews. Some people love these. Others find them inaccurate, distracting, or both. This guide covers turning each one off.
The Short Answer
Apple Intelligence summaries are part of the broader Apple Intelligence feature set introduced in iOS 18 for iPhone 15 Pro and later. To turn off a specific kind of summary, go to Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri, and toggle off the relevant section. To turn off all of Apple Intelligence at once, toggle off Apple Intelligence at the top of that screen.
Turn Off AI Summary in iPhone Mail
The Mail app shows a short summary above email threads, replacing or supplementing the standard preview line.
1. Open Settings on iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap Apple Intelligence and Siri.
3. Scroll to the Mail section.
4. Toggle off Mail summaries, or toggle off Apple Intelligence at the top of the screen to disable everything.
5. Open the Mail app and confirm the standard preview line is back.
If you want to keep Apple Intelligence in general but only turn off Mail summaries, the per-app toggle is the cleaner choice. The master Apple Intelligence toggle disables image generation, writing tools, Siri improvements, and other features along with summaries.
Turn Off AI Message Summary on iPhone
Messages shows AI summaries on long threads and in notifications when you have multiple unread messages from the same sender.
1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Apple Intelligence and Siri.
3. Scroll to Messages or Notifications.
4. Toggle off Summarize Notifications, or turn off summaries for Messages specifically.
For lock screen and Notification Center summaries that come from any app, the master control is in Settings, Notifications, Summarize Previews. Turn this off to stop iPhone from condensing multiple notifications into a single AI-generated summary.
Turn Off Email Summary on iPhone for Gmail
If you read Gmail through the iPhone Mail app, the AI summary you see comes from Apple Intelligence, not Google. Disable it in Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri, Mail.
If you read Gmail through the Gmail iOS app, summaries come from Google Gemini, not Apple (full walkthrough: Gmail AI guide). To disable those:
1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Tap the menu icon, then Settings, then your account.
3. Uncheck Smart features and personalization.
4. Uncheck Smart features and personalization in other Google products.
The two summary systems are independent. Disabling one does not affect the other. If you use both apps, you may need to disable both.
Turn Off AI Summaries in iPhone Notifications
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Open in Chrome Web StoreNotification summaries are the most aggressive surface because they appear on the lock screen.
1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Tap Summarize Previews.
4. Toggle off the master switch, or disable summaries for specific apps.
Apple paused notification summaries for news apps in early 2025 after several inaccurate summaries went viral. If you have already updated to a recent iOS 18 build, news app summaries are off by default. The toggle still controls other categories.
Turn Off AI Summary on TikTok
TikTok recently added AI-generated summaries above some videos and inside search results. This is TikTok's own feature, not Apple Intelligence.
1. Open the TikTok app.
2. Tap your profile in the bottom right.
3. Tap the three-line menu, then Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Content preferences.
5. Find AI-generated content or AI summary.
6. Toggle off.
If the toggle does not exist for your account, the feature is being rolled out gradually and is not yet available for you to disable.
Turn Off AI Lock Screen on Samsung
The Android counterpart to Apple Intelligence on the lock screen is Samsung Galaxy AI, which can generate wallpapers, summaries, and contextual suggestions on the lock screen.
1. Open Settings on your Samsung phone.
2. Tap Lock screen and AOD.
3. Tap Wallpaper services or AI wallpaper.
4. Switch back to a static wallpaper or off.
5. Go back to Settings, tap Advanced features.
6. Tap Advanced intelligence or AI features.
7. Toggle off the items you do not want.
This covers Galaxy AI lock screen wallpapers, AI suggestions, and other contextual AI features unique to Samsung.
Which iPhones Support Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence requires iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model. Older iPhones do not support Apple Intelligence at all, so AI summaries in Mail, Messages, and Notifications do not appear on them. If you are on iPhone 14 or earlier and seeing AI summaries, the source is a third-party app like Gmail (Gemini), not Apple.
If Settings Keep Re-Enabling
A few users report that Apple Intelligence toggles re-enable themselves after a major iOS update. To prevent this:
1. After updating iOS, immediately open Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri.
2. Confirm the toggles are still in your preferred state.
3. If you do not want Apple Intelligence at all, toggling off the master switch is more reliable than turning off individual features.
Key Takeaways
Apple Intelligence summaries are controlled in Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri. Each surface (Mail, Messages, Notifications) has a separate toggle, plus a master switch at the top. Gmail summaries come from a different system (Gemini) and are controlled in the Gmail app under Smart features. TikTok and Samsung have their own AI features with their own toggles. There is no single master switch for AI on a phone, but the three apps above cover the bulk of what most users want disabled.
