To stop Siri accessing a particular app without turning off Siri across your iPhone, update to iOS 27.2 or later, then go to Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps > Add Apps. Select the app or apps and tap the blue checkmark. This is a broad setting: an excluded app is unavailable to Siri, Search and suggestions, so add one app at a time and test what changes before excluding more.
What excluding an app changes
When Siri can access an app, it can find information in that app, take actions there and offer suggestions based on it. Apps are included by default. Adding one to Excluded Apps removes it from all three of those areas: Siri, system Search and suggestions.
For example, excluding Calendar can prevent calendar items from appearing in Search or being used in Siri requests. Excluding Mail can remove mail results from Search and limit Siri requests that depend on information in email. The app itself remains installed and can still be opened and used normally.
This does not replace other privacy controls. Excluding an app does not uninstall it, erase its contents or automatically change permissions such as access to your location, photos, contacts, microphone or notifications. It controls the app’s availability to Siri, Search and suggestions.
Apple’s instructions for excluding apps from Siri, Search and suggestions confirm that you can add and remove apps at any time. Use the setting when you want a clear boundary around one app, rather than simply fewer recommendations.
Check your iPhone before changing settings
Excluded Apps is available in iOS 27.2. Check the installed version at Settings > General > About > iOS Version. To install an available update, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
iOS 27.2 is available for iPhone 11 and later, as well as iPhone SE (2nd generation) and iPhone SE (3rd generation). However, Apple Intelligence and Siri AI have more limited hardware, language and regional availability. Siri AI requires an Apple Intelligence enabled iPhone: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, any iPhone 16 model or a later supported model. It also requires a supported device language and Siri language. Siri AI remains unavailable on iPhone for users in the European Union and is not available in mainland China as of October 30, 2026. Apple’s Siri AI availability guidance has the current device, language and region requirements.
You do not need to use Siri AI to understand the trade-off of excluding an app. The setting explicitly affects Siri, Search and suggestions, so it can still reduce search results and proactive suggestions on an iPhone that uses Siri Classic.
If Siri AI is missing but your phone should support it, review the model, language and region requirements before changing app exclusions. The approved guide to why Siri AI is not showing up in iOS 27 covers that separate problem.
Exclude an app one at a time
Use a small, reversible test rather than excluding every app that may contain private information.
- Choose one app. Start with an app whose results or suggestions you can easily recognise.
- Record the current behaviour. Search for a known, ordinary item from that app. If appropriate, make a simple Siri request that uses it, then note any relevant suggestions.
- Open the exclusion list. Go to Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps.
- Add the app. Tap Add Apps, select the app from the list, then tap the blue checkmark.
- Repeat the same checks. Search for the same item and repeat the Siri request. Also look for changes to app shortcuts and suggestions on the Home Screen, in Search or when sharing.
- Use the phone normally. Give yourself enough time to notice whether you miss a suggestion, shortcut or result that was useful.
- Keep or remove the exclusion. Retain it if the privacy benefit is worth the lost integration. Otherwise, remove it from the list.
Do not use confidential content merely to test the setting. A non-sensitive appointment, an old retail confirmation or a harmless photo description is enough to show whether the relevant Search result or Siri action has changed.
Choose the right privacy control
Excluding an app is the strongest app-by-app option in this area, but it is not always the most suitable one. Choose the control that matches the outcome you want.
| What you want to change | Where to change it | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Keep one app out of Siri, Search and suggestions | Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps | Results, Siri actions and suggestions connected with that app can disappear |
| Stop selected kinds of suggestions | Settings > Siri > Suggestions, then choose the app | Siri may still be able to find information in, or take actions with, the app |
| Turn off a specific Apple Intelligence feature | Use the relevant app or feature setting | Other Siri and Apple Intelligence functions remain available |
| Apply a passcode protected restriction | Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri | It can restrict Siri more broadly than a single app exclusion |
Suggestion controls are less disruptive when the issue is where recommendations appear, rather than access to an app’s information. Under Settings > Siri > Suggestions, you can turn off broad suggestion categories, including suggestions in notifications, the App Library, sharing and listening. You can also select an individual app and turn off the options it provides. The available switches vary by app.
Use a feature-specific setting when only one behaviour is unwelcome. In iOS 27, examples include Settings > Apps > Messages > Summarize Messages, Settings > Apps > Mail > Summarize Message Previews, Settings > Apps > Journal > Get Writing Prompts and Settings > Notifications > Summarize Notifications. Turning off one of these features does not exclude the whole app from Siri and Search.
Screen Time is more appropriate where a parent, guardian or device owner needs a restriction that is harder to reverse. Under Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri, the available choices can include blocking Siri, allowing Siri Classic rather than Siri AI, or allowing and blocking particular Siri AI capabilities. The choices shown depend on the Siri version available on that iPhone.
Privacy example for personal apps
Hypothetical example one: Maya wants to keep using Siri for reminders, travel details and appointments, but she does not want Journal or her banking app available to Siri, Search and suggestions.
She first excludes Journal, then checks that it no longer appears through the integrations she wants to stop. If her actual concern is only Journal’s customised prompts, she can remove Journal from Excluded Apps and instead turn off Get Writing Prompts. That is the narrower change.
Before excluding the banking app, Maya checks whether it is listed and whether its information currently appears in Search or supports Siri actions. If she wants a complete separation from Siri, Search and suggestions, excluding it is appropriate. She should still review the app’s own sign-in, biometric authentication and notification settings, because Excluded Apps does not alter those protections.
Avoid excluding several core apps without testing. Mail, Messages, Photos and Calendar can contain sensitive material, but removing them from Siri, Search and suggestions may also remove results or actions you rely on. Consider the balance for each app individually:
- Mail: may hold account information, receipts and reservations, but its results can also be useful when locating a booking or order.
- Messages: can contain private conversations and attachments, but it may also be useful for finding plans or contact details.
- Photos: can include personal people, places and documents, while search may help find images you need.
- Calendar: can reveal event names, locations and attendees, but is often useful for schedules and reminders.
- Journal: may warrant a stronger boundary, although the writing-prompt setting is sufficient when prompts are the only concern.
Restore an app if results disappear
Hypothetical example two: Daniel excludes Mail while reviewing privacy settings. He later cannot find a flight confirmation in Search and a Siri request about his booking no longer returns the expected information.
To give Siri, Search and suggestions access again, Daniel follows these steps:
- Go to Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps.
- Tap Edit.
- Tap the red minus button beside Mail, then tap Delete.
- Tap the blue checkmark to finish.
- Open Mail and confirm that the message is still present in the app.
- Repeat the original Search query and Siri request.
In this menu, Delete removes the exclusion; it does not delete the Mail app or its messages. Results may not return immediately in every case, and Search results still depend on the app supporting search and having relevant content available on the device.
Excluding Mail, Messages, Wallet or Calendar can also affect Call Context. This Apple Intelligence feature may show a card with relevant tickets, orders or confirmation numbers when you call a business, using the number dialled to search those sources. Check that Settings > Apps > Phone > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Show When Calling is enabled if you want to use it. The guide to using Call Context on iPhone explains the normal setup and expected result.
Fix missing controls and unexpected results
Excluded Apps is not shown
First confirm that the phone is running iOS 27.2 or later, then restart it if you have just updated. If you are trying to use Siri AI features as well, check the iPhone model, language and region. Screen Time restrictions, a child account or an organisation managed device can also affect which Siri controls are available. If the setting is still absent on a compatible, updated personal device, contact Apple Support rather than treating another setting as an equivalent replacement.
An app does not appear in the list
Open the app, install any available update and return to Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps. If it is still unavailable to select, do not assume that Siri can access all of its private data or that it has already been excluded. Review the app’s own privacy settings and its settings under Settings > Search if it has them.
Search results have vanished
Check Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps first and remove the affected app if it appears there. Next, go to Settings > Search, choose the app and confirm that Show App in Search is turned on. If you only want fewer suggestions, leave the app included and adjust its suggestion switches instead.
Siri still cannot answer a request
Confirm that every app needed for the request is included. A travel question, for example, might depend on information in Mail, Messages, Calendar or Wallet rather than only a travel app. Also check separate feature settings: restoring an app from Excluded Apps does not turn back on notification summaries, message summaries or Call Context if one of those functions was disabled separately.
Start with the narrowest setting that addresses your concern. Use Excluded Apps when you want a defined boundary around an app. Use suggestion controls or feature-specific switches when you only want to stop one type of recommendation, summary or prompt. After each change, repeat a known Search query and a simple Siri request so you can confirm both the privacy result and the practical cost.
