How to Turn Off Voice Assistant on Samsung

Frustrated with the assistant feature on Samsung devices? Here’s how to turn off Voice Assistant on Samsung, whether it is on smartphones or TVs.

The Voice Assistant on Samsung devices is a helpful feature. It helps people with disabilities and other limitations to navigate gadgets with ease.

This feature provides voice feedback, where it tells you what’s on screen. In some Samsung phones with older Android versions, Voice Assistant is also called Talkback. On Samsung TVs, it’s called Bixby.

However, often Voice Assistant is accidentally turned on, even when the user doesn’t need it. As a result, instead of helpful, it becomes annoying. It takes quite some time to explore the Settings menu to turn the feature off.

In this article, we explain how to turn off Voice Assistant on Samsung phones and TVs. That way, the feature won’t bother you anymore. There are several methods you can try below.

Quickly Turn Off Voice Assistant on Samsung Phone

There is one simple way to turn off Voice Assistant instantly. What you need to do is press the Volume Up and Volume Down button at the same time. Press and hold both buttons for at least 3 seconds. You will see a message on the screen informing that the Voice Assistant has been disabled.

However, pressing the two buttons at the same time accurately can be tricky for some people. This method doesn’t always work for this reason. It’s recommended to try the Setting app method below.

Turn Off Voice Assistant on Samsung Phone through Settings

Disabling through the Settings app isn’t as instant as the Volume keys method. However, it is more guaranteed to work.

Here’s the step-by-step tutorial on how to turn off Voice Assistant on Samsung phones through Settings:

1. Open the Settings app. Slide up the screen with two fingers to open the app drawer. Then double-tap the Settings app. Since the Voice Assistant is enabled, you need to double-tap instead of tapping once like usual.
2. Double-tap “Accessibility”. On the Settings app, find this option, and once again, remember to double-tap to access it.
3. Go to “Screen Reader”. Tap “Screen Reader” option twice to continue the process.
4. Tap the “Voice Assistant” option until a blue outline appears around it.
5. Disable Voice Assistant. Double-tap the switch to turn off Voice Assistant. The button will turn gray-ish.
6. Go back to the Home screen. Tap the Home button to close the app. This time you only need to tap once since Voice Assistant has been turned off.

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That’s it! Now you can use your Samsung phone in a normal way. Navigations will only need to take one finger when swiping or tapping.

In the future, avoid pressing both Volume keys at the same time. It is to prevent accidentally enabling Voice Assistant again.

Read also: Samsung Galaxy A10e Review: Pros and Cons

Turn Off Voice Assistant on Samsung TV

Aside from phones, Samsung also installs Voice Assistant (Bixby) on TVs. Bixby works like Alexa or Google Assistant. Some people find it useful, while other users think it’s a nuisance.

If you fall into the latter category, you can opt to turn Bixby off. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Press the Home button on your remote. This feel reveals the TV menus on the screen.
2. Find the “Settings” option. Press your left key to navigate through the options.
3. Select “General”. Use the down key to scroll down.
4. Select “Bixby Voice Settings”. Use the remote to highlight this option. Afterward, select the “Voice wake-up” option.
5. Disable Bixby. By default, Bixby is set to “On”. Using the remote, highlight “Off” then press OK.

Congratulations! Now you can watch your favorite TV shows without getting distracted by Bixby recommendations. Especially since sometimes it doesn’t work well.

To test if Bixby is successfully deactivated, say “Hey Bixby” to your TV. If you hear no response, then it means you have disabled the feature correctly.

Turn Off Voice Guide on Samsung TV

Aside from the Bixby Voice Assistant, Samsung TVs also have the Voice Guide feature. These two features are different from one another. Unlike Bixby, the Voice Guide is a feature specifically designed for visually impared users.

This feature will still be available although Bixby is turned off. That’s why you need to do a different configuration to turn it off. Here’s how you can disable it:

1. Press the Home button. On your TV remote control, search for this button and press it.
2. Go to “Settings”. Scroll using the left navigation key and select this menu.
3. Select “General”. Then select the “Accessibility” menu.
4. Turn off the Voice Guide. You will see “Voice Guide Settings” on top of the menu and a button next to it. Select the button to deactivate. It will turn from green to grey.

So, that’s how you turn off Voice Guide on Samsung TVs. If you want to reactivate it, you can follow the same steps above.

To summarize, Voice Assistant is one of the useful accessibility features on Samsung phones. However, it is also the one that often turns on accidentally. For those who don’t need this feature, it can be frustrating.

It’s easy to solve this issue, as we showed in the tutorials on how to turn off Voice Assistant on Samsung devices. Make sure to remember the configuration. That way you will know what to do when this issue occurs again in the future.