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How to Disable Bixby on Your Samsung Phone or Tablet

Bixby is Samsung’s virtual assistant, similar to Siri or Google Assistant. It allows you to control your Samsung device using voice commands. However, some users find Bixby frustrating or unnecessary, especially since Samsung devices also come with Google Assistant. Fortunately, there are several ways to disable or limit Bixby on your Samsung phone or tablet.

Why Would You Want to Disable Bixby?

Here are some common reasons for disabling Bixby:

  • You accidentally trigger Bixby frequently when trying to turn off your phone and find it annoying. Bixby is activated by default by pressing and holding the Side or Power button on many Samsung devices.
  • You prefer using Google Assistant or another virtual assistant and don’t need Bixby.
  • Bixby doesn’t understand your voice well or gives inaccurate responses to voice commands.
  • You want to remap the Bixby button on older Samsung phones to launch another app instead.
  • Bixby takes up storage space, RAM usage, and battery life that you would rather devote to other apps and features.
  • You want to limit the amount of data Bixby collects about your device usage.

How to Disable Bixby on the Side/Power Button

On newer Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets running Android 11 or higher, Bixby launches by default when you press and hold the Side or Power button. Here’s how to disable this:

On Galaxy Phones Running One UI 4 or Higher

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap “Advanced features”
  3. Tap “Side key”
  4. Under “Press and hold,” change from “Wake Bixby” to “Power off menu”

On Other Supported Samsung Devices

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap “Apps”
  3. Tap “Default apps”
  4. Tap “Side key”
  5. Change from “Wake Bixby” to “Power off menu”

How to Disable Bixby Voice and Hands-Free Features

To prevent Bixby from launching when you say voice commands like “Hi Bixby,” follow these steps:

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap “Apps”
  3. Tap “Bixby Voice”
  4. Tap the Settings gear icon
  5. Turn off “Voice wake-up”

You can also disable features like “Use while phone locked,” “Marketing notifications,” and “Bixby Dictation” in Bixby Voice Settings.

How to Disable Bixby Home/Samsung Free

The Bixby Home or Samsung Free screen shows personalized content recommendations and is accessed by swiping left from the home screen on some Samsung devices. To remove it:

  1. Press and hold an empty area of the home screen
  2. Swipe all the way left
  3. Tap “Turn off” at the top

How to Disable Bixby Completely

While you can’t uninstall Bixby completely, you can effectively disable it by removing your Samsung account, which will erase your Bixby data. Note: This will also disable any other Samsung services connected to your account.

To do this:

  1. Open Bixby Voice
  2. Tap the Settings gear icon
  3. Scroll down and tap “Unlink device”
  4. Confirm by tapping “Unlink” again

You can set up Bixby again later by re-linking your Samsung account.

How to Remap the Bixby Button

On older Samsung Galaxy phones like the S8, S9, S10, Note 8, and Note 9 that have a dedicated Bixby button, you can’t disable this button entirely, but you can remap it:

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap “Advanced features”
  3. Tap “Bixby key”
  4. Under “Press to open Bixby,” change from “Single press” to “Double press”

This will allow you to launch Bixby only by double-pressing the button instead of a single press. You can also remap the button to other apps using third-party apps like Bixby Button Remapper.

Should You Disable Bixby?

Whether or not disabling Bixby makes sense depends on your personal preferences and device usage patterns. Here are some things to consider:

Pros of Disabling Bixby:

  • Stops accidental activation from the Side/Power button
  • Frees up system resources for other apps and features
  • Increases privacy by limiting data collection
  • Allows remapping Bixby button to more useful apps

Cons of Disabling Bixby:

  • Lose hands-free voice control of Samsung-specific functions
  • Features like Bixby Routines can be useful for automation
  • Ecosystem integration with Samsung SmartThings devices is reduced
  • Re-enabling Bixby is a multi-step process

Ultimately, if you find Bixby more frustrating than helpful and don’t use it regularly, limiting or disabling it can improve your Samsung device experience. But Bixby does have some beneficial capabilities, so evaluate your own usage before deciding.

Conclusion

While Bixby comes enabled by default on most Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets, you have multiple options for disabling or restricting it if you don’t use it regularly. Just be aware this involves some tradeoffs in losing access to some Samsung device integration and automation.

Carefully consider what aspects of Bixby you want to limit based on your personal preferences. In most cases, at minimum you’ll want to disable Bixby from accidentally launching when you press the Side or Power buttons. But if you truly never use any Bixby features, unlinking your Samsung account is the most thorough approach to disabling it.

I hope this guide gives you the steps to successfully disable Bixby on your Samsung device tailored to your needs. Let me know if you have any other questions!

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