Bixby is Samsung's smart virtual assistant that comes on all its modern devices. Some people find the assistant useful, while many want to disable Bixby and get rid of it completely.

We'll show you how to turn off Bixby and all its various aspects, like Bixby Voice and Bixby Vision. If your phone has a dedicated Bixby button, we'll guide you through how to remap it to do something else.

What Is Bixby?

bixby logo

You might be familiar with Google Assistant, Amazon's Alexa, or Apple's Siri; these are all virtual assistants. Similarly, Bixby is Samsung's virtual assistant that comes pre-installed on all Galaxy smart devices, and has been around since the launch of the Galaxy S8 in 2017.

Bixby helps you complete tasks on your device, like calling people, creating calendar events, or searching the web. The assistant integrates into many parts of the One UI software. You can find out how to use Bixby on your Samsung phone in case you're not sure about deleting it.

While the assistant is useful in many cases, some Samsung users don't feel the need to have it on their Galaxy device because it already comes with Google Assistant pre-installed. If you're one of them, you can disable Bixby on your phone by following the instructions below.

How to Turn Off Bixby on Your Samsung Phone

Before you disable Bixby, you need to do two things. First, make sure your Galaxy device is updated to avoid any inconsistency in system navigation; to check for available updates, go to Settings > Software update > Download and install.

Second, delete your saved voice wake-up recordings that help Bixby respond to your voice when you say the hotword "Hi Bixby" and disable its voice recognition. Follow these instructions to do so:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Bixby Voice > Bixby Voice settings.
  2. Tap Voice wake-up and tap Respond to my voice.
  3. Tap Delete voice wake-up recordings and tap Delete to confirm.
  4. Go back and toggle off Voice wake-up.

Disable Bixby

Bixby has now forgotten your voice and will not summon itself when you say the hotword. Now, let's see how you can disable it for good. Follow these instructions to turn off Bixby:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Bixby Voice > Bixby Voice settings.
  2. Scroll down and tap Leave Bixby, tap Leave Bixby again, and tap OK.
  3. To be extra sure that Bixby doesn't turn itself on again in the future, go back to its app info page, tap Storage > Clear data > Delete. Next, hit Disable > Disable app.

Bixby Voice has now been disabled on your Galaxy device.

Bixby is a system app and hence cannot be uninstalled from your Samsung phone; it can only be disabled or hidden. Leaving Bixby refers to disabling the service and deleting all your personal data associated with it. You can enable Bixby later if you wish to use it again in the future.

How to Hide the Bixby App From Your Apps Screen

Since Bixby is a system app, disabling it can sometimes lead to some Samsung services not working or crashing. If you're facing the same problem, you can hide the Bixby app instead of disabling it. To hide apps on your Apps screen (aka the app drawer), follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings > Home screen > Hide apps on Home and Apps screens.
  2. Select Bixby and Bixby Vision from the list.
    • For context, Bixby Vision is Samsung's alternative to Google Lens, the image recognition tool that comes baked into the Google app and Google Photos.
  3. Tap Done to confirm.

The Bixby and Bixby Vision apps are now hidden from your phone.

How to Disable the Bixby Side Key Shortcut

Holding the power button (aka the side key) on Samsung phones activates Bixby by default. This is annoying since the power button should intuitively be used for accessing the power-off menu, not summoning a voice assistant. To stop Bixby from waking up, go to Settings > Advanced features > Side key. Beneath Press and hold, tap Power off menu.

Now, holding the power button will reveal the power-off menu where you can power down or restart your device, or activate emergency mode. This is one of the first things you should do when setting up your Samsung phone.

How to Remap the Bixby Button on Older Galaxy Phones

Older Samsung phones including the Galaxy S8, S9, S10, Note 8, and Note 9 had a physical button dedicated to launching Bixby—and fans didn't like it. Luckily, if you own one of these models, you can remap the button to do something else if you don't want it to summon Bixby.

Let's see how to do so. Please note that the following instructions are exclusive to older Galaxy devices that have a dedicated Bixby button only.

  1. Go to Settings > Advanced features > Bixby key.
    • If you're not logged into your Samsung account, you'll need to do that before you can change the settings here. If that's the case, you'll see a Get started button at the top that you need to tap. Follow the wizard and then return to the settings screen.
  2. Tap Double press to open Bixby. While this doesn't disable the button completely, it does mean that you're less likely to accidentally trigger Bixby.
  3. To remap the Bixby button for something else, tap Use single press.
  4. Next, slide the toggle at the top to On, then choose either Open app or Run quick command. Then, choose your desired app or command.

How to Disable Bixby Home/Samsung Daily/Samsung Free

To the left of your home screen is a panel called Samsung Free. Alternatively, if you don't have the latest Samsung device or One UI update, it might be called Samsung Daily or Bixby Home.

Whatever it's called, the panel acts as a feed aggregator. It shows cards from different apps and services, much like how Google Discover works. If you never look at the panel (aka media page), you can disable it so that you don't accidentally swipe across to it.

To do this, go to Settings > Home screen > Add media page to Home screen and toggle it off. Alternatively, you can choose to select Google Discover instead of disabling the feature.

Get Rid of Bixby on Your Samsung Phone

While Samsung phones look fantastic and have great interfaces, many people find Bixby a poor replacement for Google Assistant. Nevertheless, Samsung continues to improve its functionality and make it more useful, so you might want to try using Bixby again in the future.

If you want to make your device even better and tailored to your needs, you should check out some essential ways to customize your Samsung phone.