How to Use DuckDuckGo with No AI Answers or Images

How to Use DuckDuckGo with No AI

Search from noai.duckduckgo.com, or install the No-AI Search extension for Chrome or Firefox to make the AI-free version your default search. On regular DuckDuckGo, change the settings in the "AI Features" section of search settings. Readers who want DuckDuckGo search without AI answers or AI chat can use either route.

Search Assist is set to sometimes by default, so it needs changing if you want it off. Route A needs no settings, because the site turns the AI features off for you.

1. Route A: open noai.duckduckgo.com and run your searches there.
2. Route B, step 1: on regular duckduckgo.com, open search settings and go to "AI Features."
3. Route B, step 2: set the "Search Assist" dropdown to "Never," then click "Save and Exit."
4. Route B, step 3: turn off Duck.ai in the same section, then click "Save and Exit."
5. Route B, step 4: in the Images tab, use the "AI images filter" and choose "Hide."

Pick route A if you want the AI features off without changing any settings. Pick route B if you want to set each AI feature yourself. Route A filters AI images by default, while route B has you choose the Images tab filter.

Every guide we write starts from the official help pages of the product it covers. For Google's AI summaries, read our guide to how to turn off AI Overviews.

What noai.duckduckgo.com Hides

The noai.duckduckgo.com site is a version of DuckDuckGo Search. DuckDuckGo says it "automatically turns all AI features off" and filters out AI-generated content "as best we can." On that site, Search Assist and Duck.ai are both off.

Search Assist is DuckDuckGo's AI-assisted answers feature. Duck.ai is its AI chat. On noai.duckduckgo.com, AI-generated images are filtered out of image results by default. DuckDuckGo's image-filter help page adds that the noai option also removes Search Assist answers and Duck.ai prompts.

DuckDuckGo told Vice that "Searching on noai.duckduckgo.com works the same as searching on duckduckgo.com."

Vice reported on the noai site on December 23, 2025, so it existed by then.

Make No-AI Search Your Default

DuckDuckGo says its No-AI Search extension sets your default search to the AI-free version in Chrome or Firefox.

The Chrome Web Store listing is titled DuckDuckGo No-AI Search and is published by Duck Duck Go, Inc. It shows version 2026.8.19, updated August 19, 2026. Its description opens with "Search privately by default, without AI features."

The Firefox Add-ons listing is published by DuckDuckGo. It makes the no-AI DuckDuckGo the default search engine, filters AI images by default and removes other AI search features. It shows version 2026.9.25, updated September 25, 2026.

To add either extension, open its listing and install it from there. DuckDuckGo doesn't give steps for setting a no-AI default search in Safari or other browsers. For those, start searches at noai.duckduckgo.com.

Decrypt reported that the Chrome and Firefox extensions launched around June 1, 2026. Citing TechCrunch, Decrypt said visits to noai.duckduckgo.com tripled on May 28, 2026, after Google's I/O AI search announcement. Visits averaged 84% above baseline afterwards.

DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg, quoted by Decrypt, said: "Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out."

Turning Off AI Features on Regular DuckDuckGo

On regular duckduckgo.com, Search Assist and Duck.ai each have their own control under the "AI Features" heading in search settings.

Search Assist

Search Assist shows AI-assisted answers. Its frequency options are often, sometimes, on-demand and never. Sometimes is the default setting.

1. Open search settings and go to "AI Features."
2. Set the "Search Assist" dropdown to "Never."
3. Click "Save and Exit."

You can also reach the setting at duckduckgo.com/settings#aifeatures or by clicking the gear icon on a Search Assist answer.

Duck.ai

Duck.ai is DuckDuckGo's AI chat, and it has its own off switch. To turn it off, open search settings, go to "AI Features," turn off Duck.ai, and click "Save and Exit."

DuckDuckGo's help page on hiding Duck.ai gives a different path. It starts from the three-dash menu in the upper right, then Settings, then the "AI Features" tab, where you turn off Chat. DuckDuckGo's help pages do not use one label for that toggle, so the wording you see may differ.

AI Images

There are two ways to hide AI-generated images in search. In the Images tab, use the "AI images filter" and choose "Hide." Or open Search Settings, look under "General" or "AI Features," and turn on "Hide AI-Generated Images."

The filter relies on public, manually curated blocklists, including the uBlockOrigin & uBlacklist Huge AI Blocklist.

In the DuckDuckGo Browser Apps

DuckDuckGo's help pages give these routes for the browser apps, which keep their AI controls under Settings, then "AI Features."

• To turn off Duck.ai, turn off the Duck.ai toggle. DuckDuckGo says this will "completely disable Duck.ai features in the browser."
• To change Search Assist, open Search Assist Settings.
• To hide AI images, turn on "Hide AI Images."
• For a fully AI-free search, select "Use DuckDuckGo Without AI."

What Duck.ai Is

DuckDuckGo describes Duck.ai as "a feature that allows you to have private conversations with 3rd-party AI chat models, anonymized by us."

As of October 2026, per DuckDuckGo, the free models are Claude 4.5 Haiku, Mistral Small 4, GPT-5.4 nano, GPT-5.4 mini, gpt-oss-120b and Gemma 4 31B. DuckDuckGo says the last two are hosted by Tinfoil.sh.

Paid tiers add models. Plus adds GPT-5.6 Terra and Claude Sonnet 4.6. Pro adds Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.6 Sol, with "2x higher usage limits than Plus." DuckDuckGo's Duck.ai help page does not list Plus or Pro prices.

DuckDuckGo says IP addresses and other personal metadata are removed before requests reach model providers. In its Duck.ai privacy help page, DuckDuckGo says conversations "are not used to train chat models by DuckDuckGo or the underlying model providers." DuckDuckGo says providers must delete prompts and responses immediately after replying, which it calls zero data retention. Exceptions include legal requirements and combating misuse.

Duck.ai is off on noai.duckduckgo.com. On regular DuckDuckGo and in the browser apps, Duck.ai has its own off switch in the AI Features settings. DuckDuckGo's approach-to-AI page says "all our AI features are optional and can be turned off or tuned down from your search and browser settings."

Limits of the No-AI Setting

The stated limit is the image filter. DuckDuckGo says its blocklists are not exhaustive, and it filters AI-generated content on noai.duckduckgo.com "as best we can." Neither statement promises that every AI image is removed.

The extension listings cover Chrome and Firefox. DuckDuckGo doesn't give Safari steps, so in other browsers start searches at noai.duckduckgo.com.

DuckDuckGo says that if it adds new AI products, noai.duckduckgo.com "will remain a way to search privately on DuckDuckGo without AI."

For search engines other than DuckDuckGo, read our guide to search engines without AI. For a side-by-side look at DuckDuckGo and Google, see DuckDuckGo versus Google.

Sources

• DuckDuckGo Help, About noai.duckduckgo.com
• DuckDuckGo Help, Opting Out of AI Features
• DuckDuckGo Help, Search Assist
• DuckDuckGo Help, Filter Out AI Images
• DuckDuckGo Help, How do I hide Duck.ai?
• DuckDuckGo Help, Duck.ai
• DuckDuckGo Help, Duck.ai Privacy
• DuckDuckGo Help, DuckDuckGo's Approach to AI
• DuckDuckGo Privacy Policy
• noai.duckduckgo.com homepage
• Firefox Add-ons, DuckDuckGo No-AI Search
• Chrome Web Store, DuckDuckGo No-AI Search
• Vice, DuckDuckGo no AI mode (December 23, 2025)
• Decrypt, DuckDuckGo Launched Duck AI. Now Their Hit Product is No AI (June 1, 2026)