Siri & Spotlight settings on Mac
On your Mac, use Siri & Spotlight settings to turn on and choose options for Siri and change the categories that appear in Spotlight search results.
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Browse through the options below for details about customizing your settings.
To open these settings, choose Apple menu 
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Open Siri & Spotlight settings for me
Siri settings
Option | Description | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ask Siri | Use to turn on Siri to do everyday tasks, get quick answers, and more. If you turn off Ask Siri and then turn it on again later, you may need to set up Siri again. | ||||||||||
Listen for or Listen for “Hey Siri” | Choose how you want to start using Siri. You can choose to say “Hey Siri” or “Siri,” or turn off listening and click the Siri icon or use a keyboard shortcut instead. To check whether “Hey Siri” or “Siri” is available for your device and language, see the Apple Support article Use Siri on all your Apple devices. | ||||||||||
Allow Siri when locked (available when a “Listen for” option is turned on) | Allow Siri to be available even if your Mac is locked or in sleep. Just say “Hey Siri,” or “Siri,” then make a request. Depending on your request, you may need to unlock your Mac. | ||||||||||
Keyboard shortcut | Choose a shortcut to activate Siri or choose Customize to create your own. | ||||||||||
Language | Change the language and dialect to use with Siri. Siri isn’t available in all languages or countries or regions. | ||||||||||
Siri voice | Select a preferred voice for Siri from the Voice Variety options and the Siri Voice options. Some languages may only have one option. | ||||||||||
Siri history | Delete Siri and Dictation interactions you’ve performed on this Mac from Siri servers. See Delete Siri and Dictation history. | ||||||||||
Siri Suggestions & Privacy | Choose the apps you want to get Siri Suggestions for. See How Siri Suggestions work. | ||||||||||
About Siri & Privacy (available when you click Siri Suggestions & Privacy) | Learn how Siri may send certain data to Apple to process and help respond to your requests and how you can control what data is stored. | ||||||||||
Siri Responses | Use to turn on or off any of the following options:
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Spotlight settings
Option | Description | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Search results | Select the categories that Spotlight includes or excludes when it searches. See Choose suggestion categories for Spotlight. By default, Spotlight results include Siri Suggestions. | ||||||||||
Spotlight Privacy | Exclude specific files and folders from Spotlight searches. See Prevent Spotlight searches in files. | ||||||||||
About Siri Suggestions, Search & Privacy (available when you click Spotlight Privacy) | Learn how Siri and Spotlight searches may send certain data to Apple to process and help respond to your requests and how you can control what data is stored. | ||||||||||