Desk Clarity

Everyday document & browser help

Use Google Search’s Web Filter for Text-Based Links

By ON Lab · Sources checked November 6, 2026

After searching on Google, select the Web filter below the search box. Google says this view displays text-based website links without features such as AI Overviews. This is a choice of results view for a search; it is not a switch that removes AI from every Google product or from your computer.

Find the Web results view

  1. Run the search you want on Google.
  2. Look at the result-type filters below the search box and select Web.
  3. If the filter you want is not visible, Google’s filter guidance says to use All to check the others available.

Google notes that the exact filters and their order change according to the query. A screenshot from another person may therefore show a different order. Look for the named result type rather than assuming that it always occupies the same position.

Check that the result meets your task

Our suggested acceptance check is to keep the search wording the same while comparing the result view. Then open a relevant website link and inspect the original page.

For example, if you need a printer’s setup manual, check the manufacturer, model and document title after following the result. Selecting a text-link view does not establish that the first link is the right manual, up to date, or independently verified.

Understand what the filter changes

Google’s AI Overviews help states that AI Overviews are a core Search feature that cannot be turned off, and identifies the Web filter as the route to text-based links without that feature. This guide uses that documented result-view control.

It does not provide a permanent browser setting, an ad-free guarantee, or a method for changing Gmail, a browser assistant or operating-system features. If the problem you want to solve is in one of those places, record that location separately rather than judging this result filter by it.

If your screen differs

Note the query, device, available filter names and the view you selected. Compare the current Google help linked below. Do not assume a missing filter proves a browser extension or account defect.

Scope: the documented Google Search Web filter and editorial result checks. Interface placement can change. No claim is made about search ranking, factual accuracy of linked sites, or removal of every AI feature.

Sources