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Configuration profile to disable Siri on macOS devices

Siri is Apple’s voice-activated virtual assistant that simplifies and enhances various tasks on Apple devices through natural language voice commands. However, in a work environment consisting of Macs, privacy and security concerns related to Siri can be significant. Siri, if used in noisy environments or, when permitted interactions with third-party applications that require access to sensitive data sources on your Mac, can pose security risks. This may lead IT administrators to consider disabling or restricting its use.

Disabling Siri individually on a fleet of devices can be cumbersome. That’s where Hexnode’s Deploy Custom Configuration feature comes in. Learn how to disable Siri efficiently using a configuration profile through Hexnode.

Disclaimer:

The configuration profile provided below is adapted from third-party open-source sites.

Note:

This configuration profile is supported on devices running macOS 14 and above.

Configuration profile to disable Siri on Macs

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>PayloadContent</key>
	<array>
		<dict>
			<key>PayloadDescription</key>
			<string>Configures restrictions</string>
			<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
			<string>Restrictions</string>
			<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
			<string>com.apple.applicationaccess.EC187132-755E-4500-B2EA-8DB072401C74</string>
			<key>PayloadType</key>
			<string>com.apple.applicationaccess</string>
			<key>PayloadUUID</key>
			<string>EC187132-755E-4500-B2EA-8DB072401C74</string>
			<key>PayloadVersion</key>
			<integer>1</integer>
			<key>allowAssistant</key>
			<false/>

		</dict>
	</array>
	<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
	<string>Untitled</string>
	<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
	<string>1B64A284-C44B-4588-BE57-C2994AA8C611</string>
	<key>PayloadRemovalDisallowed</key>
	<false/>
	<key>PayloadType</key>
	<string>Configuration</string>
	<key>PayloadUUID</key>
	<string>9DF9AAFF-3913-40BE-8638-07E3B0013E9A</string>
	<key>PayloadVersion</key>
	<integer>1</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<dict>

<key>PayloadContent</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>PayloadDescription</key>

<string>Configures restrictions</string>

<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>

<string>Restrictions</string>

<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>

<string>com.apple.applicationaccess.EC187132-755E-4500-B2EA-8DB072401C74</string>

<key>PayloadType</key>

<string>com.apple.applicationaccess</string>

<key>PayloadUUID</key>

<key>PayloadVersion</key>

<key>allowAssistant</key>

</dict>

</array>

<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>

<string>Untitled</string>

<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>

<key>PayloadRemovalDisallowed</key>

<key>PayloadType</key>

<string>Configuration</string>

<key>PayloadUUID</key>

<key>PayloadVersion</key>

</dict>

</plist>

In the above configuration profile, the “allowAssistant” key should be set to false to disable Siri. Once the configuration profile is successfully deployed to the device, the settings related to Siri will be greyed out under System Settings, accompanied by a warning message stating, “Use of Siri is restricted”.

Configuration profile to enable Siri on Macs

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>PayloadContent</key>
	<array>
		<dict>
                        <key>Assistant Enabled</key> 
                        <true/> 
                        <key>PayloadDisplayName</key> 
                        <string>Assistant</string> 
                        <key>PayloadIdentifier</key> 
                        <string>com.apple.assistant.support.F0AA5679-B2E3-49E2-BCCC-F3A5A974CFC0</string> 
                        <key>PayloadType</key> 
                        <string>com.apple.assistant.support</string> 
                        <key>PayloadUUID</key> 
                        <string>F0AA5679-B2E3-49E2-BCCC-F3A5A974CFC0</string> 
                        <key>PayloadVersion</key> 
                        <integer>1</integer> 
		</dict>
	</array>
    <key>PayloadDisplayName</key> 
    <string>Untitled</string> 
    <key>PayloadIdentifier</key> 
    <string>1234567</string> 
    <key>PayloadType</key> 
    <string>Configuration</string> 
    <key>PayloadUUID</key> 
    <string>780C35E8-A9C0-4030-8CCB-F3C97B8C39A1</string> 
    <key>PayloadVersion</key> 
    <integer>1</integer> 

</dict>
</plist>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<dict>

<key>PayloadContent</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>Assistant Enabled</key>

<true/>

<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>

<string>Assistant</string>

<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>

<string>com.apple.assistant.support.F0AA5679-B2E3-49E2-BCCC-F3A5A974CFC0</string>

<key>PayloadType</key>

<string>com.apple.assistant.support</string>

<key>PayloadUUID</key>

<key>PayloadVersion</key>

</dict>

</array>

<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>

<string>Untitled</string>

<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>

<key>PayloadType</key>

<string>Configuration</string>

<key>PayloadUUID</key>

<key>PayloadVersion</key>

</dict>

</plist>

In the provided configuration profile, the “Assistant Enabled” key should be set to true to enable Siri. Once the configuration profile is successfully deployed to the device, the “Ask Siri” option under System Settings > Siri & Spotlight will be enabled, and users will not be able to disable it.

Notes:

To create and customize configuration profiles, you can use tools like Apple Configurator, Profile Manager or manually create them using text editors.
Use non-encrypted .mobileconfig, .xml, or plist files to deploy profiles across macOS devices.
Ensure that you do not associate conflicting configurations with the devices.
Use wildcards to fetch key values from the portal.
It is recommended to manually validate the configuration profile execution on a system before executing the action in bulk.
Hexnode will not be responsible for any damage/loss to the system on the behavior of the configuration profile.

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