Disable WordPress AI Features: Turn It All Off (7.1)

Written for WordPress 7.1.1. Last verified September 23, 2026, against WordPress.org documentation and the WordPress developer reference.

Short answer: To disable WordPress AI features entirely, work in three layers. First, switch off Enable AI under Settings > AI and remove the AI plugin if it is installed. Second, remove the provider keys and connector plugins behind Settings > Connectors. Third, add define( 'WP_AI_SUPPORT', false ); to wp-config.php. That constant makes WordPress core report that AI is not supported, so code built on the core AI Client stops there. Core has no dashboard on/off switch for this; the constant is the documented kill switch.

If you never installed anything, you are already most of the way there. Here is what each layer controls, and the order to undo it.

What WordPress 7.x actually ships with

WordPress 7.0, released May 20, 2026, added the plumbing for AI to core: the AI Client (one shared way for plugins to send prompts to an AI provider), the Connectors API, and a new screen at Settings > Connectors. The WordPress.org Settings Connectors screen documentation (last updated June 8, 2026, read September 23, 2026) lists three featured AI provider connectors on that screen, including Google and OpenAI.

The plumbing does nothing by itself. According to that same page:

Each connector is a plugin you choose to install, and it needs an API key from the provider before it can connect.
The features people notice, such as generated featured images, alt text, titles and excerpts, come from a separate plugin called AI. The Connectors screen shows a notice offering to install it.
Once the AI plugin is installed, WordPress adds Settings > AI, where the Enable AI toggle and the individual options live.

WordPress 7.1 did not change this picture for site owners. The WordPress 7.1 Field Guide on Make WordPress Core (August 5, 2026) lists one AI item, a developer-facing fix inside the AI Client, and no new AI setting. WordPress 7.1.1, released September 17, 2026, is a maintenance and security release.

Layer	Where you see it	What it controls	How to turn it off
AI plugin	Settings > AI	The generate options in the editor	Turn off Enable AI, then deactivate and delete the plugin
Connectors and keys	Settings > Connectors, Plugins	The link from your site to an AI provider such as Google or OpenAI	Delete the connector plugins, remove stored keys, revoke keys at the provider
Core AI support	`wp-config.php`	Whether core lets code use its AI Client and connectors	`define( 'WP_AI_SUPPORT', false );`
Other plugins' own AI	Each plugin's settings	AI tools a plugin built for itself	That plugin's own setting

Before you change anything

Step 3 edits wp-config.php, the file that holds your database connection details. A single missing quote or semicolon in that file can take the whole site offline until the mistake is fixed. Steps 1 and 2 are ordinary admin work, but take a fresh backup before any of it. The five-minute ritual before any risky WordPress edit covers what to save and how to confirm the copy is usable.

Also confirm you can reach your site's files outside wp-admin, through your host's file manager or an SFTP login. If an edit to wp-config.php goes wrong, the dashboard will not load, and the file manager is how you put the old copy back.

Step 1: Switch off the AI plugin (Settings > AI)

If your Settings menu has no AI item, the AI plugin is not installed. Skip to Step 2.

Log in with an administrator account.
Go to Settings > AI.
Turn off Enable AI in the top right corner of the screen.
Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find the plugin named AI.
Click Deactivate.
If you do not plan to use it again, click Delete.

Deactivate first and delete second. That gives you a checkpoint: if anything on the site looks wrong after deactivating, you can reactivate in one click and look into it before anything is removed.

Removing the plugin does not reach back into posts you already saved. An excerpt or alt text you accepted from the AI plugin earlier was saved like text you typed, and it stays. If you want the full picture of what a plugin leaves behind, see what happens to your content when you delete a plugin.

Step 2: Remove the keys and connectors (Settings > Connectors)

Where your API key lives decides how you remove it. The WordPress documentation says that for connectors using API keys, WordPress looks for the key in this order:

An environment variable (set on your hosting account)
A PHP constant (usually a line in wp-config.php)
A database setting (what the Connectors screen saves)

It also states that keys entered on the screen are stored in the database and "masked in the user interface but are not encrypted." A key sitting in the database of a site that no longer uses it is a credential with no job.

Work through it in this order:

Go to Settings > Connectors and note which providers show as set up.
Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Deactivate, then delete, each provider plugin that the Connectors screen installed.
Open wp-config.php and look for a line that defines a key. The Make WordPress Core post introducing the Connectors API gives the naming pattern {PROVIDER_ID}_API_KEY, for example OPENAI_API_KEY. Delete any such line.
If your host lets you set environment variables in its control panel, check there for the same names. A key set there wins over anything on the Connectors screen.
Log in to each provider's dashboard where you created the key, and revoke or delete it.

Step 5 is the one people skip. The WordPress documentation does not say that deleting a connector plugin also deletes the stored key from the database, so revoking it at the provider is what makes any leftover copy useless. If you originally followed our Settings > Connectors setup guide, you are walking the same screens in reverse.

Step 3: Disable WordPress AI features in core with WP_AI_SUPPORT

This is the line that tells WordPress itself that AI is off.

Open your host's file manager or connect by SFTP.
Find wp-config.php. It is usually in the same folder as the wp-admin and wp-content folders.
Download a copy to your computer before editing.
Find the line /* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */.
Directly above it, on a line of its own, add: define( 'WP_AI_SUPPORT', false );
Save the file, then load your homepage and your dashboard to confirm both still open.

What the line does. The WordPress developer reference for wp_supports_ai() (read September 23, 2026) shows the function's code. It checks WP_AI_SUPPORT first, and when the constant is false it returns false immediately. The same page lists what asks this function: the code that starts connectors, the connector registry, and the AI Client's prompt builder. In plain terms, connectors do not register and requests built with the core AI Client are refused.

Spell it exactly. The name is WP_AI_SUPPORT. In a WordPress.org support thread, a site owner added WP_SUPPORTS_AI and saw no change; a forum moderator pointed out the typo. WordPress does not warn you about a misspelled constant. It simply ignores it.

A note for developers. There is also a wp_supports_ai filter. Its reference page says it lets plugins "disable AI features on a per-request basis, or to even override explicit preferences defined by the site owner." Because the constant is checked before the filter runs, a false constant cannot be switched back on by a filter. A filter on its own can be overridden by another plugin, so the constant is the stronger choice for a site owner.

How to confirm it worked, without a command line

Check these five things after all three steps:

Settings > Connectors. According to a WordPress.org forum moderator's answer, with the constant set correctly the default connectors no longer appear, and the screen is empty unless another plugin supplies a connector. The menu item itself can still be there.
Settings menu. No AI item, if you deleted the AI plugin.
Plugins > Installed Plugins. No AI plugin and no provider connector plugins.
The editor. Open any post. The generate options for featured images and excerpts are gone.
Your provider dashboards. The keys you used show as revoked or deleted.

If Settings > Connectors still lists the featured AI providers, check the spelling of the constant and confirm the line sits above the "stop editing" comment.

What the switch does not cover

Plugins that built their own AI. The constant only governs code that asks wp_supports_ai(). In a WordPress.org support thread, a Jetpack support team member stated that Jetpack "does not read the core WP_AI_SUPPORT constant or the wp_supports_ai filter when deciding whether to load its AI features," and pointed to Jetpack's own jetpack_ai_enabled filter instead. Treat any plugin with AI tools the same way: look in its own settings for its own off switch.

Keys stored outside WordPress. A key set as a host environment variable is not something the Connectors screen can clear. Step 2, point 4 exists for this.

Anything already sent. Turning AI off stops future requests from your site. It does not recall text that was sent to a provider before you switched it off.

Future releases. Everything here is documented for WordPress 7.0 through 7.1.1. wp_supports_ai() arrived in 7.0.0, and a later release could add AI features that behave differently.

Which layers do you need?

Your situation	What to do
You never installed the AI plugin or a connector	Step 3 only, to keep it that way
You installed the AI plugin but never added a key	Step 1, then Step 3
You added a key for any provider	All three steps, including revoking the key
Other people have admin access and might reinstall things	All three steps. The AI plugin needs a valid connector to work, and the constant stops connectors registering
A plugin such as Jetpack shows its own AI tools	Your steps above, plus that plugin's own setting

Turning AI back on later

Delete the define( 'WP_AI_SUPPORT', false ); line from wp-config.php. The connectors come back on Settings > Connectors, and you can reinstall a connector and the AI plugin from there. You will need a new API key, since you revoked the old one.

Each major WordPress release is worth a quick check against this setup. The release notes and field guide name AI changes when they happen, and reading WordPress release notes without coding shows where to look for them.

FAQ

Does WordPress 7.0 send my content to an AI provider by default?

No, according to the WordPress.org Connectors documentation. A connector is a plugin you install, it needs your API key, and the visible AI features come from a separate AI plugin. Until someone installs those and adds a key, core's AI plumbing has nothing to connect to.

Is there a dashboard setting to turn off AI in WordPress core?

No. The Enable AI toggle under Settings > AI belongs to the AI plugin, not to core. Core's documented switch is the WP_AI_SUPPORT constant in wp-config.php.

Will WP_AI_SUPPORT turn off AI in Jetpack and other plugins?

Only in plugins that check wp_supports_ai() or use the core AI Client. Jetpack's support team has said Jetpack does not read the constant, so plugins with their own AI need their own setting changed.

Will a WordPress update undo the wp-config.php line?

No. Standard core updates do not overwrite wp-config.php. Recheck it after moving hosts or restoring an older backup, since either can put a different copy of the file in place.

Is it enough to turn AI off and leave my key on the Connectors screen?

It is safer to remove the key and revoke it. WordPress documentation states that keys saved on that screen are masked but not encrypted, and a key your site no longer uses is still a working credential until the provider revokes it.