Turn Off Journaling Suggestions in the Journal App

Journaling Suggestions in Apple’s Journal app automatically pull moments from your photos, workouts, music, and location to prompt you to write. If you find these suggestions intrusive, distracting, or simply not useful, you can turn them off. This guide walks you through disabling suggestions entirely or just for specific data types, so your Journal stays a private, clutter-free space.

What You’ll Need

• An iPhone or iPad running iOS 17.2 or later (or iPadOS 17.2+) with the Journal app installed.
• Your device passcode or Face ID/Touch ID to access Settings and Journal privacy options.
• About two minutes — the process is quick and reversible.

Step-by-Step

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. It’s the gray gear icon on your home screen or in your App Library.
2. Scroll down and tap “Privacy & Security.� This is usually located near the middle of the Settings list, between “Focus� and “App Privacy.�
3. Scroll down and tap “Journaling Suggestions.â€� This entry appears only if you have used the Journal app at least once. If you don’t see it, open the Journal app and close it, then check again.
4. Toggle off “Suggestions.� The main switch at the top of the screen, labeled “Suggestions,� controls all Journaling Suggestions. When you turn this off, the Journal app will stop generating new prompts from your activity. This is the quickest way to disable everything.
5. Optionally, disable specific data types. If you want to keep some suggestions but not others, leave “Suggestions� on and instead toggle off individual categories below it: Photos, Workouts, Music, Podcasts, Places, Contacts, and Significant Locations. For example, you can keep workout suggestions but turn off location-based ones.
6. If you want to stop the app from learning from your activity entirely, also turn off “Learn from Usage.� This switch is just below the data type list. When off, the Journal app stops analyzing your phone usage to create future suggestions. (This is separate from the main Suggestions toggle, so you may want to turn both off.)
7. For extra privacy, you can clear existing suggestion history. Scroll to the bottom of the same screen and tap “Clear Journaling Suggestions.� A confirmation popup will appear; tap “Clear� to delete all stored suggestion data. This does not delete your journal entries.
8. Exit Settings. Your changes save automatically. You can reopen the Journal app to confirm that new suggestions no longer appear.

Common Mistakes

• Turning off the wrong toggle: The main “Suggestionsâ€� switch is the master control. If you only toggle off individual data types, you’ll still get suggestions from other sources. Make sure you hit the top switch if you want them all gone.
• Forgetting to turn off “Learn from Usageâ€�: Even with “Suggestionsâ€� off, the Journal app may still collect usage data in the background. If you want to stop all data collection, you must disable this too.
• Expecting existing suggestions to disappear: Turning off suggestions stops new ones, but any suggestions already generated may remain in the app until you clear them via “Clear Journaling Suggestions.â€�
• Looking for the setting inside the Journal app: There is no toggle in the Journal app itself. You must go through Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions.
• Assuming the toggle is under the Journal app’s own settings: Some users look for a settings gear inside the Journal app—there isn’t one. The only way to change these preferences is through the system Settings.

Tips

• Use the “Suggestionsâ€� toggle as a quick kill switch. If you ever want to temporarily pause suggestions without deleting your history, just flip this off and on later.
• Customize per data type. You don’t have to go all-or-nothing. For example, disable “Placesâ€� and “Significant Locationsâ€� to keep your location private while still getting workout prompts.
• Clear suggestions periodically. If you find old suggestions cluttering your Journal, use “Clear Journaling Suggestionsâ€� every few weeks to start fresh.
• Check after iOS updates. Major iOS updates sometimes reset privacy settings. After updating, revisit this screen to ensure your preferences stuck.
• Use the Journal app’s “Filterâ€� option. In the Journal app, you can tap the filter icon (three lines) to show only entries, not suggestions, without changing your settings. This is a quick visual workaround if you don’t want to disable suggestions entirely.

Troubleshooting

• “Journaling Suggestionsâ€� doesn’t appear in Settings. This happens if you’ve never opened the Journal app. Open the app once, then go back to Settings. If it still doesn’t appear, restart your iPhone and try again.
• Suggestions still show after turning off the toggle. First, make sure you turned off the main “Suggestionsâ€� switch, not just individual categories. Then force-quit the Journal app (swipe up from the bottom and hold, then swipe the app card away) and reopen it. If they still appear, restart your device.
• You can’t toggle off “Learn from Usage.â€� This switch is grayed out if “Suggestionsâ€� is off? No—it should be tappable regardless. If it’s unresponsive, try toggling “Suggestionsâ€� on, then off again, then tap “Learn from Usage.â€� If that fails, restart your phone.
• Clearing suggestions doesn’t remove them from the app. The “Clear Journaling Suggestionsâ€� button clears the data used to generate suggestions, but it may not delete suggestion cards already displayed in the app. To remove those, swipe left on a suggestion card and tap “Delete,â€� or delete the Journal entry if you’ve already started writing.
• Settings revert after an iOS update. Some users report that iOS updates re-enable suggestions. After updating, go back to Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions and re-check your toggles.
• You can’t find the Journal app at all. The Journal app is only available on iOS 17.2 or later. If you’re on an older version, update your device. If you’re on a supported version but the app is missing, you can re-download it from the App Store (it’s free).

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will turning off suggestions delete my journal entries?
No. Disabling suggestions only stops new prompts and clears the suggestion data. Your written entries remain untouched.

Q: Can I turn off suggestions for just photos, not music?
Yes. In Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions, leave the main “Suggestions� toggle on, then turn off “Photos� and keep “Music� on (or vice versa).

Q: Does the Journal app still track my location if I turn off suggestions?
If you turn off “Suggestions� and “Learn from Usage,� the app should stop collecting new data. However, to fully block location tracking, also disable “Places� and “Significant Locations� in the same menu, and consider turning off Location Services for the Journal app in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.

Q: Why is the “Journaling Suggestions� setting missing?
This setting only appears after you’ve opened the Journal app at least once. If you’ve never used it, open the app, then check again. If you’re on iOS 17.1 or earlier, the feature doesn’t exist—update your device.

Q: How do I re-enable suggestions later?
Simply go back to Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions and toggle “Suggestions� back on. You can also re-enable individual data types. Your previous history may be gone if you cleared it, but new suggestions will start generating.

Q: Does turning off suggestions affect other apps like Photos or Health?
No. This setting only affects the Journal app’s suggestion engine. Other apps will continue to work normally.

Related

• Android Swipe Back Gesture: iPhone-Style Guide
• Fix Invalid Command Line Error on Windows 11 Startup
• Smartphone mAh: Does Higher Always Mean Better Battery?