How to Set Up Siri on iPhone
Setting up Siri takes one Settings pane and under two minutes. Here is the exact path, the activation toggles, and what to check if the option is greyed out.
To set up Siri on an iPhone, open Settings, tap Apple Intelligence & Siri, then tap Talk to Siri and choose how you want to call it: by voice, by holding the side button, or both. Tap Enable Siri and, if you picked the voice option, read the short phrases the screen shows you.
If you are wondering how to set up Siri on iPhone, almost all of it happens in one Settings pane, and the whole thing takes under two minutes. The only part that takes longer is voice training, where the iPhone asks you to say a handful of phrases so it learns your voice.
The name of that pane has moved around across recent iOS releases, which is the main reason people get stuck. The steps below cover where it sits now and where to look on older software.
How to set up Siri on iPhone in Settings
1. Open the Settings app and scroll down to Apple Intelligence & Siri. Tap it.
2. Tap Talk to Siri. This is the screen that holds the activation choices, and it is the one that stays greyed out when something is blocking Siri.
3. Pick how you want to call Siri. Turning on Listen for "Siri" or "Hey Siri" lets you start a request by speaking. Turning on Press Side Button for Siri lets you hold the long button on the right edge instead.
4. Tap Enable Siri to confirm.
5. If you turned on the listening option, your iPhone walks you through voice training. Tap Continue, say each phrase shown on screen in your normal speaking voice, then tap Done.
6. Back on the same screen, set Language and Siri Voice if you want something other than the defaults. Siri's language has to be one it supports, and it works best when it matches your iPhone's own language.
7. Turn on Allow Siri When Locked if you want Siri to answer without unlocking the phone first. Leave it off if you would rather Siri stayed quiet on a locked device.
That is the whole setup. You can test it straight away by saying the wake phrase or holding the side button.
Faster route, and where the setting lives on older iOS
The quickest way to reach any of this, on any version, is to pull down on the Settings home screen to reveal the search field, type Siri, and tap the result. That avoids guessing what the pane is called on your software.
The label has changed more than once. On iOS 18.0 and earlier it was Siri & Search. From iOS 18.1 through iOS 26 it became Apple Intelligence & Siri. On iOS 27 the picture is less settled: some write-ups of the release still show Apple Intelligence & Siri, while others show a pane labelled simply Siri with a Turn on Siri button inside it. Apple's own iPhone User Guide is the page to trust if yours does not match; the Settings search field works either way.
Typing to Siri instead of speaking is kept separately, under Settings > Accessibility > Siri, where you turn on Type to Siri. On iOS 27 the same control is also reported to appear in the Siri pane under Talk & Type to Siri.
The newer, chat-style Siri is a separate switch
iOS 27 introduced a rebuilt Siri that answers in a conversation, keeps a history that syncs over iCloud, and has its own app. It is not the same thing as the basic setup above, and turning Siri on does not turn it on.
Reporting on the release describes it as an opt-in step inside the Siri settings, offered as a beta with a waitlist, and limited to iPhone 15 Pro and later models, in English, outside the EU and China. Apple has not published a general-availability date for it, so treat the waitlist as the current state rather than a bug on your phone.
On an older iPhone, or while you are waiting, the standard Siri still works for timers, calls, messages, reminders, music and Home controls. Nothing in the setup above depends on the newer version.
What this does not do
Setting Siri up does not hand it every app at once. Individual apps still have their own Siri permissions, listed further down the same settings screen, so a newly installed app may need enabling there before Siri can work with it.
It also does not change what happens on your other Apple devices. A HomePod, Apple Watch or iPad each has its own Siri setting, and turning it on here leaves those alone.
Common questions
Do I need an internet connection? For most requests, yes. Siri handles some on-device tasks without a connection, but anything that needs to look something up will fail offline.
Can I use Siri without the wake phrase? Yes. Leave the listening option off and turn on Press Side Button for Siri, and Siri only starts when you hold the button.
Does anyone else's voice work? Voice training improves recognition of yours, but it is not a security lock. If that matters, turn off Allow Siri When Locked so requests need an unlocked phone.
If the option isn't there or is greyed out
The usual cause is a Screen Time restriction. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, open the Intelligence & Siri section, and make sure Siri & Dictation is set to allow. The same control covers keyboard dictation, so both come back together. If you are not the one who set that restriction, the person who manages the device has to change it — our guide to turning off parental controls on iPhone covers that screen in more detail.
If the pane itself is missing, check your software version under Settings > General > Software Update. Siri is also unavailable in a few regions and in some languages, and a managed work or school device can have it switched off by profile.
