How to turn off auto-apply recommendations in Google Ads

Published October 1, 2026

Google can apply recommendations automatically when auto-apply is turned on for a recommendation type. To turn it off, open Campaigns, then Recommendations, select Auto-apply settings, untick the types you want to review yourself and select Save. Past auto-applied changes show in the History tab and in Change history.

How auto-apply works

Google Ads makes recommendations about ads, bids, keywords and measurement. Each recommendation type can be set to apply automatically. Once a type is on, Google applies those recommendations regularly, on a daily basis, without asking each time.

Types that can be auto-applied fall into a few groups:

• Ads and assets, such as improving responsive search ads.
• Bidding, such as adjusting CPA or ROAS targets or moving to a Smart Bidding strategy.
• Keywords and targeting, such as adding keywords or broad match, or removing redundant keywords.
• Measurement, such as upgrading conversion tracking.

Google says recommendations that raise the budget are not auto-applied.

See which recommendation types are on

There are two places to check:

1. Open the Campaigns menu and select Recommendations, then Auto-apply settings. The Manage tab lists each recommendation type with a checkbox. A ticked box means Google can apply that type automatically.
2. Or open the Admin menu, select Account settings and open the Auto-apply dropdown. It lists every auto-apply recommendation the account is subscribed to.

Turn auto-apply off

From the Manage tab:

1. Open Campaigns, then Recommendations, then Auto-apply settings.
2. Untick each recommendation type you want to review yourself.
3. Select Save.

From the History tab:

1. Open Campaigns, then Recommendations, then Auto-apply settings, then the History tab.
2. Select the recommendation you want to turn off.
3. Select Disable. A red dot appears next to each auto-applied recommendation that has been turned off.

You can still apply recommendations one at a time from the Recommendations page. To reverse a change Google already applied, use Change history, below.

See what was auto-applied before

1. Open Auto-apply settings and the History tab for a summary of recently applied recommendations and when each type was first turned on.
2. For the detail of each change, open the Campaigns menu and select Change history. Changes made by applying recommendations are listed there with the rest of the account's changes.
3. To find when the account was enrolled in auto-apply, filter Change history to the date shown in the History tab.
4. To undo a change, find it in Change history and select Undo. Google allows this for most types of change made in the last 30 days.

If you would like a regular summary, Google offers weekly emails about auto-apply activity through the account's notification preferences.

Deciding what stays on

Auto-apply isn't all-or-nothing. Some types save routine work; others, such as adding keywords or changing bid targets, change where money goes. A useful question to settle with whoever runs the account is "which of these should stay on for us, and which should we review first?"

What this can't tell you

• The settings page shows what is on today. It doesn't show how those changes performed.
• Change history lists what changed, not whether the change helped. That needs performance data from before and after.
• Change history goes back 2 years. Anything older isn't available.

Check what Google changed

Download the change history and upload it to the change history check. It shows Google's automatic changes, including auto-apply and AI Max, in plain English next to the changes people made. If anything stands out, it ends with a short list of questions to go over together. It needs no sign-in and doesn't keep your file.

For a running record, connect Google Ads: Solimarketer keeps a change ledger of the changes Google reports, with who or what made each one, and sends a weekly digest. It never changes anything in the account.