Google's Gemini AI is integrated across many Google products, but not everyone wants AI assistance. Here's your complete guide to opting out and regaining control of your Google experience.
🔧 Why You Might Want to Disable Gemini
While Gemini offers smart features like content summarization, draft creation, and information extraction, some users prefer:
- Privacy - Limiting AI analysis of personal data
- Control - Avoiding automated suggestions and features
- Simplicity - A cleaner, less cluttered interface
- Resource usage - Reducing background AI processing
📧 Disabling Gemini in Gmail, Docs, and Drive
For Google Workspace apps (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Sheets, etc.), follow these steps:
- Open Gmail in your web browser
- Click the Settings gear icon (top right)
- Select "See all settings"
- Navigate to the "General" tab
- Scroll to "Smart Features and Personalization"
- Toggle OFF the option for smart features in Google Workspace products
- For thorough coverage, also disable the toggle for "other Google products"
💡 What This Does: When disabled, Gemini can no longer summarize content, create drafts, or find key information in your Gmail, Docs, and Drive files.
📸 Disabling Gemini in Google Photos
Important: Google Photos has separate Gemini settings that must be disabled independently!
Even after disabling Workspace smart features, the "Ask Photos" (Ask Gemini) function may continue working. Here's how to turn it off:
- Open the Google Photos mobile app
- Tap your profile icon (top right)
- Go to Google Photos Settings
- Select Preferences
- Choose Gemini features in Photos
- Toggle OFF the option labeled "Use Gemini in Photos"
🌐 Disabling Gemini in Chrome Browser
Chrome users can disable Gemini directly in browser settings:
- Open Chrome
- Click the three-dot menu (top right)
- Go to Settings
- Navigate to Privacy and security
- Look for Gemini AI features
- Toggle them OFF
⚠️ What to Expect After Disabling
Important Notes:
- Icons for smart features like "Help me write" may still appear in the interface
- Clicking these icons will prompt you to re-enable Google Workspace smart features
- If the toggle is OFF, Gemini will NOT run, even if icons are visible
- Settings may reset after major Google updates - check periodically
🔐 Privacy Implications
Disabling Gemini can enhance your privacy by:
- Reducing AI analysis of your emails, documents, and photos
- Limiting data processing for AI training purposes
- Giving you more control over what Google's AI can access
🎯 The Bottom Line
Google gives you the option to opt out of Gemini AI features, but the settings are scattered across different apps. By following this guide, you can completely disable Gemini in Gmail, Photos, Chrome, and other Google services.
Remember: You'll need to disable settings in multiple places - Workspace apps, Google Photos separately, and Chrome if you use it. Take a few minutes to check all these locations to ensure Gemini is fully disabled.
Source: Based on ZDNet article published February 24, 2026
This guide helps users understand and control AI features in their Google apps.