How to Turn Off Gemini in Gmail and Google Docs

Have you spotted how eager tech companies are to persuade you to use their artificial intelligence features, even if you’re not interested? They are incorporating buttons into user interfaces and displaying pop-up tooltips to urge you to engage with them and become a loyal user of their AI innovations.

For instance, Google Docs is introducing a prominent Gemini bar at the bottom of the screen for select users. I first came across this feature back in April when it appeared in the Google Docs account I use for collaboration with editors. It seems I was among the users selected to trial this feature. I know individuals who have never encountered this bar, and I’ve seen reports of it appearing for some just recently. So it’s rather variable.

If you happen to see this feature and prefer not to have it on your screen, there’s good news: The large bar is simple to hide.

Click Gemini in the menu bar, hover over Bottom bar preferences, and choose Turn off.

Courtesy of Justin Pot

Once you do that, the bar disappears. It won’t bother you anymore.

However, if you wish to completely eliminate AI features from Google Docs, you can take additional steps. There are a couple of methods to prevent things like the Gemini menu from appearing in Google Docs. The first, which works for some users but not all, involves changing a setting in Gmail. The second, which appears to work universally, is to install a Chrome extension.

First, a note: The process slightly differs for personal Google accounts (essentially, any account with an @gmail.com email address) and company accounts using Google Workspace (essentially, any account managed by your employer with a company domain email). For company-mandated Workspace accounts, the administrator has the authority to determine which AI features you will see.

So if you utilize Google Workspace at work, only your IT team can disable the AI features. There’s not much you can do individually, but perhaps offering your IT staff a plate of cookies might help as a gentle nudge.

Personal users enjoy a bit more flexibility, but the path to follow is not straightforward: The option you need to adjust lies in Gmail. Indeed.