Google has spent the last two years putting Gemini into everything it makes. Search results now open with AI summaries. Gmail drafts replies before you’ve read the email. Chrome ships with an AI assistant in the toolbar. Android phones answer to Gemini instead of Google Assistant.

If you’d rather Google AI stayed out of your way, here’s the uncomfortable truth upfront: there is no single switch that turns Google Gemini off. Google has spread it across separate layers: the Android assistant, the apps themselves, Gmail and Workspace, Chrome, and Search, each with its own controls.

This guide walks through each layer, what you can actually disable, what you can only hide, and what you give up in the process.

You Can’t Switch Google AI Off Globally 

Google turned most of these features on by default rather than asking users to opt in. In January 2026, Google announced that Gmail was entering its “Gemini era” and enabled a wave of AI features by default for its 3 billion users, including AI Overviews in Gmail search, an AI Inbox, automatic thread summaries, and expanded writing suggestions. 

One more thing worth knowing before you start: Google periodically rolls out new AI features that default to on, and major updates can enable features across all accounts regardless of previous choices. So if you’re looking for a single switch that turns off Google AI from everywhere on your device and account, that doesn’t exist. But there are other ways to turn it off. 

How to Turn Off AI Mode in Google Search

AI Mode is Google’s conversational engine that runs on Gemini. It’s also what creates the AI Overviews—short summaries that appear above your search results. This is the one surface where Google gives you the least control. There is no official Google setting to permanently disable Google AI Mode or AI Overviews as of July 2026, but tested workarounds exist. 

Option 1: Use the All Button

This is the quickest fix. If your search queries are returning AI Mode results, click the All button on the top of your tab, and the screen will shift back to traditional search engine result pages with web links. Hopefully, Google will note down your preference and automatically land you on the web results on your next query. The web results will still display AI Overviews, but you can just scroll past them.

Option 2: Set udm=14 as Your Default Search 

This is the closest thing to a permanent solution. The URL parameter &udm=14 forces Google to display web-only results automatically. To make it permanent, set your browser’s default search engine to google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14. In Chrome, go to Settings > Search engine > Manage search engines, and add it as a custom site search. Set it as default, and every search you run skips the AI layer automatically. 

Option 3: Add -AI to Your Query

Adding “-AI” to any search query suppresses the AI Overview for that search, which is useful as a quick fix. For instance, if you look up “how to buy a soap,” the first thing you’ll see is an AI Overview outlining the steps to buy a soap in your location. If you look up “how to buy a soap -ai,” you will only see web results. 

Option 4: Browser Extensions

Several Chrome extensions strip AI Overviews from results automatically. They work by removing or hiding the AI Overview from the displayed search results, so the page loads clean without you doing anything. Search the Chrome Web Store for “hide AI Overview” and check recent reviews before installing. 

How to Turn Off AI in Gmail and Google Workspace

Gmail’s AI features live behind two separate settings groups, and you need to switch off both to cover everything.

Step 1: Turn Off Smart Features in Gmail

This one toggle turns off the largest group of AI features at once: Smart Compose, Smart Reply, nudges, automatic email categorization, and AI summaries that appear inside threads. On desktop, open Gmail, click the gear icon in the top right, click See all settings, and on the General tab scroll to Smart features and personalization. Uncheck the box, then scroll to the bottom and click Save Changes. 

Step 2: Turn Off Workspace Smart Features

In Gmail, tap the cog icon, select See all settings, and under the General tab, scroll down and click Manage Workspace smart feature settings. Toggle off smart features in Google Workspace and smart features in other Google products. That second toggle matters because it controls Gemini’s reach into Calendar, Drive, Docs, Maps, and other Google products tied to your account. The Workspace settings apply globally across your Google Workspace, so you only need to adjust those once. But if you have more Gmail accounts, repeat the Gmail steps for each one.

What Are the Drawbacks of Turning Off Google AI

Google bundled its AI features with older features that were actually useful, and there’s no way to separate them now. Disabling AI also disables some older features, including spell check, package tracking, potentially inbox tabs like Promotions and Social, and calendar event detection. You’ll also give up personalized search when using Google, making results less relevant to you.

If that trade-off is too steep, there’s a middle path: leave the smart features on and hide the generative AI elements instead, using browser extensions.

How to Turn Off Google AI on a Work Account

If you’re on a work account, you might not be able to access all the settings. Your admin can disable Gemini features for the whole domain from the admin console or keep them on. If you are not the admin, you cannot touch that layer. Admins can find the control by going to Apps, finding the Gemini app under Additional Google services or Generative AI, then turning the service off for specific users or organizational units. If you’re not the admin and would like to turn off generative AI, you will need to ask your administrator. 

How to Turn Off Gemini Assistant on Android 

On Android phones, Gemini has replaced Google Assistant as the default digital assistant, which means when you trigger the assistant by using a button or saying “Hey Google,” Gemini will respond instead of the Google Assistant. 

To remove Gemini as your assistant: go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Digital assistant app > None or Google Assistant. This gives you the option to remove your assistant or set it as Google Assistant instead of Gemini. 

To disable the Gemini app itself: go to Settings > Apps > Gemini, and tap Disable. 

How to Remove Gemini from Chrome

Chrome is where Google has been most aggressive recently, and there are three separate things to switch off.

1. Turn Off the Gemini Toggles

Open Chrome, click the three dots at the top right, and click on Settings and then AI innovations in the left menu (or open chrome://settings/ai directly). Under Gemini in Chrome, turn off the following toggles:

• Show Gemini at the top of the browser
• Show AI suggestions in the omnibox
• Show AI in the sidebar
• Any other Gemini toggles you see. 

Each toggle is independent, so switch off all of them. 

Once done, the toolbar icon disappears immediately. Tab summarization, the “Help me write” inline prompt, and Auto Browse all stop working.

2. Delete the On-Device AI Model

Chrome silently downloaded a roughly 4GB Gemini Nano model to user devices in May 2026. You can remove it via chrome://settings > System > On-device AI. Switching off On-device AI stops any local model downloads and prevents the file from being used or re-downloaded on restart. 

3. Revoke Page Content Sharing

Page content sharing is a separate toggle from the Gemini sidebar. Disabling Gemini alone does not stop tab text from being sent to Google. Find it under You and Google > AI features > Page content sharing, and toggle it off.

If You Don’t See These Settings

You need Chrome 140 or later for the AI innovations panel that exposes Gemini controls. Check your version at chrome://settings/help. On corporate, school, or managed devices, some controls are blocked by organisation policy, so if settings appear greyed out, contact your IT team. And if the Gemini toggle simply isn’t there, your account region may not qualify, or the feature hasn’t rolled out to your profile yet, in which case there is nothing to disable.

How to Turn Off Google AI on iPhone and Mac

On Apple devices, Gemini isn’t baked into the operating system. On iPhone, Gemini is a normal App Store app. To remove it, long-press the app icon, tap Remove App, and delete it. The same applies on Mac, where Google shipped a native Gemini app for macOS in April 2026, and it’s a regular user-installed app. 

You’ll still see AI Overviews when searching Google in Safari, so pair this with the udm=14 method or a search extension if you want AI-free search on Apple devices too.

One Last Step: Check Your Data Settings

Turning off features does not stop data collection. That’s a separate Gemini Apps Activity setting. If you want to turn off your data collection, go to myactivity.google.com, find Gemini Apps Activity, and switch it off. This means your Gemini or Google AI conversations will not be stored and used by Google. This won’t affect any of the feature toggles above. It only helps keep your conversations private, which is the reason many people disable these features in the first place. AI features rely on personalization signals like browsing history, search patterns, and engagement data to function, so opting out reduces the volume of behavioral data processed. 

WorkflowFiesta: Taking Back Control of Your Digital Workspace

Navigating the fragmented landscape of modern AI settings is a challenge that shouldn’t disrupt your workflow. With WorkflowFiesta, you can decide when, where, how, and which AI assists your productivity, rather than being forced into a one-size-fits-all model. By streamlining your digital tools through AI orchestration, WorkflowFiesta helps you reclaim your preferences and keep your workflows up-to-date without unwanted AI interference.