How to Turn Off Gemini

A step-by-step guide for Android and Google users who want Gemini out of their assistant, their phone, and their apps, without breaking anything else in the process.

Key Takeaways

• There is no single toggle to turn off Gemini everywhere. You need to hit at least three separate layers: the assistant default, per-app "smart features," and your activity/history settings.
• On most Android phones, Gemini is a system app. You can disable it, but you cannot fully uninstall it.
• Even after you turn off Gemini Apps Activity (conversation history), new conversations can still be stored for up to 72 hours for service operation and feedback processing.
• The steps below cover the assistant swap, Gmail, Drive, Workspace apps, Search, Chrome, and the broader "Smart features in other Google products" toggle that governs Maps, Calendar, Wallet, and more.
• If you are in the US, you were likely opted in by default. Users in the EU, UK, and Japan were opted out of certain features by default. Same company, different defaults.

Why does turning off Gemini require so many steps?

Because Gemini is not one product. It is a set of AI features threaded across nearly every Google surface: the on-device assistant, Gmail smart compose and summarization, Drive file suggestions, Search generative answers, Workspace integrations, and a standalone chat app. Each surface has its own toggle, and those toggles live in different settings menus. There is no single universal off switch.

This is a design choice, not a technical limitation. A single kill switch is trivial to build. Fragmented opt-out is what you get when the incentive is to keep users opted in for as long as possible, across as many surfaces as possible. The friction is the feature.

We will walk through every layer. The order matters: start with the assistant (the most visible change), then move to per-app settings, then clean up activity history.

What happened to Google Assistant?

Google completed its transition from Google Assistant to Gemini on Android around March 2026. A long-press on the power button, "Hey Google" voice triggers, and third-party assistant calls now all route to Gemini by default. The timeline slipped repeatedly from original 2025 targets, but the result is the same: if you are on a recent Android device, Gemini is your assistant unless you actively change it.

The assistant app was pulled from app stores in early 2026. If you had it installed, it may still function in a degraded state, but it is not receiving updates and will eventually stop working entirely. The practical question is not "how do I keep Assistant" but "how do I stop Gemini from being the thing that answers when I press the button."

How do I switch the default assistant away from Gemini?

Open your phone's Settings, go to Apps, then Default apps (on some devices this is under "Choose default apps"), and tap Digital assistant app. You will see Gemini listed as the current default. You can change it to another assistant app you have installed, or select "None" to disable the assistant trigger entirely.

If you select "None," long-pressing the power button will go back to its original function (usually the power menu). "Hey Google" voice activation will also stop working. This does not disable Gemini as an app or stop it from running in other Google services. It only removes it from the assistant slot.

On Samsung devices, the path is slightly different: Settings, then Apps, then the three-dot menu, then Default apps, then Digital assistant. Same outcome.

How do I disable the Gemini app itself?

Gemini ships as a system app on most Android phones, which means you cannot uninstall it the way you would a normal app. You can disable it.

Go to Settings, then Apps, then find Gemini in the app list (you may need to tap "Show system apps" or "All apps"). Tap it, then tap "Disable." Confirm when prompted. This prevents Gemini from running, receiving updates, or appearing in your app drawer. It does not delete it from the system partition.

Disabling the app is separate from disabling Gemini's integration into other Google apps. Those require their own toggles, covered below.

Can I fully uninstall Gemini?

On most stock Android devices, no. On rooted devices or custom ROMs, yes, but that is outside the scope of this guide and comes with its own set of tradeoffs (broken OTA updates, SafetyNet failures, voided warranties). For most people, "disable" is the practical ceiling.

How do I turn off Gemini in Gmail?

Open Gmail on the web. Click the gear icon (top right), then "See all settings," then the "General" tab. Scroll down to "Smart features and personalization." Uncheck the box that says "Turn on smart features and personalization in Gmail." Click "Save Changes" at the bottom.

This disables Gemini-powered features like smart compose, email summarization, and suggested replies. It also disables some non-AI smart features (like automatic categorization of emails into Primary/Social/Promotions tabs), so be aware of that tradeoff.

On mobile, open Gmail, tap the hamburger menu, scroll to Settings, tap your account, and look for "Smart features and personalization" under the General section. Same toggle, same effect.

How do I turn off Gemini in other Google Workspace apps?

Gmail has its own toggle, but Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat share a different one. This is the "Smart features and personalization in other Google products" toggle, and it controls whether data from those apps feeds into Gemini suggestions across the Google ecosystem.

Turning off this broader toggle disables Gemini-powered features in Maps (suggested destinations), Calendar (AI event creation), Wallet (smart suggestions), and the Gemini app's ability to pull context from your other Google services. It is the closest thing to a master switch, but it is still not complete because Gmail has its own separate toggle as noted above.

To find it: go to myaccount.google.com, navigate to Data & privacy, scroll to "Smart features and personalization in other Google products," and turn it off.

How do I stop Gemini from saving my conversations?

Go to myactivity.google.com. In the left sidebar, find "Gemini Apps Activity" (it may also appear as "Gemini activity" or under "Web & App Activity" depending on your account version). Click into it and toggle it off.

This stops Gemini from saving your conversation history to your Google account going forward. You can also delete past conversations from this same page: select the conversations you want to remove and delete them, or use the "Delete all" option.

One important caveat: even with Gemini Apps Activity turned off, new chats can still be stored for up to 72 hours to process feedback and operate the service. And some reviewed conversations may be examined by human reviewers and retained for up to three years. Turning off the toggle reduces what is stored long-term. It does not eliminate short-term retention.

How do I turn off Gemini in Chrome?

Open Chrome on desktop. Go to Settings (three dots, then Settings), then navigate to "You and Google" or "Sync and Google services" depending on your Chrome version. Look for "Help improve Chrome's features and performance" and "Make searches and browsing better." Disabling these reduces the data Chrome shares with Google services, including Gemini-powered suggestions.

On Android Chrome, open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings, then "Google services." Same toggles apply.

If Gemini appears in Chrome's address bar as an AI suggestion or in the side panel, you can also disable it by going to chrome://flags in the address bar and searching for Gemini-related flags. Disable any that appear. This is a more aggressive approach and these flags may change with Chrome updates.

How do I turn off Gemini in Google Search?

AI overviews in Google Search (the generative answers that appear above traditional results) are controlled separately. On desktop, there is no persistent toggle to disable them globally. You can append "&udm=14" to any Google Search URL to get classic results without AI overviews, or install a browser extension that does this automatically.

On mobile, you can switch to a different search engine entirely in your browser settings. Chrome makes this somewhat buried: Settings, then Search engine, then pick an alternative.

This is one area where the "disable" story is genuinely incomplete. Google does not offer a clean account-level toggle to remove AI overviews from Search. You are working around the feature, not turning it off.

What about Google Photos, Maps, and other apps?

Most of these fall under the "Smart features and personalization in other Google products" toggle described earlier. If you turned that off, Gemini features in Maps (route suggestions, place summaries), Photos (AI-generated captions, editing suggestions), and Calendar (AI event creation) should stop.

Some apps have their own per-app toggles as well. In Google Photos, open Settings and look for AI-related options under "Memories" and "Suggestions." In Maps, check Settings then "Notifications" and "Explore" for AI-powered recommendations.

The pattern is consistent: every app has its own settings surface. None of them point to the same place. You need to check each one individually if you want to be thorough.

Does turning off Gemini actually stop data collection?

Partially. Disabling the assistant function stops Gemini from responding to your voice and text queries. Disabling per-app smart features stops Gemini from processing your emails, documents, and calendar events for AI suggestions. Turning off Gemini Apps Activity stops long-term conversation logging (with the 72-hour caveat above).

But disabling the assistant function is separate from stopping data collection. Standard Google telemetry (Web & App Activity, Location History, ad personalization) continues independently of Gemini settings. If your goal is broader data minimization, you need to audit those settings separately at myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy.

This is worth being precise about. Turning off Gemini removes the AI layer. It does not turn Google into a privacy-first platform. Those are different problems.

Will my settings survive updates?

Google states that if you turned off Gemini's access to apps before an update, those privacy settings persist afterward. Multiple outlets still recommend double-checking after major OS or app updates, and that recommendation is well-founded. The settings have historically been stable, but "historically stable" and "guaranteed" are different things.

A reasonable approach: set a calendar reminder to audit your Gemini settings quarterly. Takes five minutes. Saves you from discovering six months later that a settings migration re-enabled something.

What is the Thele v. Google lawsuit about?

In October 2025, a federal class action (Thele v. Google LLC, N.D. Cal.) alleged that Google silently changed Gmail, Chat, and Meet settings, turning on Gemini features by default and allowing the AI to collect users' private data without consent. The core claim was that users never opted in and were never notified.

A federal judge dismissed the suit, ruling that the plaintiffs failed to allege concrete harm sufficient for standing. The dismissal was on procedural grounds, not on the merits of the privacy claims themselves. Plaintiffs were given leave to amend and refile.

The judge also noted something relevant to this guide: users can eliminate future privacy risk by switching off Gemini's smart features in their account settings. Which is true, as far as it goes. But it puts the burden entirely on users to discover and navigate a fragmented settings landscape that, as we have documented above, spans at least five separate menus.

The case is unresolved. The underlying question of whether default-on AI data collection requires affirmative consent has not been decided on the merits. For now, the practical answer is: the courts are not going to fix this for you. You need to fix it yourself.

Why do default settings differ by country?

Users in the EU, UK, and Japan were opted out of certain Gemini features by default due to GDPR, the UK Data Protection Act, and Japan's APPI. Users in the US were opted in by default. Same product, same company, same codebase. Different regulatory environment, different defaults.

This tells you something important about how to interpret any company's privacy posture. If they give EU users opt-out defaults and US users opt-in defaults, the default is not a reflection of the company's values. It is a reflection of what they can get away with in a given jurisdiction. The privacy protection you receive is a function of your geography, not their principles.

The complete checklist

Here is every setting, in order. Work through it top to bottom. Each step is independent; skipping one does not break the others.

1. Change the default assistant: Settings → Apps → Default apps → Digital assistant app → select "None" or an alternative.
2. Disable the Gemini app: Settings → Apps → Gemini → Disable.
3. Turn off Gmail smart features: Gmail → Settings → General → uncheck "Smart features and personalization."
4. Turn off cross-product smart features: myaccount.google.com → Data & privacy → "Smart features and personalization in other Google products" → Off.
5. Turn off Gemini Apps Activity: myactivity.google.com → Gemini Apps Activity → Off. Delete past conversations if desired.
6. Disable Gemini in Chrome: Chrome Settings → Google services → disable "Make searches and browsing better." Optionally disable Gemini-related chrome://flags.
7. Reduce AI in Search: Append "&udm=14" to search URLs, use an extension, or switch default search engine.
8. Audit per-app settings: Check Photos, Maps, Calendar, and any other Google apps for individual AI/smart feature toggles.
9. Audit broader Google data settings: myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy → review Web & App Activity, Location History, and ad personalization.
10. Set a quarterly reminder to re-check after updates.

What this does and does not accomplish

Following all of the above removes Gemini as your assistant, stops it from processing your emails and documents for AI suggestions, limits (but does not eliminate) conversation data retention, and reduces AI-powered features across Google's app ecosystem.

It does not uninstall Gemini from your phone (system app limitation). It does not stop the 72-hour short-term retention window. It does not disable standard Google telemetry unrelated to Gemini. And it does not change the fact that you are opting out of a system that was designed around opting you in.

The entire exercise takes 15 to 20 minutes if you work through it methodically. It should take about 30 seconds (one toggle, clearly labeled, in one place). The gap between those two numbers tells you everything about how opt-out is architected when the company's revenue depends on you staying opted in.

A note on the architecture of opt-out

The three-layer problem here (assistant default, per-app features, activity history) is not unique to any one company. It is the standard pattern for products that grow by embedding AI into existing surfaces. Each surface gets its own integration, its own settings, its own toggle. The result is that "turning off the AI" becomes a research project rather than a decision.

This is why we think the default should run the other way. If a product collects data or processes your content with AI, that should require an affirmative opt-in, not a scavenger hunt for opt-out toggles. Not because regulation requires it (though in some jurisdictions it does), but because that is the honest way to build software. You should not need a 2,000-word guide to stop a feature you never asked for.

We built Selina around that principle. Memory is encrypted at rest. Your data stays yours. If you want to delete something, delete means gone. We think the default should respect you, regardless of which country you happen to be in.

If you want an AI assistant that starts from that premise: start a free 7-day trial, no card required.

Michael C.

Founder & Principal Engineer, Selina Labs

Michael builds Selina, a privacy-first AI that remembers you across conversations. He ships security-sensitive AI in production — real attacks, real fixes, measured in minutes and dollars — and writes about privacy, security, and LLMs from that seat. Top Rated Plus and expert-verified on Upwork.

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