Turn off Google’s AI features: How to deactivate Gemini in Gmail and Workspace

Create documents, tables and presentations, set up a meeting or write a few emails. In the past, you needed different programs from different providers for all of this, but now many tech companies have all-in-one offers in their portfolio. Microsoft has Microsoft 365, Google has Workspace. What both cloud app packages have in common: a strong focus on generative AI, which is also reflected in the balance sheets.

According to Microsoft Managing Director Satya Nadella, as of April 2026, around 20 million people are paying for the AI ​​tool Copilot, and at Google there will be around eleven million paying workspace users at the end of 2025 who will also use it to purchase Gemini. Google’s large language model is also the engine for its product strategy outside of productivity software. Whether AI answers in Google Search or Gemini summaries in Google Maps: AI integrations can now be found in all Google services.

Because all large tech companies as well as independent AI laboratories such as OpenAI or Anthropic significantly influence the economy, politics and society with their AI vision, this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. However, anyone who is bothered by AI features such as the recently rolled out Gemini chat bar in Google Docs can deactivate or at least hide them. We show how.

AI integration in Gmail and Drive: Disable smart features

In addition to the Chrome browser and Google search, the first point of contact for most users is likely to be Gmail. Although Google has not published official usage figures for years, in 2019, according to the company, the free email service was probably used by 1.5 billion people.

If you don’t want Gemini to use your emails, for example to make suggestions with the “Intelligent Write” function, you can deactivate this in the settings. To do this, open either Gmail on your cell phone or in the browser and tap on that Burger menu and then up Settings respectively the gear and then up Call up all settings. Then scroll to the menu item Smart functions and removes the hook there.

For Google Drive you have to access the desktop version of the tool. Then click on the gear and on Settings. Under the menu item Data protection you will find the button Manage smart feature settings in Workspace. Here you can use the two buttons Smart features in Google Workspace and Smart features in other Google products tick off.

Gemini in Docs, Sheets and Slides: Turn off AI in paid subscriptions

In addition to the free tools, Google also offers paid versions of its productivity software. For a monthly or annual subscription you not only get more storage, but also expanded access to Gemini. In return, Google is also adding more AI functionality to all of its tools. Unlike the settings for Gmail, parts of this functionality must be disabled individually for each app.

In the case of Google Docs, you can first hide the chat bar at the bottom of the document. To do this, open a new document and click on in the menu Gemini, Bottom bar settings and Disable. This means that both the suggestions in the document itself and the chat window disappear. However, the Gemini menu item cannot be removed.

With Google Sheets you also have to use the menu item Gemini in a new table. There you will find the sub-item Settings. You hooked Enable table suggestions and Enable “Fill with Gemini”. you will be spared pop-ups and references to Google’s AI tool in the future.

Google Slides is a little more subtle when it comes to incorporating Gemini. Here, Google primarily relies on the integration of Nano Banana. The corresponding icon on the sidebar cannot be hidden. The only option you have regarding disabling AI is to click on the X Create slide to click. You cannot make any further adjustments.