How to turn off Gemini in Gmail, and what each switch costs you

The Morse teamPublished October 29, 20267 min read

As of October 2026, to turn off Gemini in Gmail on the web, open Settings, then See all settings, and on the General tab click Manage Workspace smart feature settings, switch off Smart features in Google Workspace, and click Save. That removes the Gemini side panel, Help me write, AI Overviews, and Suggested Replies. Gmail has two more AI switches, and summary cards sit under one of them.

We read Google's own Gmail, Gemini, and Workspace help pages on October 23, 2026, in their computer, Android, and iPhone versions, plus Gmail's post on X about training. Google deserves credit for listing what each switch turns off. Some popular guides are out of date. One describes a "Turn off smart features in Workspace, then Next" dialog that Google's help page no longer shows, and another says to skip the app, though Google gives paths for both phones.

Gmail's AI switches, where they are, and what else they turn off

Gmail has three smart features settings, and they work independently (Google). Each path below is Google's own, read October 23, 2026.

Sources: Google on smart features (Android, iPhone) and package tracking. Google says some changes made on a computer "don't reflect in the mobile app," so check your phone afterward.

Which switch turns off each Gemini feature in Gmail?

On January 8, 2026, Google began rolling out Help me write, thread summaries, and Suggested Replies "to everyone at no cost," when it said Gmail was "entering the Gemini era" (Google).

What do you lose when you turn off smart features?

Your inbox tabs and Smart Compose, if you pick the wrong box. Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet takes the Primary, Social, and Promotions tabs, Smart Compose, Smart Reply, summary cards, and package tracking with it. To remove Gemini and keep those, turn off only the Workspace switch, which costs you flights and invitations from Gmail showing up in Calendar. Turning off Proofread also means "you won't get grammar suggestions," Google says (Google).

Some guides say turning off smart features also kills spell check, but Google's pages don't list it under any of the three switches. Spelling, grammar, and autocorrect each have their own toggle on the General tab (Google).

Does Gmail use your emails to train Gemini?

Google says no. When viral posts in November 2025 claimed Gmail had opted everyone into AI training, Gmail's X account replied: "We have not changed anyone's settings" and "We do not use your Gmail content to train our Gemini AI model" (Gmail on X, November 21, 2025). Google's help page for Gemini in Gmail says the same as of October 2026: it "doesn't use your content to train or improve Gemini or other generative AI models" and "doesn't store your prompt or the generated output without your permission" (Google).

Three things sit beside that promise, on Google's own pages:

• Smart features learn from your mail. "When smart features are on, your data may be used to improve these features." Google's example: "processing aggregated Gmail data helped us develop and launch Smart Compose." Switching off stops it going forward, but "the learnings developed from this improvement process may persist" (Google).
• The Gemini app is different. Connecting Gmail to the Gemini app falls under the Gemini Apps Privacy Notice instead, and Google trains on summaries and excerpts of the mail the app reads (Google). Our guide to whether Gemini is private covers what that app keeps.
• Side panel chats are saved. Gemini in Gmail keeps a conversation history, which you can set to delete after 3, 18, or 36 months under Ask Gemini, More options, Settings, History. On work and school accounts it "is kept forever" by default unless your administrator sets a period (Google).

How do you stop the Gemini app from reading your Gmail?

Disconnect it in the Gemini app itself. On gemini.google.com or in the app, open Customize (under More if it's hidden), then Connectors, find the app, and choose More options, then Disconnect (Google). In Gmail, turning off Smart features in other Google products also ends Personal Intelligence's use of your mail. Disconnecting stops future access only. Google says it "doesn't delete any data from Gemini Apps Activity" (Google).

How do you turn off Gemini in Gmail on a work or school account?

Your administrator decides first. In the Google Admin console, on Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, and some education editions, an admin goes to Generative AI, Gemini for Workspace, Feature access, and turns Gmail off. Gemini features are on by default, and even with Gemini off in one app, "users can still access its data when using Gemini in other apps" (Google Workspace).

Admins can set a smart features default, but "users can override the default in their individual settings," so the switches above still work (Google Workspace).

How to get AI help with an email without giving it your inbox

Every switch above exists because Gemini in Gmail works by reading your mailbox. Help me write pulls "details from your other emails and Drive files" without being asked (Google). Morse is a separate web app, so paste in only the paragraph you need help with.

Paste the one paragraph you need help with, take out names and account numbers, and pick a privacy mode for the chat:

• Anonymous, to ask Gemini, GPT, or Claude about an email with no Google Account behind it. Our proxy removes your account, email, and IP address and sends the message under Morse's own account. The model's provider sees the text without knowing it's you, and may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy.
• Private, for a reply you'd rather no host keep. New chats start here. Open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM run on hosts that agreed to keep nothing.
• E2EE, for a contract, a medical letter, or anything no one should read. Your browser checks the enclave's hardware attestation, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it, and our servers relay ciphertext they can't read. It rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. Our guide explains how end-to-end encrypted AI chat works.

In every mode, your chat history is stored in your browser, encrypted, not on our servers, and it locks when you sign out. There's no smart features switch to find, because Morse doesn't train AI on your content, sell your data, or show ads (Morse privacy policy). Clearing your browser deletes your chats for good, and we can't recover them, so copy the finished draft back into Gmail. For more habits like this, read how to use AI privately.

Which switch should you turn off?

• Gemini drafting and summaries: Smart features in Google Workspace.
• Summary cards: Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet, which also takes your inbox tabs and Smart Compose.
• The Gemini app reading your mail: disconnect it under Connectors, and turn off Smart features in other Google products.
• Training: Google says Gmail content doesn't train Gemini, but smart features learn from it while they're on. Morse doesn't train AI on your chats; see which AI companies train on your data.

Try a chat from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with no card needed. End-to-end encrypted chats come with Pro, at $19 a month.