How to turn off Gemini on Android, now that Google Assistant is gone

The Morse teamPublished October 28, 202611 min read

How to turn off Gemini on Android, as of October 2026: open Settings, then Apps, Default apps, Digital assistant app, tap Default digital assistant app, and choose None. That stops the power button, the corner swipe, and holding Home from opening Gemini. Then, in the Gemini app, turn off "Hey Google" and Use Gemini without unlocking. You can no longer switch back to Google Assistant, which Google began removing from phones, tablets, and paired devices in September 2026.

We read Google's own pages on October 28, 2026: Gemini Apps Help (managing the Android app, the lock screen, setup, headphones, Connected Apps, Messages, and the Privacy Hub, last updated October 26, 2026), Wear OS Help, Chrome Help, Android Auto Help, Pixel Phone Help, the help page for cars with Google built-in, and Google's Assistant and Gemini community notices. For Samsung's side button we read Samsung's US support page the same day. Google deserves credit for one page in particular. Its guide to managing the Gemini app gives a path for each way Gemini opens, so you can keep the app and drop the shortcuts.

Every way Gemini opens on Android, and what turning it off leaves

Every step below is Google's or Samsung's own, read October 28, 2026. Menu names vary by phone maker, so if a setting isn't where Google says, search your Settings app for "power," "side button," "gesture," or "digital assistant app," as Google suggests.

Sources: Google's pages on managing the Gemini app, the lock screen, setup and screen context, Connected Apps, Gemini in Messages, auto browse in Chrome, Gemini on your watch, Gemini on headphones, Gemini in your car, cars with Google built-in, and the Privacy Hub; Samsung's page on the side button.

Can you still switch back to Google Assistant?

No, not on a phone or tablet, and Google's notice says not on paired devices either. In a notice posted August 6, 2026, Google's Assistant community manager wrote that "Starting on September 3rd, Google Assistant on your mobile device is being discontinued," and that once removal reaches you, "you will no longer be able to use or switch back to Google Assistant on your phone, tablet, or paired devices" (Google Assistant Community).

Google took 18 months to get there, and its own notices don't agree on the last step:

Guides written in 2025 tell you to open Digital assistants from Google and pick Google Assistant. If the menu a guide sends you to isn't there, the guide is out of date. What's left is None as your default assistant, which takes Gemini off every button and gesture without bringing anything else back.

What the change means for your watch and headphones

The August notice says that when Gemini becomes your phone's assistant, it "also becomes the assistant on devices that are paired with your mobile phone": Wear OS watches, headphones or earbuds that work with Gemini, and Android Auto from your phone.

• Watches. Gemini needs Wear OS 4 or later, and Google says you can chat with it on your watch "when Gemini is also your digital assistant on the phone connected to your watch" (Wear OS Help). Some watches add Raise to Talk, which Google warns "can sometimes activate Gemini unintentionally with your arm movement." Wear OS Help's setup page, read the same day, still says you can use Google Assistant on select watches with Wear OS 3.0 or later (Wear OS Help).
• Headphones. Gemini answers through them when it's your phone's primary assistant. Two more switches sit in the same headphone settings: Only require one unlock, which lets you talk to Gemini on a locked phone while headphones with on-head detection stay on, and Spoken notifications, which has Gemini read your messages aloud (Google).

How do you stop the power button opening Gemini?

Change what a long press does. On Pixel and most phones that follow Google's menus, open Settings, tap System, Gestures, Press & hold power button, and pick another action. Google notes that the "Digital assistant" choice opens whatever your default assistant is (Google). Pixel Help says Gemini comes as the default assistant on the Pixel 9 and later (Google).

On a Samsung Galaxy phone, the button is the side button. Samsung's support page puts it under Settings, Advanced features, Side button, where Long press offers Digital assistant, Bixby, or Power off menu (Samsung). Pick Power off menu and a long press brings up the power menu again. Samsung's own Galaxy AI settings are a separate matter, covered in is Galaxy AI private.

The power button is one of three touch shortcuts Google lists for the default assistant, with touching and holding Home and swiping up from a bottom corner (Google). To close all three at once, set Default digital assistant app to None.

How do you turn off "Hey Google" and Gemini on the lock screen?

Both live in the Gemini app's settings. Tap Menu, your profile picture or initial, Settings, then Talk to Gemini hands-free, and turn off "Hey Google" (Google).

For the lock screen, go to Settings, then Gemini on lock screen, and turn off both switches there (Google):

• Use Gemini without unlocking controls whether Gemini answers general questions on a locked phone.
• Make calls and send messages without unlocking is a separate switch, off unless you opted in.

Google's page lists what a locked phone can otherwise do with Gemini: read and reply to messages in your notifications, get Maps directions, create reminders and events, set alarms and timers, control smart home devices, and turn on the flashlight. Gemini asks you to unlock first for some personal content, like reading your calendar.

If you had Assistant's lock screen settings set the way you liked, check again. The Privacy Hub says "Google Assistant settings, like Assistant on lock screen settings, do not apply to apps connected to Gemini" (Privacy Hub).

Can you uninstall Gemini from your phone?

You can delete the Gemini app, but Gemini doesn't go with it. Google says deleting the app "doesn't automatically remove Gemini as your device's default digital assistant" (Google). The Privacy Hub explains why: "Gemini is hosted by the Google app, even if you download the Gemini app" (Privacy Hub). Gemini also uses the Google app's permissions for your camera, microphone, contacts, and location, so to limit those, touch and hold the Google app, then tap App info and Permissions.

So the order matters. Set your default assistant to None first, then in Gemini Apps Activity choose Turn off and delete activity if you want past chats gone, and only then delete the app.

How do you turn off Gemini in Chrome on Android?

Only if you opted in. Chrome Help says you opt in the first time you tap Ask Gemini, that it needs you to be 18 or over in a supported region with a phone of 4 GB of RAM or more on Android 12 or later, and that it isn't available in Incognito (Chrome Help). Once you're in, your current page is shared by default, and Stop sharing in the text box ends that.

Google's pages disagree about whether it exists on phones at all. Another Chrome Help page, read the same day, says "For now, Gemini in Chrome is not available on Android phones or tablets" (Chrome Help).

To stop its agent acting for you, open Chrome, tap More, Settings, Gemini in Chrome, and turn off Let Gemini browse for you (Google). We found no step in Google's Android Chrome pages that removes the Ask Gemini button itself. What Gemini does with those chats is in is Gemini private.

How do you turn off Gemini in Android Auto?

Through your phone. The Android Auto and Gemini help pages we read give Android Auto no Gemini switch of its own. Google's page on Gemini in the car lists "Gemini set as your digital assistant" as a requirement for Android Auto from your phone, and says "Hey Google" only works when Voice Match and "Hey Google" are on (Google). Google's notice names Android Auto among the paired devices where Assistant is gone, so turning Gemini off there doesn't bring Assistant back.

Cars with Google built-in are different. Google says the upgrade there "is optional," and you can switch back from the car's screen under Settings, Google, Gemini, Switch to use Google Assistant (Google).

Does turning off Gemini stop Google keeping what you say?

No. Every way in, from the power button to Messages, Chrome, and Android Auto, falls under one Keep Activity setting, and turning that off still leaves each chat "saved with your account for up to 72 hours" (Google). On Android, the Phone, Messages, and WhatsApp connections keep working "whether Keep Activity is on or off," so disconnect them under Customize, Connectors, More options, Disconnect (Privacy Hub). What Google trains on and how long reviewers keep chats is in is Gemini private, and every delete step is in how to delete Gemini history.

How to use AI without it landing in your Google Account

The switches above decide which button opens Gemini. They don't change where your words go. Gemini runs inside the Google app and saves what you say with your Google Account, whichever door you came in by. Morse is a web app at trymorse.ai. It offers over 30 models, open and closed, in one account, and it opens only when you open it.

• Anonymous, for using Gemini without your Google Account attached. Pick Gemini from the model list and our proxy strips your account, email, and IP address from the message and passes it on under Morse's own account. Google gets the text without knowing it's you, and can hold it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy. Google still sees the words, so keep names and identifying details out of them.
• Private, for the questions you'd put to Gemini but don't want any host to keep. It's the mode a new chat starts in. DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM, and other open-weight models answer under the zero data retention agreements Morse has with its inference, search, and other providers, and where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks and rejects any reply without it.
• E2EE, for what you'd never say out loud to an assistant. Before anything leaves your device, your browser verifies the secure enclave's hardware attestation and encrypts the message for that enclave alone, so our servers pass on ciphertext they can't open. This rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. It comes with Pro, $19 a month.

In all three, Morse keeps your chat history in your browser, encrypted, and our servers don't keep your messages. Sign out and the history locks. Morse doesn't train AI on your content, sell your data, or show ads (Morse privacy policy), and because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities. If you clear your browser, the chats are gone and we can't restore them, so save what you want to keep. More habits like these are in how to use AI privately.

Which Gemini switch should you turn off?

• Gemini popping up by accident: set Default digital assistant app to None, or on a Galaxy phone, set the side button's long press to Power off menu.
• Gemini answering your voice: turn off "Hey Google" under Talk to Gemini hands-free, and on your watch under Digital assistant.
• Someone else using your locked phone: turn off both switches under Gemini on lock screen, and Only require one unlock for your headphones.
• What Google keeps: turn off Keep Activity and disconnect Phone, Messages, and WhatsApp. On Morse, Gemini gets your message in Anonymous mode with your account, email, and IP address taken off, and the chat stays in your browser.

Start a chat on the Morse home page before you make an account, or sign up free without a card.