Gmail has added AI features at a fast pace over the past two years. If you opened Gmail recently and noticed autocomplete suggestions, a sidebar panel, or automatic reply drafts you never asked for, you are not alone. Many users want to know how to turn off AI in Gmail and get back to a cleaner, more controlled inbox.
You can disable these features in a couple of minutes using the steps below. If you still want AI available in Gmail but only when you ask for it, GPT Workspace brings ChatGPT into Gmail on demand, with no background activity. Full details later in this guide.
This guide covers every toggle, setting, and admin control available, on desktop, mobile, and in Google Workspace, so you can decide exactly which AI features stay and which ones go.
What Gmail AI Features You Can Actually Disable
Before diving into steps, it helps to know what is on the table. Gmail ships several AI features that work independently of each other.
Smart Compose generates grey text suggestions as you type. You can accept a suggestion by pressing Tab, or ignore it entirely. It is on by default.
Smart Reply surfaces a row of short reply options at the bottom of emails you receive. Clicking one fills your compose window with a canned response.
Smart features and personalization is a broader toggle that controls whether Gmail reads your email content to power features like automatic categorization, suggested actions, and predictive behavior.
Gemini in Gmail is a newer addition. It adds a star-shaped or spark icon in the right sidebar that opens an AI chat panel. In Google Workspace accounts, Gemini can also summarize threads, draft full emails on request, and surface suggested actions inside messages.
Each of these has its own control, and disabling one does not disable the others.
How to Turn Off AI in Gmail on Desktop
Open gmail.com in your browser and follow these steps.
Step 1: Open Gmail Settings
Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of Gmail. Then click See all settings in the panel that appears.
Step 2: Disable Smart Compose
You land on the General tab by default. Scroll down to the Smart Compose section. Uncheck the box labeled Writing suggestions on. This stops Gmail from showing grey autocomplete text as you type.
Step 3: Disable Smart Reply
Still on the General tab, find the Smart Reply section just below Smart Compose. Click Smart Reply off to stop Gmail from showing quick-reply buttons on incoming emails.
Step 4: Turn Off Smart Features and Personalization
Scroll further down to the Smart features and personalization section. Select Smart features and personalization off. This is the broadest toggle: it tells Gmail to stop reading your message content to power AI-based behavior across the app.
A dialog may appear warning you that some features will stop working. Confirm, then click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Step 5: Close or Ignore the Gemini Panel
If your account has the Gemini panel in the right sidebar (a star or spark icon), you can click the icon to collapse the panel. There is no persistent setting to remove it from the interface on personal Gmail accounts. On Google Workspace accounts, your administrator controls whether Gemini is available at all.
How to Turn Off AI in Gmail on Mobile (iOS and Android)
The Gmail app on iOS and Android has its own settings path.
- Open the Gmail app and tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Settings.
- Tap your email address to open account-specific settings.
- Under the General section, find Smart Compose and toggle it off.
- Find Smart Reply and toggle it off as well.
Mobile settings apply only to the Gmail app on that device. They do not sync with your desktop browser settings, so you may need to repeat the steps on each device you use.
How Workspace Admins Can Disable Gemini for an Entire Organization
If you manage a Google Workspace account and want to disable Gemini across all users, the control is in the Admin Console.
- Go to admin.google.com and sign in with an admin account.
- Navigate to Apps, then Google Workspace, then Gmail.
- Open User settings and scroll to the Gemini section.
- Set Gemini in Gmail to Off for your organization or a specific organizational unit.
This removes the Gemini panel and disables Gemini-powered drafting for all affected users. Smart Compose and Smart Reply remain separate controls and must be managed under the same User settings section.
What You Cannot Turn Off
Some Gmail behaviors are not optional. Spam filtering, phishing detection, and basic message categorization (Primary, Social, Promotions tabs) use Google’s backend processing and cannot be fully disabled from user settings.
If you turn off Smart features and personalization, Gmail stops using your personal message content to train suggestions, but Google’s infrastructure-level processing for security and delivery still applies.
The Gemini panel itself cannot be permanently hidden through a user setting on personal accounts. The only way to remove it at the account level is through admin controls in Google Workspace.
AI on Your Terms: Use AI When You Want It
Turning off Gmail’s built-in AI does not mean giving up AI entirely. It just means you want AI to work when you choose to call it, not automatically.
Try GPT Workspace
GPT Workspace adds ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini directly inside Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. You decide when to invoke it. No automatic suggestions, no background reading. AI responds only when you ask.
Get Started →
Here is how GPT Workspace fits into a Gmail workflow when you want AI help without the always-on behavior:
- Draft replies on request. Open a thread, click the GPT Workspace sidebar icon, describe the tone or key points you want to cover, and get a ready draft. Nothing is generated until you click.
- Summarize long threads. Ask GPT Workspace to condense a long email chain into a few bullet points. It reads only what you share at that moment, not your whole inbox.
- Translate incoming messages. Paste a message and ask for a translation, or draft your reply directly in the recipient’s language.
Unlike Gemini, GPT Workspace never runs in the background or monitors your inbox. It responds only when you open it and ask. If you find Gmail’s suggestions intrusive but still want AI for specific tasks, GPT Workspace gives you exactly that control. You can also read our guide on ChatGPT for Gmail to see how AI-on-demand compares to Gmail’s built-in features.
Frequently Asked Questions
For more Gmail productivity tips, see our Gmail tips and tricks guide and our breakdown of Gmail filters and rules.
