How to Turn Off AI on Google: Search, Gmail, Chrome and Android

There is no single switch that turns off AI across Google, and as of October 2026 there is no official setting that removes AI Overviews from Google Search at all. What you can do is hide AI Overviews with Google’s own Web filter (or make that view your default), and switch off Gemini separately in Gmail and Workspace, in Chrome and on your Android phone.

Below is what works for each product, what doesn’t, and what you give up. Google changes its menus often, so the exact labels on your screen may differ slightly.

Quick overview: what you can and can’t turn off

Google Search: hiding AI Overviews

According to guides quoting Google’s help documentation, Google describes AI Overviews as a core Search feature, like knowledge panels, and says such features can’t be turned off (Search Engine Watch). So every method below hides AI Overviews rather than disabling them for your account.

Option 1: Use the Web filter (official, per search)

The Web filter is the one control Google itself provides. It shows a plain list of links without the AI Overview.

1. Search on Google as you normally would.
2. Look at the row of filters under the search box (All, Images, News and so on).
3. Select Web. On desktop it may be hidden under More; on a phone, swipe the filter row or open the full filter list.
4. Google reloads the results as a links-only page.

The catch: it only applies to that one search. Google doesn’t offer a setting to make Web the default (Tom’s Guide).

Option 2: Make the Web view your default with udm=14

When you pick the Web filter, Google adds udm=14 to the address of the results page. You can use that to build a custom search engine in your browser so every search from the address bar opens in Web view. This trick has been widely documented since Google added the Web filter in May 2024 (Daring Fireball).

In Chrome on a computer:

1. Open the three-dot menu and go to Settings > Search engine, then open the page for managing search engines.
2. Add a new search engine (in current versions this is under Site search).
3. Give it a name (for example “Google Web”) and a shortcut.
4. For the URL, enter: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14
5. Save it, then open its menu and choose Make default.

Other browsers that allow custom search engines, such as Firefox and Edge, can use the same URL. Two honest caveats:

• It’s undocumented. Google hasn’t published udm=14 as a supported feature, and sources warn it could stop working without notice. Recent reports still describe it as working in October 2026.
• Third-party shortcut sites exist, but they route your searches through someone else’s server, which some guides flag as a privacy trade-off. Setting up the custom search engine yourself avoids that.

What doesn’t work

• The Search Labs toggle. Older articles said to turn off an “AI Overviews and more” experiment. Current reporting says that switch only affects Labs experiments, not AI Overviews in regular Search (Proton).
• Adding “-ai” to your query. Some people report this suppresses the overview, but results are inconsistent, so it isn’t something to rely on.

AI Mode, Google’s separate chat-style search tab, is a different feature from AI Overviews. It only appears if you open it, and the Web view doesn’t take you there.

Gmail, Docs and Drive: turning off Gemini

Unlike Search, Google Workspace has a real off switch. TechCrunch’s June 2026 walkthrough describes it this way (TechCrunch):

1. Open Gmail on a computer and click the gear icon, then See all settings.
2. On the General tab, find the smart features section.
3. Click Manage Workspace smart feature settings.
4. Turn off the options shown. One covers smart features in Google Workspace (including Gemini prompts in Docs); the other covers smart features in other Google products.
5. Save your changes.

According to Proton, these settings apply across Workspace apps such as Drive, so you generally only need to change them once. Labels can vary by account type.

Know the trade-off before you flip it: turning off smart features also removes everyday conveniences such as automatic inbox categories, predictive text and quick suggestions. If you use a work or school account, your administrator may control these settings instead of you.

Chrome: turning off Gemini in the browser

Chrome lets you switch off most Gemini features from its settings (Chrome Story):

1. Open the three-dot menu and choose Settings.
2. Go to AI innovations, then Gemini in Chrome.
3. Turn off the toggles on that page. This removes the side panel, stops Gemini from reading your current tab, and disables the keyboard shortcut.
4. To remove the Gemini toolbar button, right-click the icon and choose Unpin.

Sources note that the settings don’t remove Gemini from Chrome completely; for example, an “Ask Gemini” right-click option may remain. Guides that remove it rely on experimental Chrome flags, which aren’t a supported setting, so we don’t recommend them. Managed work or school computers may have these options locked.

Android: Gemini instead of Google Assistant

On many Android phones Gemini has replaced Google Assistant, and the way back is closing. Reports from September 2026 say Google began removing Assistant from mobile devices, and that the Switch to Google Assistant option in the Gemini menu no longer appears in recent versions of the Google app. Some reports say that once Assistant is removed from a phone, you can’t return to it. Availability varies by device, region and rollout, so check your own phone.

What you can still do:

1. Open Settings > Apps > Default apps > Digital assistant app (the path varies by phone maker).
2. Change the default assistant to another app, or to no assistant if your phone offers that option (Tuta).

Changing the assistant doesn’t delete past Gemini conversations. Those are tied to your Google Account’s Gemini Apps Activity, which you can review and manage separately in your Google Account’s activity controls. By default, Gemini conversations are reportedly kept for 18 months.

The bottom line

You can turn off Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Chrome and (to a degree) on Android, but you can’t turn off AI Overviews in Google Search. The practical fix is the Web filter, and if you want it every time, a custom search engine using udm=14. Google adjusts these features frequently, so if a menu has moved, look for similarly named options under the same section.