How to turn off AI in Google Docs

It happened to me: I opened a Google Doc to write an article, and immediately faced a text box inviting me to “write about Gemini.” I looked for the swipe button to remove the AI ​​display, but I couldn’t find it. It pissed me off.

Now, instead of writing an article that I have to work on, I’m writing about how to remove AI bugs from your Google Docs screen, as it took me a while to figure out. You are welcome.

The first fix is ​​straightforward:

• Click on “Gemini” in the top menu bar above your document.
• From the drop-down menu, select “bottom bar preferences.”
• You can choose to turn off that bottom bar, which will remove that AI box from the bottom of your screen.

Full disclosure: I was so pissed off when I first got the “low bar preference” that I completely missed it at first. Instead, I clicked “Ask more” and asked Gemini to help me get them out of my life. The AI ​​may not be human, but Gemini seems to have some kind of survival instinct, because it told me to click the “X” icon. That doesn’t rule out Gemini. It just closes the conversation, the one I was asking is how to close it. It’s suspicious!

Other frustrated Google Docs users have reported features I haven’t encountered yet, such as the “Help me write” feature that hovers over your cursor while you’re working. This seems like something that was annoying me, so it’s worth removing it before it’s too late. Benjamin Franklin once said, “A half of defense is worth a pound of cure.” (He was talking about fire safety. I’m talking about product development.)

Instead of turning off each AI feature like a game of whac-o-mole, we can disable “smart features” across our entire Google workspace with Gmail.

• First, navigate to your Gmail inbox.
• From there, find the Settings gear icon and click on it.
• Then, at the top of the menu, click “See all settings.” (But while you’re at it, you should pick a fun theme for your inbox. Can the frenzy kill you?)

• After you click “See all settings,” scroll about halfway down the page to find “Google Workspace smart features,” then click “Manage Workspace smart features settings.”

• Here, you are presented with two options: one that allows you to change smart features in Google Workspace (such as those annoying Gemini pop-ups in Google Docs), and one that works with other smart features (which I personally find less annoying). I only removed the first option, but if for some reason you hate when Gmail automatically generates calendar events for your flights, this is where you can fix that.

Now you should be safe from annoying Gemini pop-ups that interrupt your writing process in Google Docs. You can rest easy.