Overview

Some instructors, staff, and students may prefer to disable Gemini AI drafting assistance and other smart features across Google Workspace applications.

Google Workspace does not provide granular administrative controls to disable all or individual Gemini features on a per-user, per-class, or per-document basis across the university environment.

Because of these application-level limitations, individual users must manage and disable smart features and Gemini options directly within their own account settings.

How to Adjust Your Settings

You can adjust your AI and smart feature preferences directly within the individual Google Workspace applications.  Some additional features may be lost when these AI features are removed or you may experience unintended effects since many of the Smart Features.

Disabling Features in Google Drive

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner, then select Settings.
3. Click Privacy in the left navigation panel.
4. Select Manage Workspace smart feature settings.
5. Untoggle the settings you want to turn off.

Disabling Features in Google Docs

1. Open any document in Google Docs.
2. Click Tools in the top menu bar, then select Preferences.
3. In the Preferences menu, uncheck any smart or AI-assisted drafting features you do not wish to use.
4. Click OK.
   Note: You may need to refresh any open document tabs for these setting changes to take effect.

Disabling Features in Gmail

1. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner, then select See All Settings.
2. Scroll through the General tab to uncheck any smart or AI-assisted drafting features you do not wish to use.  (This includes Grammar, Spelling, and Autocorrect options as all may use AI).
3. Click OK.
   Note: You may need to refresh any open tabs for these setting changes to take effect.

Disabling Features in Sheets

Similar controls exist across other Google apps, but may not exist in the same place:

1. Open any file in Sheets.
2. Click Gemini in the top menu bar, then select Preferences.
3. Uncheck any of the features you do not wish to use.
   Note: You may need to refresh any open document tabs for these setting changes to take effect.

Important Notes

• Scope of Settings: Changing these preferences only affects your individual user account and view. It will not impact the features available to other users or collaborators on shared documents.
• Feature Evolution: Platform controls for generative AI are evolving rapidly. Features available today may be removed or changed with limited or no warning.
• See Google’s Help Page for more information and future updates.