Gemini can read your Gmail. Here is how to switch it off

Google's Gemini AI is built into Gmail and other Google apps, often switched on by default, and it can read your emails to do tasks for you. Google says it does not train Gemini on your personal emails. But one account setting can change how your data is used, and turning the AI off has a cost.

What Google says it does

To summarize an email or draft a reply, Gemini has to read the message. Google says it uses your inbox only for these "isolated tasks." In its words, Gemini "only processes your information to complete your specific request, and doesn't hold onto that data afterward."

Google says the same protection covers Workspace apps such as Chat, Calendar, Docs, Drive, Sheets and Slides. Its support page says it does not use that data to train the AI models behind Gemini and Search "without permission." That last phrase matters.

Where the catch is

The picture shifts when you connect Workspace apps to Search services, which can enable AI Mode features. Google says it may then use that data to improve its services for everyone, including training generative AI models.

Google also says Search does not train its AI directly on your Gmail inbox. Instead, summaries, excerpts and inferences drawn from your emails and files may be used to answer your prompts, and Google trains its models on those. So your inbox is not fed in whole, but pieces and conclusions drawn from it can be.

Who it affects

Anyone who uses Gmail, Workspace apps or Google Search with linked accounts. If you never link your apps to Search, Google's own statement says Gemini handles your emails only for the task you ask for. These are Google's descriptions, and the report does not test them independently.

What to do

The alert box above lists the steps. In short, you can switch off Gmail's smart features and the Workspace smart features, and the settings apply across your account, so you only do it once. If you want to keep the AI tools, you can instead review your Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations.

There is a trade-off. Turning off smart features can also turn off spelling and grammar checks. Google makes you choose between basic editing help and AI features you may not want.