It happened to me. When I opened Google Docs to write an article, a text box immediately appeared prompting me to “Write with Gemini.” I looked for a button to swipe away the flashy AI display, but couldn’t find it. It made me angry.
Now, instead of writing an article to work on, since it took me a while to figure it out, I’m going to write about how to remove AI pop-ups from your Google Docs screen. you’re welcome.
The first fix is very simple.
Click (Gemini) in the top menu bar above your document. In the drop-down menu, select Bottom Bar Settings. You can also turn off the bottom bar. This will remove the AI box at the bottom of the screen.
Full disclosure: I got so furious when I tried to find the “bottom bar settings” that I completely missed it at first. Instead, I clicked “Ask something else” and asked Gemini to help me remove her from my life. The AI may not be human, but Gemini seems to have some kind of survival instinct that told it to click the “X” icon. That doesn’t mean Gemini will disappear. It just closed the conversation, the one where I was asking how to turn it off. i doubt it!
Other obnoxious Google Docs users have reported features I haven’t yet encountered, such as the “Help me write” feature that lets you hover over your cursor while you work. This seems to upset me so it might be worth nipping it in the bud before it’s too late. Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” (He was talking about fire safety. I’m talking about product design.)
Rather than turning off individual AI features like a game of whack-a-mole, you can disable “smart features” for your entire Google Workspace via Gmail.
First, go to your Gmail inbox. From there, find and click the (Settings) gear icon. Then click “Show All Settings” at the top of the menu. (While you’re here, though, you should choose a fun theme for your inbox. Would a little quirk kill you?) After clicking (See all settings), scroll about halfway down the page to find (Google Workspace smart features), and click (Manage Workspace smart features settings).
You will see two options here. One is an option to toggle off smart features in Google Workspace (like the annoying Gemini pop-up in Google Docs), and the other is an option to apply to other smart features (which I personally find less annoying). I only turned off the first option, but if for some reason you don’t like Gmail automatically creating calendar events for your flight, you can fix it here.
Now you should be safe from those annoying Gemini pop-ups that interrupt your creation process in Google Docs. You can use it with confidence.
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