Google Workspace users who have grown weary of the persistent Gemini AI prompts invading their Google Docs now have a clear path to silence the assistant, though the process remains more buried than users might expect. The most direct route targets the bottom AI bar that appears under documents, which can be removed by clicking the "Gemini" option in the top menu bar and selecting "bottom bar preferences." From there, users can toggle off the bar that otherwise invites them to "write with Gemini" every time they open a new document.
For users dealing with more invasive AI features, including a "help me write" prompt that reportedly follows the cursor around the screen, the nuclear option lives inside Gmail rather than Google Docs itself. Users need to click the gear icon in Gmail, select "See all settings," and scroll roughly halfway down the page until they reach "Google Workspace smart features." Disabling this setting shuts off AI integration across the entire workspace, not just Docs, which means the same Gemini prompts will stop appearing in Gmail, Sheets, and Slides as well.
The buried nature of these settings has clearly frustrated users enough that some, like this reporter, have tried asking Gemini itself how to make it disappear. That approach backfires, as the AI suggests clicking an "X" icon that only closes the current conversation rather than removing the underlying integration. It is the kind of circular, unhelpful response that makes the case for Google surfacing these toggles more prominently in the first place.
Google has been pushing Gemini deeper into its productivity suite throughout 2025, treating Workspace as a primary distribution channel for its AI tools. The aggressive placement of these prompts, often appearing before users have even begun typing, reflects the company's broader strategy of embedding AI into every available surface. For the growing segment of users who simply want to write without algorithmic assistance, the workaround exists but requires either accepting the loss of all smart features across Workspace or navigating a multi-step settings menu that Google has made deliberately hard to find.