Quick, practical steps to turn off Gemini in Chrome on desktop and mobile. If Gemini’s AI suggestions, sidebar or the on‑device model are bothering you, this guide shows the safest ways to stop it, remove the local files, and keep it off, with the exact settings and checks for 2026.

Quick reference

- Chrome version required: 140+ for the built‑in Gemini controls. Check chrome://settings/help or chrome://version to confirm your build number and profile path.

- To stop local model downloads and remove the Gemini Nano file (about 4 GB): switch off the On‑device AI toggle in Settings > System (or Settings > AI innovations), then reboot.

- To hide Gemini UI: Settings > AI innovations > turn off “Show Gemini at the top of the browser”, “Show AI suggestions”, and any related toggles you see for sidebar or omnibox assistance.

- To stop AI Overviews in Search: visit https://www.google.com/search/settings, sign in, and turn off AI Overviews under the Search features section.

- If Chrome redownloads the local model, make sure On‑device AI is off, update Chrome to the latest stable channel, then reboot before signing back in to your Google account. If the file persists, clear app storage (mobile) or delete the model from your profile folder (desktop) after closing Chrome.

Prerequisites

Before you change anything, check these items so the steps work smoothly:

- Chrome build: You need Chrome 140 or later for the AI innovations panel that exposes Gemini controls. To check, open chrome://settings/help. The page shows the version and the update status. If you run an older release, update to the stable channel, updates are free.

- Admin rights: On corporate, school or managed devices, some controls are blocked by organisation policy. If you see greyed‑out settings, contact your IT team or your device manager, they can apply Chrome enterprise policies through Group Policy (Windows) or MDM profiles (macOS/iOS).

- Disk space: The on‑device Gemini Nano model is roughly 4 GB once downloaded. Meanwhile if device storage drops below the operating system thresholds, Chrome may remove the model automatically. On devices with limited free space (under 5-8 GB free), plan to free up space or use the methods below to manually remove the files.

- Backups and sync: Turning off Gemini doesn’t delete bookmarks, history or passwords stored in Google Sync. But if you decide to clear app data or delete profile folders, back up bookmarks (export from chrome://bookmarks) and export passwords if needed.

Step‑by‑step: Desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Follow these methods in order. Method 1 is the official, supported route. If that doesn’t do what you want, work down the list. Close other Chrome windows before deleting files.

Mastheads

Frankly, method 1. Official settings (turn off Gemini UI and remove the local model)

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. Click the three dots at the top right and choose Settings, or go to chrome://settings.
  3. Click AI innovations in the left menu. If you don’t see it, expand the main menu or open chrome://settings/ai.
  4. Under Gemini in Chrome, turn off: “Show Gemini at the top of the browser”, “Show AI suggestions in the omnibox”, “Show AI in the sidebar” and any other Gemini toggles you see. Each toggle is independent, switch off all of them.
  5. Go to Settings > System (or the On‑device AI section) and switch off On‑device AI to stop any local model downloads. This prevents the ~4 GB Gemini Nano file from being used or downloaded on restart.
  6. Restart Chrome and check chrome://settings/help to confirm you’re on the same version. Check disk space to see the model file was removed.

Point is, method 2. Remove the local model manually

  1. Close Chrome completely. On Windows use Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) to ensure no chrome.exe processes remain.
  2. Open chrome://version and note the Profile Path. This shows the exact folder Chrome uses for your profile (for example on Windows it’s under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Profile X).
  3. In that profile folder, look for any folders named OnDeviceAI, Gemini or files that are several gigabytes in size. The local model file is usually stored inside the profile data. Delete the folder or move it to the Recycle Bin/Trash.
  4. Restart Chrome. The UI should be turned off if you already flipped the toggles. If Chrome redownloads the model, double‑check the On‑device AI toggle remains off.

That said, method 3. Use command‑line or startup flags (advanced)

  1. This is for advanced users who launch Chrome with custom flags. Add a startup flag to prevent AI features from loading, for example in Windows shortcut properties add: --disable-features=WebAI,OnDeviceAI after the chrome.exe path. Exact feature names can change between releases, test on a non‑critical profile first.
  2. On macOS, create an Automator app or a small shell script that launches Chrome with the same flags. On Linux put the flags in your launcher desktop file.

Step‑by‑step: Mobile (Android and iOS)

Chrome on mobile can show AI suggestions and download a smaller on‑device model. The file size varies by device, but expect between 1.5-4 GB. Here’s how to stop it.

Android

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. Tap the three dots > Settings > AI innovations (or type chrome://settings/ai in the address bar).
  3. Turn off “Show Gemini” toggles, “AI suggestions”, and On‑device AI.
  4. To remove the local model, go to Android Settings > Apps > Chrome > Storage > Clear storage (or Clear cache). Clearing storage will sign you out, so back up any data or make sure sync is enabled.
  5. If clearing storage still leaves files, uninstall Chrome updates (Play Store > Chrome > Uninstall updates) and reinstall the app. That removes app data stored in internal storage.

IOS (iPhone and iPad)

On iOS Chrome runs inside Apple’s restrictions. Gemini UI toggles appear inside the app Settings.

  1. Open Chrome > Settings > AI innovations.
  2. Turn off Gemini and On‑device AI toggles visible there.
  3. If storage still shows large usage, offload the app (Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Chrome > Offload App). Reinstalling removes cached data. Offloading keeps app documents if you choose, delete if you want a full reset.

- Check chrome://version for the profile path and the exact Chrome build. This helps when locating large files. The page also shows the command line used to start Chrome, so you can confirm flag use.

- If you’re on a managed device, ask IT to apply an enterprise policy. Organisations can push settings so Gemini doesn’t appear for any managed user. Policies are applied via Group Policy (Windows) or MDM (macOS/iOS).

- Keep Chrome updated. As of 2026, features and toggle names change between versions. If a setting moved, search chrome://settings for “AI”, “Gemini” or “On‑device”.

- Use a separate profile for testing. Create a new Chrome profile before you try command‑line flags or manual deletion, it will keep your main profile safe.

- For Google Search specifically, turn off AI Overviews at https://www.google.com/search/settings. If you use an organisational Google Workspace account, your admin may control this setting centrally.

- Don’t just close a window, quit Chrome fully before deleting profile files. Background processes can lock files and prevent deletion.

- Don’t rely on turning off only one toggle. Gemini is surfaced in several places (omnibox, top bar, sidebar, search results). Make sure all related toggles are off.

- Don’t assume turning off Gemini in the browser changes settings tied to your Google account at google.com/ai. They’re related but separate, check account‑level AI settings at myaccount.google.com if you want to change global preferences.

- Avoid deleting random files from the Chrome profile if you’re unsure, backing up the Profile folder first avoids lost bookmarks or extensions. Export bookmarks and passwords before big changes.

- Expect some behaviour differences by platform and channel (Stable vs Beta vs Dev). If a toggle is missing, you might be on a pre‑release build. Switch back to the Stable channel if you want consistent controls.

Related Articles

Update Chrome to a recent release, turn off the AI innovations toggles and On‑device AI, then restart. If a local model remains, delete it from your profile folder on desktop or delete and reinstall the app on mobile. For managed devices, ask your IT team to apply enterprise policies.

This article was created with AI assistance.