Gmail's AI summaries are live for everyone, but here's how you can turn them off

Over the last few years, Google has been bringing Gemini’s features to a host of Workspace apps to make your job easier. While the initial crop of features was focused on helping you write better, it added AI Overviews to Gmail for paid users last year and later expanded them to Google Drive folders. Then, in January 2026, Google opened its gates, allowing users in the US to use these handy AI features in Gmail for free on their personal accounts. Now, the feature is reaching users worldwide.

Google appears to be making Gemini-powered email summaries in Gmail slowly available to free Gmail users. I’m based in India and recently spotted AI Overviews for individual emails active on my free Gmail account. However, the summaries appear only for a few email threads at the moment.

The move can be confirmed by a recent change Google made to a support page. Here, it says “AI Overviews conversation summaries” are now available across paid, Workspace, and free Gmail accounts for users globally. They’re also available across Android, iOS, and the web.

However, it currently only supports a limited set of languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish.

As with search, the AI Overview in Gmail conversations uses Gemini to analyze the contents of a particular thread. Along with these, Google also offers broader summaries of conversations you need to catch up on in the form of “AI Inbox.” Along with that, you can also use “Ask Gemini” to get responses to specific queries without having to dig through individual threads. However, these AI features outside specific threads are currently exclusive to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US.

How to stop Gemini from reading your emails?

If you’re uncomfortable with Gemini reviewing your emails without you requesting it, you can disable it in Gmail.

Start by going to Settings. Under the General tab, look for Google Workplace smart features, and click the button that says Manage Workplace smart features settings.

Here, you can disable smart, i.e., Gemini-powered, features entirely. However, remember that doing so completely shuts off all Workspace-related AI features, including Google Tasks on your phone. That means you will no longer be able to set reminders by talking to Gemini, and that might be a tradeoff worth considering.