Hate Gemini on Google Home? Here's how to go back to Google Assistant

Gemini has been available in preview on existing Google Home and Nest speakers and displays for a while now, but as my colleague Rita put it, it is slow, unpredictable, and a painful experience. Every question takes longer to answer, and every answer is unpredictable. Users have been complaining about these issues since the beginning of the preview, and while Google has taken note of the feedback and rolled out changes, some people do want to go back to the older Gemini-free experience. Here’s how you can roll back from Gemini to Google Assistant on your Google Home and Nest speakers and displays with a little bit of work.

To be fair, many users are enjoying Gemini on their Google Home devices, but many aren’t. It’s very easy to opt into the Gemini preview, but pulling out of the program isn’t a simple switch. You actually cannot revert Gemini back to the legacy Google Assistant once you opt in and receive the upgrade in your Home.

The only way to get back to Google Assistant and ditch Gemini from your Google Home is to delete your existing Home setup, create a new Home in the Google Home app, and set everything up again.

Before getting started, exit the Public Preview program to ensure that you do not receive Gemini in your new Home (as long as Gemini remains optional):

• Open the Google Home app.
• Tap the Profile icon in the top right.
• Tap Public Preview > Leave Public Preview.

Next, set up a new Home within Google Home:

• Open the Google Home app.
• Tap the “+” button next to the Profile icon in the top right.
• Select “Home.”
• Follow the on-screen steps to set up the new Home.

Once you have your new Home set up, you need to methodically factory reset and remove your smart home devices from your older Gemini-equipped Home, then set them up again in this new Home. It will be a bit of a pain, depending on how many smart home devices you have, but some users have had such a troubling experience with Gemini on Google Home that they’ve decided to go through this pain of setting everything up all over again just to get rid of Gemini.

You can check whether the commands on your newer Home are yielding the expected results. The most telltale sign of Google Assistant at work is the quick turnaround time on executing basic smart home commands.

Once your entire older Home setup has migrated to your newer Gemini-free Home, you can delete the older Home setup from the bottom of Home settings when you are the last remaining full-access member.

Note that this trick to revert to the older Google Assistant-powered engine on Google Home devices works only as long as Gemini stays in preview for Google Home devices. The writing is on the wall for Google Assistant’s eventual retirement in favor of Gemini. Hopefully, Google has addressed all of Gemini’s lingering issues by then, so members will not miss the Google Assistant experience on their Google Home speakers and displays.