Remove Gemini from Chrome: every switch

To remove Gemini from Chrome completely, treat the button, address bar, Google Search, and local model as separate surfaces. Each has a different control, and every step below follows Google’s documentation as of October 2026.

On desktop, the quickest way to remove the Gemini button from Chrome is Settings → AI innovations → Gemini in Chrome → turn off “Show Gemini at the top of the browser.” Google’s current help says Gemini in Chrome requires version 147 or higher and is still rolling out; if you don’t see that menu, update Chrome and check again. Google’s 2026 Gemini in Chrome help documents that path, and Google’s 2026 troubleshooting page lists the version requirement.

How to remove Gemini from Chrome, layer by layer

To turn off Gemini in Chrome, use the row for the surface you actually see. Hiding an icon is not the same as disabling a feature or preventing a download.

Gemini or AI surface	Turn it off	Survives Chrome updates?	Verify
Gemini toolbar button	Settings → AI innovations → Gemini in Chrome → turn off Show Gemini at the top of the browser. Or right-click the toolbar and choose Unpin Gemini.	A preference, not an enforced policy. Recheck after a Chrome UI change.	Button disappears; the Mac menu-bar or Windows system-tray item has its own preference on this page.
AI Mode in the address bar	Right-click the address bar and uncheck Always show AI Mode.	Hides the entry point; it does not block AI Mode elsewhere.	The AI Mode and Add tabs and more controls disappear from the address bar.
@gemini site-search shortcut	Type @gemini, then deactivate Gemini under Settings → Search engine → Manage search engines and site search.	This is a shortcut preference, not an AI policy.	It moves to Inactive shortcuts.
Google AI Overviews	No Chrome-wide switch is documented; Google says AI Overviews can’t be turned off. After a search, choose Google’s Web filter for standard links on that search.	The Web filter is per search.	The result page shows the Web results.
Gemini toolbar on iPhone	Google’s 2026 iOS help documents where to open Gemini, not a user setting to hide it. Managed Chrome can use GeminiSettings (Google, 2026) = 1.	The policy persists while managed; no user-level mobile hide setting is documented.	On managed iOS, verify at chrome://policy using Google’s 2026 iOS policy help.
Gemini Nano local model	Set GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings to 1.	Yes, while the policy remains applied.	Check chrome://policy, then chrome://on-device-internals.
Gemini in Chrome integration	Set GeminiSettings to 1.	Yes, while the policy remains applied.	chrome://policy shows GeminiSettings with value 1.

Checked October 2026. The button path is from Google’s 2026 Chrome Help; the address-bar control is in Google’s 2026 AI Mode help; Google documents @gemini and says it can be deactivated in its 2026 Gemini web app instructions; and Google’s Search Help calls AI Overviews a core Search feature that can’t be turned off, with the Web filter as the workaround.

Two easy mix-ups: Chrome’s @ can also search your open tabs, and the @gemini shortcut opens the Gemini website, not the side panel. Also, AI Overviews belong to Google Search, not Chrome, so no Chrome setting or policy removes them.

Where is Gemini Nano, and how do I stop its download?

Chrome’s base on-device model (Gemini Nano) installs into a folder named OptGuideOnDeviceModel beneath Chrome’s user-data directory; newer model assets install under OptGuideManifestModel, so deleting one folder may leave others behind. The folders are shared by Chrome profiles, so find the user-data directory first: open chrome://version and read Profile Path; the model folders sit alongside the profile folder, not inside Default.

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/OptGuideOnDeviceModel/
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\OptGuideOnDeviceModel\

Those locations are Chrome’s default user-data paths; Chrome Beta, Dev, Canary, or a custom profile can use a different root. Open chrome://version and look at Profile Path; the user-data directory is its parent. Chromium’s 2026 documentation explains how to find the user-data directory, and the folder names come from Chromium’s 2026 component source.

Do not use an old “4 GB” figure as a fixed size: Google says the model changes size as it updates. Open chrome://on-device-internals to check whether it is present and see its current size. Chrome for Developers’ 2026 guide says the exact size varies and identifies that page for checking it.

Deleting the folder alone is temporary if Chrome can download the model again. The persistent control is the enterprise policy GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings: set it to 1 to stop future downloads and delete an existing model. Google lists support for Mac, Windows and Linux from Chrome 124. The policy applies at browser level, and can’t be set through Cloud user policies. See Google’s 2026 Chrome Enterprise policy entry.

Can a policy keep Gemini out after an update?

Yes. To disable Gemini in Chrome persistently, use these Chrome Enterprise policies on a device you administer or ask your organization’s administrator. Their values and support floors below come from Google’s 2026 Chrome Enterprise policy list; checked October 2026.

Policy	Set to	What it controls	Supported since
GeminiSettings (Google, 2026)	1	Do not allow Gemini integrations.	Chrome 137 on Mac and Windows; 139 on iOS; 144 on ChromeOS; 149 on Android.
GeminiActOnWebSettings (Google, 2026)	1	Do not allow Gemini to take actions on web pages.	Chrome 143 on Mac and Windows; 144 on ChromeOS; 150 on Android.
AIModeSettings (Google, 2026)	1	Do not allow AI Mode entry points in the address bar or on the New Tab page’s search box. Google must be the default search engine for these integrations.	Chrome 138 on Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, Android and iOS.
GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings (Google, 2026)	1	Do not download the local model; remove it if already downloaded.	Chrome 124 on Mac, Windows and Linux; 142 on Android; 149 on ChromeOS.

On Mac, Google’s deployment route is a com.google.Chrome configuration profile. Add the exact keys you need as integer 1 values to its policy dictionary:

<key>GeminiSettings</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>GeminiActOnWebSettings</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>AIModeSettings</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings</key>
<integer>1</integer>

Google documents editing the sample plist and converting it to a profile in its 2026 Chrome Browser quick start for Mac. Its documented conversion command is:

mcxToProfile.py --plist com.google.Chrome --identifier com.google.Chrome

The expected output is an installable com.google.Chrome.mobileconfig profile. These instructions are docs-only; apply the profile with your device-management tool, then verify its values in chrome://policy.

On Windows, create a REG_DWORD for each selected policy under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome and set its value to 1. For example, GeminiSettings is a DWORD named GeminiSettings in that key. Google documents setting managed policies with Group Policy and checking their source in its 2026 Windows policy guide and 2026 policy verification help.

To confirm, open chrome://policy, choose Reload policies, and filter for the names you set. Check that each shows value 1 and a policy source. Then open chrome://on-device-internals; the model should be absent after Chrome applies GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings. A personal toolbar preference is not an enforced policy, and while AIModeSettings can disable AI Mode in Chrome’s address bar, a Chrome policy can’t remove AI Overviews from Google Search itself.

To undo a policy, remove its entry from the Mac configuration profile or Windows policy store, then reload policies. To restore the button, turn Show Gemini at the top of the browser back on and choose Pin Gemini; restore the address-bar entry by checking Always show AI Mode. Reactivate @gemini under Inactive shortcuts. The Web filter only affects its current search. Remove GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings to allow a later model download. A user may not be able to remove an employer or school policy.

What changes on iPhone and Android?

Gemini in Chrome reached all US Android users on August 18, 2026, and Google’s July 14 UK announcement said iOS would follow the next month. In September, iPhone users on r/chrome reported Gemini taking the back-button position. Google’s 2026 Android announcement, its 2026 UK announcement, and the September 2026 r/chrome report document that timing.

On iPhone or iPad, Gemini appears under Chrome’s page tools and the three-dot menu. Google’s current mobile help documents chat controls but no user-facing switch that removes the entry point. Forum replies recommend flags, but Google doesn’t document a supported flag for this. For managed devices, GeminiSettings = 1 is supported from Chrome 139 on iOS and 149 on Android; the local-model policy starts on Android at Chrome 142. See Google’s 2026 iPhone and iPad help, its 2026 iOS policy verification steps, and the policy table above.

What if you want a browser with AI off until you start it?

I build Octoweb, so weigh that accordingly. It’s a complete browser for Mac with no AI configured; if you never start octomind, nothing AI-related runs. It has no telemetry. If you want to compare other Mac browsers, the Mac browser alternatives guide lays out that choice. For the separate security question of what an AI agent can do on a page, see the Comet browser safety review.

For details on what Octoweb stores and sends, see the privacy page.