If you don’t want Google to train its AI models on what you type into Gemini, open Gemini, go to Settings & help > Activity, and turn off “Keep Activity”. On a personal Google account that setting is on by default for anyone 18 or older, and while it is on, Google’s own help pages say your chats are used “to provide, develop, and improve its services (including training generative AI models)”, with a subset read by human reviewers. Turning it off stops your future chats from being used for training, unless you send feedback. It does not pull back chats a reviewer has already seen, which Google keeps for up to three years, and it costs you your chat history and some features. This guide shows every setting to check, on the web and in the phone app, with no code and nothing to install.

Why now: on November 4, 2026 a Hacker News thread pointed out that paying for a Google AI plan does not change any of this, and many subscribers were surprised. We checked that against Google’s pages. None of the Gemini Apps help pages below carves out an exception for paid personal plans: the same Keep Activity switch decides training for free and paid personal accounts alike.

Everything here was checked on November 4, 2026 against Google’s Gemini Apps Privacy Hub (last updated October 26, 2026), Manage & delete your activity in Gemini Apps, Use Gemini Apps (temporary chats) and About personalization with Connected Apps.

Key facts:

• On by default: “If you’re 18 or over, Keep Activity is on by default.” (Manage activity)
• While on, chats train Google’s models: your saved activity is used to improve Google services “including training generative AI models”, with help from human reviewers. (Privacy Hub)
• Turning it off works going forward: future chats “won’t be used to train our AI models, unless you choose to send Google feedback.” (Privacy Hub)
• Reviewed chats stay for up to 3 years, even if you delete your activity, because they were disconnected from your account before review. (Privacy Hub)
• Still kept for 72 hours with Keep Activity off or in a temporary chat, so Gemini can answer you and Google can protect against abuse. (Privacy Hub)
• Work and school accounts are different: their activity settings are controlled by the Workspace administrator. (Manage activity)

Who needs to do this

Your account	What decides training	What to do
Personal Google account, free Gemini	Keep Activity (on by default if 18+)	Follow the steps below
Personal Google account with a paid Google AI plan	The same Keep Activity setting; Google’s pages list no paid-plan exception	Follow the steps below
Work or school (Google Workspace) account	Your organization’s admin and Workspace terms	Ask your admin; see Google’s Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub
Signed out of Gemini	Google Privacy Policy, not the Gemini notice	Nothing to toggle; your data isn’t tied to an account, per the Privacy Hub

The signed-out row comes from the Privacy Hub’s section “How does Google handle my data when I use Gemini Apps while signed out?”. The work and school row comes from the Manage activity page, which says those settings “are controlled by your Google Workspace administrator.”

Step 1: Turn off Keep Activity

This is the main switch. It lives in your Google Account, so changing it once applies to Gemini on the web and in the phone apps.

On a computer (web):

1. Go to gemini.google.com and sign in.
2. Click Settings & help, then Activity. (You can also go straight to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini.)
3. Near the top, click On, then choose Turn off or Turn off and delete activity.

In the Gemini app on Android:

1. Open the Gemini app.
2. Tap Menu at the left, then your profile picture or initial, then Gemini Apps Activity.
3. Near the top, tap On, then Turn off or Turn off and delete activity.

In a phone browser: go to gemini.google.com, tap Menu > Settings & help > Activity, then follow step 3 above.

Those steps are copied in order from Google’s Manage & delete your activity page (computer and Android versions). Google’s page has an iPhone and iPad variant too; if the menu looks different on iOS, the My Activity link above works in any browser and is the same setting.

Which option to pick:

• Turn off stops saving new chats but leaves your existing history in place. Note that the Privacy Hub says activity already saved while Keep Activity was on is “used to provide, develop, and improve” Google’s services; deleting it is how you stop future use of it (Step 3).
• Turn off and delete activity does both at once. Pick this if you want a clean slate and don’t need your old chats.

What you give up when Keep Activity is off

This is the part that makes people turn it back on, so know it before you switch:

• No chat history. New chats don’t appear in your activity or recent chats. Google still keeps them with your account for up to 72 hours so Gemini can respond and so Google can “protect Google, its users, and the public”, and Gemini uses the last 24 hours of a chat as context (Privacy Hub).
• Gems still save, their chats don’t. “If Keep Activity is off, any Gems you create will still be saved to your account. Any chats you create with Gems will not be saved.” (Manage activity)
• Some Connected Apps stop working. The Privacy Hub says Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Docs and so on) is unavailable in Gemini with Keep Activity off, while Phone, Messages, WhatsApp and Device assistance on Android keep working. Turning Keep Activity back on restores previously connected apps.
• Tasks in Gemini need it. The remote browser and remote computer that Gemini uses for tasks are “only available when Keep Activity is on” (Privacy Hub).

If that trade is too much, Step 2 lets you keep your history for everyday chats and keep sensitive ones out.

Step 2: Use a temporary chat for sensitive conversations

A temporary chat is Google’s way to have a one-off conversation that isn’t saved and isn’t used for training, without turning off Keep Activity for everything. Google says plainly: “Temporary chats are not used to train Google’s AI models.” (Privacy Hub)

On a computer:

1. Go to gemini.google.com.
2. Next to New chat, click Temporary chat.
3. Type your question and click Submit.

On a phone (app or browser):

1. Open the Gemini app or gemini.google.com.
2. Tap Menu at the top.
3. Next to New chat, tap Temporary chat.

Steps are from Google’s Use Gemini Apps page. A temporary chat icon shows at the top of the screen while you’re in one.

Limits to know (same page):

• It needs a personal Google account and you must be signed in. It’s not available on work or school accounts, in Gemini in Chrome, or in Gemini in Google Messages.
• Once you leave, the chat is gone from your view for good.
• You can’t use Gems, Connected Apps that need Keep Activity, personalized answers, or give feedback on responses.
• Like chats with Keep Activity off, it’s still kept with your account for 72 hours.

A practical habit: keep Keep Activity on if you rely on history, and start a temporary chat before pasting anything you’d be unhappy for a reviewer to read, such as medical details, contracts, or a colleague’s personal information.

Step 3: Delete what’s already saved

Turning off Keep Activity doesn’t erase past chats unless you chose “Turn off and delete activity”. To delete them yourself:

1. Go to gemini.google.com, then Settings & help > Activity (Android app: Menu > profile picture > Gemini Apps Activity).
2. Choose what to delete:
   • Everything: above your activity, Delete > All time.
   • Recent: Delete > Last hour or Last day.
   • A range: Delete > Custom range.
   • One day or one chat: use the delete button next to that day or item.

Steps from Manage & delete your activity. Google’s personalization page adds why this matters: deleting your Gemini Apps activity prevents it “from being used for future product improvement, unless it has already been reviewed by trained reviewers” (Connected Apps personalization).

Two things deletion does not do, per the same page: deleting a shared chat doesn’t delete its public link (remove that separately in Your Public Links), and deleting a Gem chat doesn’t delete the Gem.

If you keep Keep Activity on, shorten auto-delete. By default, activity older than 18 months is deleted automatically. Under Settings & help > Activity, click Deleting activity older than … months (or Choose an auto-delete option) and pick 3 months, 36 months, or don’t auto-delete (Manage activity).

Step 4: Check the settings Keep Activity doesn’t cover

Most people stop at Step 1. These are the leftovers Google’s pages mention:

Feedback sends your chat anyway. If Keep Activity is off and you click a feedback button, Google collects your feedback plus “context that can help us better understand your feedback, including the last 24 hours of your chats” and anything in them, like uploads and Connected Apps data. Reviewed feedback and related chats are kept for up to 3 years, disconnected from your account (Privacy Hub). If you’ve opted out, skip the thumbs buttons.

Audio and Gemini Live video have their own switch. “Improve Google services with your audio and Gemini Live videos & screenshares” is off by default and can only be turned on while Keep Activity is on. If you or someone else turned it on, open Settings & help > Activity and uncheck it. Transcripts of Live chats and uploads you share in Live follow Keep Activity, not this switch (Manage activity, Privacy Hub).

Connected Apps data is used through your chats. Google says Gemini “does not train generative AI models directly on your Gmail inbox, Drive, Contacts, Calendar or other Workspace apps”, but it does train on the summaries, excerpts and inferences pulled into your Gemini chats, and for a short email or file “the summary may just be the email or file” (Connected Apps personalization). Turning off Keep Activity covers this going forward. If you also want to stop Google using connected Gmail and Photos for personalization and ads, see our guide to turning off Personal Intelligence.

Other Google settings keep running. The Privacy Hub warns that changing Gemini settings doesn’t change Search Services History, Web & App Activity or Timeline. Those keep saving data from other Google services under their own settings at myactivity.google.com.

Imported chats count as activity. If you imported memory or chats from another AI app, Google says that data “is saved in your Activity” and used like your other Gemini activity, including for training. Delete it from Gemini Apps Activity if you don’t want that (Privacy Hub).

Notebooks: chats with Notebooks in Gemini follow your Keep Activity setting, but “Files you add to your Notebook as a source in Gemini are not used directly for training” (Privacy Hub). Our Gemini Notebook guide covers how those sources work.

What the opt-out does not change

Be realistic about what this switch buys you. Even with Keep Activity off or in a temporary chat, Google’s Privacy Hub says it “still uses your chats to respond to you and help protect Google, our users, and the public, including with help from human reviewers.” It also says your Gemini settings “don’t control processing of your chats to create anonymized data to improve Google services.”

So the opt-out stops your chats from becoming training data for Google’s generative models. It doesn’t make Gemini a place for secrets. Google’s own advice still applies: “Please don’t enter confidential information that you wouldn’t want a reviewer to see.”

A five-minute checklist

1. Settings & help > Activity > On > Turn off (or Turn off and delete activity).
2. If you keep history on, set auto-delete to 3 months.
3. Delete old chats you don’t want kept: Delete > All time or a custom range.
4. Make sure the audio and Gemini Live improvement box is unchecked.
5. Use Temporary chat for anything sensitive.
6. Don’t use the feedback buttons on chats you want kept out of training.
7. On a work or school account, ask your admin instead.

Troubleshooting

I can’t find the Activity option. Make sure you’re signed in to a personal account. On a work or school account the setting may be hidden or locked because your admin controls it (Manage activity). Going directly to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini also works.

Temporary chat isn’t there. It doesn’t appear on work or school accounts, in Gemini in Chrome, or in Gemini in Google Messages (Use Gemini Apps). Use the web app or the Gemini mobile app on a personal account.

Gemini stopped seeing my Gmail or Drive after I turned it off. That’s expected: Workspace Connected Apps are unavailable when Keep Activity is off. Turning it back on restores apps you’d already connected (Privacy Hub).

My chats disappeared. With Keep Activity off, new chats aren’t saved to your history. If you need history for some conversations, turn Keep Activity back on and use temporary chats for the sensitive ones instead.

I deleted everything. Is it all gone? Not quite. Chats already picked for human review were disconnected from your account and are kept for up to three years, and Google keeps some data, like how often you use Gemini, until you delete your Google Account (Privacy Hub).

FAQ

Does paying for a Google AI plan stop training? Not on its own. The Gemini Apps Privacy Notice applies to signed-in personal accounts and only lists “subscription information” as extra data collected from paid users. Training is decided by Keep Activity.

Does Gemini use my chats for ads? Google’s answer today: “Your Gemini Apps chats are not being used to show you ads. If this changes, we will clearly communicate it to you.” (Privacy Hub) Connected Gmail and Photos data is a separate question, covered in our Personal Intelligence guide.

Does turning it off affect Memory? Memory personalizes answers using your chats in Gemini Apps Activity. With Keep Activity off, new chats aren’t saved there; to remove what Gemini already knows, check Memory summary in settings or delete the related chats (Privacy Hub).

How does this compare with ChatGPT? The shape is similar: one main switch, plus feedback and voice exceptions. OpenAI’s version is “Improve the model for everyone”; see our guide to stopping ChatGPT and Codex from training on your data. The main difference is that Gemini ties training to saving your history, so opting out costs you your chat list, while ChatGPT keeps history separate.

I use Gemini through Google Search’s AI Mode or another app. Is that covered? The Privacy Hub lists what counts as “Gemini Apps”: the web app, the Gemini mobile apps, Gemini in Chrome, Gemini in Google Messages, Android Auto and a few others. Other Google products follow their own settings. If you’re just picking a model, our Gemini 3.6 Flash guide covers using it in the app.