Is Gmail Training AI on Your Emails? What's Really Happening (And How to Lock It Down)

TL;DR: The short answer

Gmail absolutely scans your emails with AI and machine learning for spam filtering, security, and smart features like Smart Compose and email categorization. (Privacy International)
According to Google's own documentation, your Gmail/Workspace data is not used to train the underlying generative AI models that power Gemini and Search, unless you explicitly share data or give permission. (Google Workspace)
Your Gmail content can be used to improve Gmail's own smart features (spam filters, Smart Compose, etc.) when certain smart features settings are turned on. That is still AI training, just for Gmail's own models. (Google Help)
New Gemini features (like Deep Research) can use Gmail, Drive, and Chat as context to answer questions, but Google says this contextual use is separate from training the base models. (Fox News)
You can significantly reduce how much of your email is used to train or improve AI by turning off:
- Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet
- Smart features in Google Workspace and in other Google products
- Gemini Apps Activity / "Help improve Google AI"
You cannot stop Gmail scanning for spam and security without leaving Gmail entirely.

This article walks through the "why," "how," and exact settings to change.

1. Why Gmail uses AI on your emails at all

Gmail has always relied on machine learning and AI-style systems for three main reasons:

Security and spam filtering
- Gmail uses AI-enhanced spam and phishing detection to block a huge volume of junk and malicious emails before they reach your inbox. (Google Workspace)
- This requires scanning message content, metadata, links, and attachments to decide what is safe and what is spam.
Convenience and smart features When you enable smart features, Gmail uses your email content to power things like: (Google Help)
- Smart Compose (inline text suggestions)
- Smart Reply (suggested one-tap replies)
- Primary/Social/Promotions auto-categorization
- Travel and package summary cards above emails
- Events auto-added to Calendar, tickets into Wallet, etc. Google's own help pages say that when these settings are on, your Workspace content and activity may also be processed to improve these features. That is a polite way of saying "used to train or refine the models that power them." (Google Help)
New generative AI features (Gemini in Gmail)
- If you have Google AI/Gemini features in Workspace or Gmail, Gemini can summarize threads, draft replies, and find info in your Workspace content. (Google Help)
- For paying Workspace AI and Google One AI plans, Gemini models operate inside Workspace with additional privacy guarantees.

So yes, AI is deeply baked into Gmail, but different layers of AI use your emails in different ways.

2. Does Gmail actually train AI on your emails?

There are three separate questions here.

2.1 Training for spam filters and smart features

This is the part almost nobody argues about.

Google's own smart-features help page says that if you turn on any smart-features settings, your "Workspace content and activity" can be processed to improve those features and that these learnings may persist even after you turn the settings off. (Google Help)

That is AI training, just not the flashy "big Gemini model" kind. It is training and refining:

Spam and phishing detection
Email categorization
Smart Compose / Smart Reply
Workspace search suggestions, etc.

So: if smart features are on, Gmail is absolutely feeding your emails into machine-learning systems to improve those features over time.

2.2 Training the big generative models (Gemini, Search, etc.)

This is where the controversy exploded in late 2025.

Headlines and viral posts claimed that "Google is using your Gmail to train Gemini" and that users were auto-opted in. Fact-checks and follow-up reporting found something more nuanced: (The Verge)

Google and Workspace privacy pages say Workspace data (including Gmail) is not used to train or improve the underlying generative AI models that power Gemini and Search without permission. (Google Workspace)
A specific Gmail+Gemini help page adds that Gemini in Gmail/Workspace uses your content to answer prompts but does not use that content to train or improve Gemini or other generative AI models, and does not store prompts or outputs without your permission. (Google Help)
Multiple outlets (Verge, Android Central, Snopes, etc.) summarize Google's position the same way: Gmail content itself is not fed into Gemini's base model training pipeline, even though ML is used heavily for Gmail's own features. (The Verge)

So: according to Google's own docs and public statements, your Gmail messages are not used to train the core Gemini models or Search ranking models by default.

You might or might not fully trust that, but that is the official position.

2.3 What about Gemini Deep Research "scanning" Gmail, Drive, and Chat?

In November 2025, Google announced Gemini Deep Research can use context from Gmail, Drive, and Chat to answer questions and perform research-style tasks. (Fox News)

Key points:

Deep Research can read your emails and files as context at inference time to generate answers.
Coverage notes that Google says using this context does not mean your Gmail content is automatically added to Gemini's training data, and that core Gmail content still is not used to train Gemini unless explicitly shared with the AI. (Fox News)

However:

If you use Gemini Apps (the general Gemini web/mobile/chat experience) and explicitly give it data by pasting email content, uploading files, or sharing your screen, that data is treated like any other Gemini prompt.
The Gemini Apps Privacy Hub states that Gemini uses your activity to provide, maintain, and improve its services, including training generative AI models, unless you change Gemini Apps Activity settings. (Google Help)

So the realistic picture:

Gmail always uses ML on your mail for security and smart features.
Generative AI (Gemini) can now read Gmail content as context to help you, but, per Google, that context is not directly thrown into base model training.
Any time you explicitly share Gmail content with Gemini Apps, it is treated like normal Gemini prompts and may be used for training unless you opt out in Gemini settings.

3. How to stop Gmail and Google AI from using your emails as much as possible

You cannot make Gmail stop scanning for spam and security. But you can:

Disable or restrict smart features
Limit how much data can be used to "improve" AI models
Block Gemini Apps from using your activity for training
Avoid feeding sensitive content into generative AI at all

3.1 Turn off "Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet"

This reduces how much of your email is used to personalize and improve Gmail's AI-powered features.

On desktop Gmail: (Google Help)

Open Gmail.
Click the gear icon -> "See all settings."
In the General tab, scroll to "Smart features in Gmail, Chat and Meet."
Uncheck the box or turn this setting off.
Scroll down and click Save changes.

On mobile (Android/iOS):

Open the Gmail app.
Menu -> Settings -> choose your account.
Under General, find "Smart features."
Uncheck or toggle off.

What you lose:

Smart Compose and Smart Reply in Gmail
Automatic Primary/Social/Promotions categorization
Summary cards like package tracking, travel cards, etc.

What you gain:

Your Gmail, Chat, and Meet content is no longer used to drive or improve these smart features going forward. Existing learnings may persist, but new data will not be used for improvement once the setting is off. (Google Help)

3.2 Turn off "Smart features in Google Workspace" and "Smart features in other Google products"

This is the second layer many people miss. It controls how your Gmail/Workspace data flows into other apps and AI features across Google. (Google Help)

In the Gmail app or on the web:

Open Gmail -> Settings.
Look for "Google Workspace smart features" or a link like "Manage Workspace smart feature settings."
You should see two options:
- Smart features in Google Workspace
- Smart features in other Google products
Turn both off.
Save if prompted.

What this shuts down:

Workspace-wide smart features that use Gmail content, such as:
- Events pulled from Gmail into Calendar
- Personalized search in Drive based on email/file activity
- Gemini features inside Workspace that cross-reference Gmail, Drive, Calendar, etc. (Google Help)
Smart features in other Google products, including:
- Reservations and tickets pulled into Maps and Wallet
- Suggestions and answers in the Gemini app based on Workspace content (Google Help)

The same help page makes clear that when any smart-feature setting is on, Workspace content and activity may be processed to improve those features. Turning these off stops future use of your mail for that improvement. (Google Help)

3.3 Lock down Gemini Apps Activity and training

Even if you lock down Gmail's own settings, Gemini Apps itself can still use what you explicitly give it.

From the Gemini Apps Privacy Hub: your prompts, file uploads, and connected-app data can be used to maintain and improve Gemini, including training its generative models, and some of that data is reviewed by humans. (Google Help)

To reduce that:

Go to Gemini Apps Activity (via your Google Account or myactivity.google.com). (Google Help)
Turn Gemini Apps Activity off, or:
- Set auto-delete to the shortest interval (for example, 3 months).
- Explicitly disable the option that lets Google use your activity to improve Google AI, where available.
Manually delete past Gemini activity that might contain sensitive email content.

Important nuance: even with this off, Google says some anonymized processing of chats can still be used to improve safety and basic systems, but training of the main models on your identifiable activity is controlled by this setting. (Google Help)

3.4 Disable or limit Gemini Deep Research access to Gmail/Drive/Chat

Gemini Deep Research can now pull context from Gmail, Drive, and Chat. Reports note that you can disable this from Google AI/Workspace settings so that Deep Research cannot scan those sources. (Fox News)

Actions to take:

In Google Workspace or account-level Gemini settings, look for controls that enable Gemini access to Gmail, Drive, and Chat and toggle them off where possible.
Do not enable Labs or experimental Deep Research features that explicitly mention Gmail/Drive context if you want to avoid this entirely.

3.5 General Google account privacy tightening

Beyond Gmail-specific toggles, you should:

Review your Google Privacy Checkup and:
- Turn off or limit Web & App Activity.
- Turn off Ad personalization.
- Consider turning off Location History, if not needed. (Google Transparency)

This does not stop Gmail's core spam filtering, but it limits how broadly Google can cross-link your behavior across services.

4. Can you completely stop Gmail from scanning your emails?

Short answer: no, not if you keep using Gmail.

Even with every smart feature and AI add-on disabled:

Gmail must still scan emails for spam, phishing, malware, and abuse.
That scanning uses heuristics and machine learning. (Google Workspace)

If you want:

End-to-end encryption
Minimal server-side processing
No mass model-training on content

...you need to consider a different provider and/or end-to-end encrypted tools, and possibly host your own mail or use services designed around strong encryption and limited metadata retention.

But for many people, turning off smart features and Gemini training is a pragmatic middle ground: you keep Gmail's basic security but significantly reduce how much of your email is used to improve AI systems.

5. Practical privacy habits for any email provider

Regardless of how you configure Gmail:

Do not treat email as a vault for secrets. Avoid storing raw passwords, highly sensitive financial data, or confidential documents directly in your inbox.
Use other channels for truly sensitive content. For medical, legal, or highly confidential work, consider end-to-end encrypted communication or encrypted file exchange rather than plain email.
Minimize what you feed to generative AI. Even if policies say data is anonymized, do not paste entire confidential threads into Gemini, ChatGPT, or any other chatbot unless you are comfortable with the associated risks.
Segment your accounts. Use one email account for "AI-heavy convenience" (smart features on) and a separate, more locked-down account (smart features off) for critical communications if you must stay within Gmail.

Bottom line: Gmail always runs ML for security and convenience, but you can shut off most training-heavy features, limit Gemini’s use of your data, and keep sensitive content out of any generative AI workflow.