By Alison Rosen | January 25, 2026
Gmail Smart Feature: Gmail users have been automatically enrolled in a controversial feature, and tech experts are urging people to review their settings. Here’s what’s happening and what you need to do.
What Changed in Gmail
Google recently rolled out new AI features to Gmail, including AI Overviews, smart compose, and an “AI Inbox.” The company automatically enabled what’s called “Smart Features” for most users, which allows Google to access your email data for AI development purposes.
Engineer Dave Jones raised the alarm on social media in early January, warning that users were “automatically OPTED IN to allow Gmail to access all your private messages & attachments.” His message sparked immediate concern among privacy-conscious users and generated attention online.
Google responded by stating that reports about the feature were misleading. A spokesperson told HuffPost: “Gmail Smart Features have existed for many years, and we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”
What Does This Setting Actually Do
The confusion stems from what Google considers “Smart Features.” When enabled, the setting allows Google to use your email data for internal product improvement. This includes training things like spam detection, smart reply suggestions, autocomplete, and the “Help me write” feature.
Google clarifies it doesn’t use your messages to train its public large language models like Gemini. However, the company does analyze anonymized and aggregated email content to improve these specific Gmail tools.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Google, with users alleging the company secretly enabled access to their entire email histories. The legal dispute centers on whether users genuinely consented to this data usage.
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How This Affects You
If you turn off Smart Features, you lose more than just AI capabilities. Disabling the AI features also turns off autocorrect, spell check, desktop notifications, and package tracking. Gmail’s email categories that split messages into “Primary,” “Promotions,” and “Social” will also be disabled.
This creates a real trade-off. Users concerned about privacy can opt out, but they give up conveniences they’ve been using for years.
How to Turn It Off (If You Want To)
Disabling Smart Features requires changing settings in two locations:
On Desktop:
- Open Gmail and click the settings icon (gear) in the top-right corner
- Select “See all settings”
- Go to the “General” tab
- Look for the “AI features” section
- Uncheck “Let Google use my emails to improve AI features”
- Scroll down and click “Save changes”
In Gmail Settings Menu (Second Location):
- Go back to settings
- Find “Data privacy” in the General tab
- Toggle off “Smart features”
- Disable “Google Workspace smart features” if applicable
On Mobile:
- Open Gmail and tap the menu icon
- Scroll to “Settings”
- Select “Data privacy”
- Toggle off “Smart features”
- Tap into “Google Workspace smart features” to disable for Workspace products
Changes take effect within 24 hours and don’t require deleting your account or downgrading service.
Important Details About These Changes
Your existing emails won’t be deleted or affected. The change only prevents future email data from being used for the purpose of improving AI features. All core Gmail functions search, labels, filters, and two-step verification continue working normally.
Certain regions already have this disabled by default. Users in the EU, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK don’t have Smart Features automatically enabled, reflecting different data privacy regulations in those areas.
Other Gmail Changes Coming in 2026
Beyond Smart Features, Gmail is making other significant changes. Starting January 2026, Gmail no longer supports Gmailify and the “Check mail from other accounts” POP feature, which allowed users to pull emails from third-party accounts like Yahoo or Outlook directly into Gmail.
If you use multiple email accounts, you’ll need to switch to IMAP connections or set up automatic forwarding before the change takes effect.
What Experts Are Saying
Privacy advocates recommend reviewing your settings if you have concerns about how your data is used. However, they acknowledge the real cost of opting out you lose useful features that don’t require AI at all.
The broader issue reflects a growing tension in tech: companies bundling privacy controls with feature availability, making it harder for users to choose one without losing the other.
The Bottom Line
You’re not forced to keep Smart Features enabled. You have the option to turn it off in two places within Gmail settings. Whether you should depends on your privacy concerns versus how much you value the features that depend on this setting. Check your preferences and make an informed choice based on what matters most to you.