Remove AI from Email
Most email platforms now use some sort of AI (i.e., Artificial Intelligence) assistant that can suggest appropriate replies, provide predictive writing suggestions as you compose an email, suggest grammar and spelling corrections and autocorrect, personalize an email to your writing style, send nudges to reply to or follow up on forgotten or important emails, sort emails into various categories, track packages, etc. If you prefer to turn any or all of these AI features off, it can be challenging to find the appropriate settings. The steps listed below for removing AI from your email apply directly to Gmail accounts and will likely differ for other email platforms. Feel free to reach out if you have questions regarding Gmail or any other providers. Note: If you skip the initial steps of deleting various categories of emails, you may end up with an Inbox filled with uncategorized emails after turning off the Smart features.
Step 1: Delete emails
Delete unwanted emails from the following folders:
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Spam: Click "Delete all spam messages now."
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Drafts: Click the checkbox located above your top email and on the left. Click "Discard drafts." Repeat until all emails are deleted.
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Purchases: Click the checkbox located above your top email and on the left. Then click the 'Garbage Can' icon (i.e., delete). Repeat until all emails are deleted.
Step 2: Delete Promotions
Delete unwanted emails from the "Promotions" tab:
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Click the "Promotions" tab.
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Click the checkbox next to the dropdown arrow located just under the "Search mail" bar.
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Click "Select all ## conversations in Promotions."
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Click the 'Garbage Can' icon (i.e., delete) and select "Ok."
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Repeat the above steps until the folder is empty.
Step 3: Delete Social
Delete unwanted emails from the "Social" tab:
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Click the "Social" tab.
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Click the checkbox next to the dropdown arrow located just under the "Search mail" bar.
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Click "Select all ## conversations in Social."
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Click the 'Garbage Can' icon (i.e., delete) and select "Ok."
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Repeat the above steps until the folder is empty.
Step 4: Empty Trash
Don't forget to go to your "Trash" folder and click "Empty trash now."
Step 5: Turn off smart features.
Turn off smart features through the following steps:
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Click the 'Gear' icon at the top-right of the window.
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Click "See all settings."
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Under the "General" tab, scroll down to "Smart features." Uncheck the box next to "Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet."
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Click the "Turn off and reload" button in the popup window.