This simple fix solves Google Photos’ worsening search problem

Google Photos search used to be one of those features that simply worked. Need a photo of your dog from three years ago? Type “dog.” Looking for a screenshot of your boarding pass? Search for “boarding pass.” In most cases, Google Photos would surface the right images almost instantly. Lately, though, some users feel that Google’s growing obsession with Gemini is getting in the way of that simplicity.

In a Reddit thread from over the weekend, users are complaining that searching for photos has become unreliable since Gemini-powered features arrived in Google Photos. Instead of quickly surfacing the exact image they’re looking for, searches can sometimes return vague AI-generated summaries, irrelevant results, or simply miss the target altogether.

Judging by the replies, this hardly an isolated occurrence. Many commenters report similar frustrations, arguing that Gemini often tries to understand photos rather than simply find them.

The complaints extend beyond Reddit. Well-known Indian photographers Joseph Radhik and Auditya Venkatesh have also voiced their frustrations on X. Joseph noted that Google Photos search used to be dependable, but now feels cluttered with AI-generated interpretations that describe what’s in a photo instead of actually helping him find it. For photographers managing thousands of images, that’s a pretty significant problem. Thankfully, there appears to be a straightforward workaround.

To do this, open the Google Photos app, tap your profile icon in the top-right corner, and head to Photos Settings. From here, go to Preferences, tap Gemini features in Photos, and turn off the toggle next to Ask Photos. This will disable Gemini-powered search and a few other AI features inside the app.

If you’re someone who rarely uses those AI features anyway, there’s little downside to switching them off. The same menu also lets you manage other Gemini integrations that may be affecting your experience. I made the change on my Pixel 10a, and searching for photos has become much more predictable again.

For many Reddit users, disabling Ask Photos restores the faster, more predictable search behavior that made Google Photos so useful in the first place. Sometimes, the smartest fix is simply getting AI out of the way.