How do you use Gemini in Gmail and Google Docs?

On February 21, Google renamed Duet AI for Google Workspace to Gemini for Google Workspace and widened who can get it. The writing assistant inside Gmail and Docs is now available in three ways: with the Google One AI Premium plan for personal Google accounts ($19.99 a month, which also includes Gemini Advanced and 2 TB of storage), with the new Gemini Business plan for organizations (from $20 per user per month on an annual commitment), and with Gemini Enterprise ($30 per user per month on an annual commitment).

The features look much the same in each. The main differences are how much you can use them and, as covered at the end, what happens to your data.

What you get

Google lists "Help me write" in Gmail and Docs as a core feature of every plan, alongside smarter fill-in for Sheets and image generation in Slides. In Google's own examples, Gemini helps with a potluck invitation in Gmail, a trip itinerary in Docs, a family budget in Sheets and a vision board in Slides. For personal accounts, the features are rolling out in English in more than 150 countries.

Business and Enterprise customers also get a standalone Gemini chat at gemini.google.com that runs on 1.0 Ultra, Google's largest model, with extra data protections. Enterprise adds translated captions in Google Meet and, Google says, meeting notes soon.

Worked example 1: drafting an email in Gmail

Say you run a small bookkeeping practice and need to tell clients about new office hours.

1. In Gmail, start a new message and add the recipients.
2. Look for the Help me write option in the compose window. Its exact look can change as Google updates the feature.
3. Type your instruction. Be specific about audience, facts and tone:

Email to my clients announcing new office hours starting April 2:
Monday to Thursday 9 to 5, Friday 9 to noon, closed weekends.
Tax-season appointments can still be booked online.
Warm, professional, under 120 words. Sign off as Marie.

1. Read the draft. If it needs changes, ask for them in plain words, such as "shorter" or "mention that parking is free."
2. Insert the draft, then edit it by hand. Check every date and time against your own notes before you send, because Gemini can write a wrong detail as confidently as a right one.

Worked example 2: summarizing a document in Docs

Help me write in Docs is built for drafting, but you can also ask it to work from text already in your document.

1. Open the document and select the section you want summarized, or copy the key passage.
2. Open Help me write in Docs.
3. Give a precise instruction:

Summarize the selected text in five bullet points for a board member
who has two minutes. Keep all dollar amounts and dates exactly as written.
Add one line at the end listing any decision the text asks for.

1. Compare the summary with the original. Look for dropped numbers, merged ideas and anything that was not in the text at all.
2. Keep the version you trust and delete the rest.

If you don't see these options, your account may not have a Gemini plan, or an administrator may have turned the features off for your organization.

What happens to your documents?

It depends on which version you are using, so start by finding out. For paid Workspace and Google One AI Premium use, Google's stated commitment is that the contents of your Workspace account, personal or business, are not used to train or refine the AI models behind its products outside Workspace, unless you give permission. For the business chat at gemini.google.com, Google adds that conversations are not used for advertising, are not reviewed by humans, are not used to improve its models, and are not shared with other users or organizations.

Workspace Labs, Google's trusted-tester program that let many people try these features early, works differently. Its help pages say Google uses Labs data to improve products and machine-learning technology, that human reviewers may read and annotate it, and that testers should not put personal, confidential or sensitive information in prompts. Leaving Labs is the only way to turn its features off, and you can't rejoin. If you joined Labs, check whether you are still using it before you paste in client files.

Two practical rules hold whatever your plan. Treat anything you type into a prompt as information you are handing to a service, and follow your employer's or clients' rules about where their data may go. And remember that a draft from Gemini is yours once you send it: Google itself tells Labs users not to rely on these suggestions for medical, legal or financial advice, so checking the facts stays your job.