Google Lens was originally a very convenient feature that could be used for reverse image search, translating images, and OCR to recognize text in pictures.
However, for such a practical feature, Google has chosen to integrate it into Chrome in the worst possible way: as soon as a logged-in user clicks the Omnibox (address bar), Google Lens immediately pops up as the first option, making it extremely easy to trigger accidentally. Moreover, it cannot be disabled in Chrome’s settings.
I suspect Google did this intentionally. Because as soon as Lens is triggered, even before the user selects any content, a screenshot of the current webpage is sent to Google (via https://lensfrontend-pa.googleapis.com/v1/crupload) to become part of Google’s training data. Considering I accidentally trigger it once every few days on average, I can’t help but wonder how many private webpage screenshots Google has already collected from billions of users worldwide.
Fortunately, starting from Chrome 144, such features can be disabled through enterprise policies.
Disable Google Lens and AI Features on Windows
On Windows, Press Win+X and select Terminal (Admin). Paste the following command and press Enter to disable Google Lens.
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v SearchContentSharingSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
If you also want to disable the Gemini, AI Mode, and more AI features, use the following commands.
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v GeminiSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v AIModeSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v HistorySearchSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v TabCompareSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v CreateThemesSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v AutofillPredictionSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v DevToolsGenAiSettings /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v UrlKeyedAnonymizedDataCollectionEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
After pressing Enter in the terminal to confirm, restart the browser. You will find that Google Lens has disappeared from the address bar!
If you want to re-enable Google Lens and other features later, use the following commands to revert the changes:
reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v SearchContentSharingSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v GeminiSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v AIModeSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v HistorySearchSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v TabCompareSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v CreateThemesSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v AutofillPredictionSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v DevToolsGenAiSettings /f reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v UrlKeyedAnonymizedDataCollectionEnabled /f
Disable Google Lens and AI Features on macOS
On macOS, you can use the following commands to disable Google Lens and AI features:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome SearchContentSharingSettings -int 1 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome GeminiSettings -integer 1 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome AIModeSettings -integer 1 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome HistorySearchSettings -integer 2 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome TabCompareSettings -integer 2 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome CreateThemesSettings -integer 2 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome AutofillPredictionSettings -integer 2 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome DevToolsGenAiSettings -integer 2 sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome UrlKeyedAnonymizedDataCollectionEnabled -bool false
Restart the browser for the changes to take effect.
If you want to re-enable Google Lens and other features later, use the following commands to revert the changes:
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome SearchContentSharingSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome GeminiSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome AIModeSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome HistorySearchSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome TabCompareSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome CreateThemesSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome AutofillPredictionSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome DevToolsGenAiSettings sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome UrlKeyedAnonymizedDataCollectionEnabled
After disabling Google Lens, clicking the address bar will no longer trigger the annoying Google Lens popup. When you right-click an image, the traditional “Search image with Google” option will still appear. This function only uploads the target image instead of sending a screenshot of the current webpage to Google.
Additionally, because these settings are applied via enterprise policies, Chrome will show that the browser is managed by an organization. This is expected.
Coxxs
