Gemini — a guide

Gemini, in plain English.

What it is. How to start. What to ask. What to watch out for.

Gemini is Google's chatbot. If you already use Gmail, Google Docs, or Drive, Gemini lives inside the apps you know. This page walks you through it from the start.

Open Gemini →How to sign in

Product details checked: May 2026. AI tools change quickly. If something looks different on screen, the ideas in this guide should still hold.

What it is

Gemini is a chatbot made by Google. You type, it replies — like the others. What makes it different is how deeply it is built into Google's apps.

Inside Gmail, Gemini can summarise long email threads and help you draft replies. Inside Google Docs, it can write, edit, and reformat. Inside Drive, it can pull facts from your files. Inside Maps, it can plan trips.

Gemini also uses live Google Search under the hood for many answers. That means it often has fresher facts than other chatbots — but it also means it can confidently repeat something wrong from the web.

How to sign in

Three steps. Less than two minutes. Free.

  1. 1

    Open Gemini

    Go to gemini.google.com in your browser. Or download Google Gemini from the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iPhone). Check the maker name says Google before you install.

  2. 2

    Sign in with your Google account

    Any Gmail address works. If you don't have one, tap Create account — that takes about three minutes.

  3. 3

    Start typing

    A chat box opens. Type your first message and press send. That's it.

You may also see Gemini show up as a small sparkle icon inside Gmail, Docs, Drive, or Sheets. Tap it to use Gemini directly inside that app.

Free or paid?

What you get for nothing. What you get for paying.

Free

Start here
  • Cost: nothing (with any Google account)
  • Good enough for: most readers, most days
  • You get: full chat with a strong default model, web grounding via Google Search, image generation, image and file uploads
  • Limits: the most advanced model is paywalled; some features capped per day

Google One AI Premium

  • Cost: varies by country — check the current price when you sign up. India is usually cheaper than the US.
  • Good enough for: heavy users, professionals, anyone who already pays for Google One storage
  • You get: access to the top Gemini model, the deepest integrations inside Gmail / Docs / Drive / Meet, image generation with higher limits, and extra cloud storage in the bargain
  • Honest take: if you live inside Google apps every day, the bundled storage alone can make this worth it. If you don't, free is plenty.

I pay for Google One AI Premium because I live inside Google apps for work. For daily practice and most everyday use, the free tier is more than enough.

Your first five prompts

Copy any of these. Change the bracketed bits. Send.

  1. 1

    Summarise a long Gmail thread

    Open the email thread in Gmail. Tap the sparkle icon. Choose Summarise.

    What to expect: A short summary of who said what and what needs your reply. Works well for long client or admin threads.

  2. 2

    Generate an image

    Draw [scene or object]. Style: [photo / cartoon / illustration].

    What to expect: A few images you can refine. Reply with what to change. Useful for posters, slides, social posts.

  3. 3

    Ask "what’s the latest on..."

    What is the latest on [topic]? Give me the three most important updates. Cite the sources.

    What to expect: A fresh answer pulled from Google Search, with links. Check the linked sources — they are the real answer.

  4. 4

    Draft inside Google Docs

    Open a new Google Doc. Tap the sparkle icon. Type: "Write a one-page proposal for [topic]."

    What to expect: A starting draft you can edit in place. Better than a blank page.

  5. 5

    Plan a trip with Maps

    Plan a three-day trip to [place] for [people]. Mix of [interests]. Suggest a route I can open in Google Maps.

    What to expect: A plan with named places. Tap any place name to open Maps.

What Gemini is good at

  • Living inside Google apps

    If you use Gmail, Docs, Drive, Sheets, Maps — it's right there.

  • Fresh facts

    Live web grounding for "what is happening now" questions.

  • Image generation

    Strong, fast, free for most users.

  • Multimodal input

    You can show it pictures, audio, and even video.

What it is not good at

  • Long, careful writing

    Other tools often draft more thoughtfully for long-form work.

  • Saying yes to everything

    Gemini can be over-cautious — refusing questions other tools would answer. Rephrase if it does.

  • Being consistent

    Quality varies between tasks. The same prompt can give a brilliant answer one day and a flat one the next.

  • Being right when it sounds confident

    Like all chatbots, Gemini can make things up. This is called hallucination. The web grounding helps but does not eliminate this. Always check anything that matters.

Privacy & safety

What Google sees

Your chats with Gemini are stored in Gemini Apps Activity by default. Google may use them to improve its services. Human reviewers can see chats that get flagged for safety checks.

How to turn off saving

Go to myactivity.google.com → Gemini Apps Activity and turn it off. You can also auto-delete after 3, 18, or 36 months.

Don't paste:

  • Passwords or PINs
  • Bank or card numbers
  • ID numbers (Aadhaar, PAN, passport)
  • Medical records, your own or anyone else’s
  • Other people's private messages or contact details

A simple rule: if you would not write it on a postcard, don't paste it into Gemini.

Where to next

Back to AI Basics

The hub: pick another tool, or read the safety basics again.

Master Prompt Builder

Coming soon

A form-driven tool that writes clear, complete prompts for you. Coming in a later sprint.