Google Lens in Google Chrome is a useful feature that allows users to search for information directly from images or parts of web pages. This can be useful for finding additional information quickly. However, one might want to turn off the feature for privacy reasons. So, if the same goes for you, this article will guide you on disabling Google Lens from Chrome.
How to disable Google Lens from Chrome?
There are three ways to disable Google Lens from Chrome:
- Via Chrome’s address bar
- Using Chrome Flags Page
- Using Chrome Policy
You can always undo it if you ever want it back.
1] Disable the Google Lens on Chrome’s address bar
If you don’t want to turn off the lens on Chrome but hide it, you can untick the Google lens shortcut. This will remove the Google Lens icon from the address bar.
- First, select a link from the address bar.
- Right-click on it and untick Always show the Google lens shortcut option.
- Once you have done this, you will no longer see the Google Lens icon in the address bar. You can also follow the same steps to unhide it.
2] Disable the Google Lens Overlay feature using Chrome Flag
The easiest way to disable Google Lens in Chrome would be to use the flags that contain Chrome’s experimental features.
- Open Google Chrome, and in the address bar, type chrome://flags, and press Enter.
- From the search box at the top, type Lens to locate Lens Overlay.
- Use the dropdown menu next to it and select Disabled to turn off the feature.
- Once done, close and relaunch your Chrome browser, and the feature will be disabled.
3] Disable or remove Lens Overlay feature using Chrome Policy
If you use Windows, you can use Chrome Policy settings to remove the Lens Overlay feature. For this, follow these steps:
- Press Win Key + R to launch RUN, type regedit, and press enter.
- Go to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies - Now right-click on the Policies folder, select New > Key, and name it Chrome.
- Next, select the Chrome folder, right-click in the empty area in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it LensOverlaySettings.
- After that, double-click on the LensOverlaySettings value and set the value to 1.
- Finally, close Registry Editor and relaunch your Chrome browser, and the Lens Overlay feature should be disabled.
These were three quick ways to disable Google Lens from Chrome. I highly advise you to disable the feature from Flaggs only, as it is pretty straightforward and works across devices. Now, go ahead and try out the feature yourself and see if it’s working for you.
How to disable Google Lens in Android?
If you can uninstall Google Lens from Android, you can get rid of it. However, it may not be possible to do that as it is part of core Google services.
How do I use Google Lens without an app?
Tap and hold an image, then drop it over the Search an image with Google Lens overlay. This will install and perform an Image search. The same feature is available on Edge, but it uses Bing image search instead.
