Google Photos is giving users an easier way to leave its Gemini-powered search when a simple keyword would do. A new toggle now sits at the top of the results page, letting users switch between Ask Photos and classic search without digging through settings.
The change appears to address feedback from people who opted into Ask Photos but wanted a quicker way to return to classic search when Gemini was slower or less useful for a straightforward query.
Why did Google add the toggle?
Ask Photos is built for complicated requests. It can understand natural-language questions and search for details inside images, including prompts such as “What’s my license plate?” Classic search is quicker when you only need to find a person, place, object, date, or keyword.
Reddit users complained about irrelevant results, missing keyword matches, and the disappearance of an obvious route back to classic search. Some found that the most reliable workaround was disabling Ask Photos through the Gemini settings entirely.
Google had already acknowledged the problems. It paused the rollout in June 2025 over latency, quality, and user-experience concerns before bringing Ask Photos back with faster handling for simple searches.
What the new toggle actually does
Users who have enabled Ask Photos will see classic search on the left and Ask Photos on the right. Google still chooses which system it believes suits the query, but either view is only a tap away. Classic search can remain selected across several basic searches. A more complicated question may switch the app back to Ask Photos, where it stays until changed manually.
People who have not opted in can continue using regular search. Google may still show them the toggle, but selecting the AI side opens the onboarding process first. Gemini still gets a prominent place in Google Photos. At least users no longer have to hunt through settings whenever classic search would work better.
