The Intrusive Research Assistant
Google Docs features a built-in research assistant called the “Explore” tool. Located via a small star-shaped icon in the bottom right corner of the document window, Explore scans your text and automatically suggests related internet searches, images, and Drive files that you might want to reference. Sometimes, depending on how Google interprets your document, the Explore pane might automatically pop open on the right side of the screen, offering unsolicited suggestions.
While the Explore tool can be helpful for students writing essays, it is entirely useless and distracting for someone writing a personal letter, a fictional story, or a confidential business memo. Having a sidebar constantly popping open to suggest Wikipedia articles about the words you are typing breaks your concentration and takes up valuable screen space. If you find the Explore tool intrusive, you can easily dismiss it.
How to Close the Explore Tool
While you cannot permanently delete the Explore feature from Google Docs, you can easily hide the sidebar.
- Open your document in Google Docs.
- If the Explore panel is currently open on the right side of your screen (displaying search results or images), look at the very top right corner of that specific panel.
- You will see a small X icon.
- Click the X to close the Explore panel.
The sidebar will slide away, returning your document to full width. The small, star-shaped Explore icon will remain quietly nestled in the bottom right corner of the screen, but it will not automatically expand the sidebar again unless you explicitly click on it to request assistance.