Go back to the Gemini mobile app and tap Turn off screen sharing, or swipe down from the top edge of your screen and tap Stop sharing on the Screen Sharing card. Locking your phone or putting Live on hold ends the share as well, and it won't start again by itself. Muting doesn't stop it.
Two places to find the stop button
Google documents exactly 2 ways to end a screen share in Gemini Live. They do the same job from different spots, so the one you reach for depends on where you are when you decide Gemini has seen enough.
From inside Gemini. Switch back to the Gemini mobile app and tap Turn off screen sharing. This is the natural choice when you're already looking at the Live screen, say because you've had your answer and want to keep talking without Gemini watching.
From the top of your screen. Swipe down from the top edge, find the card labelled Screen Sharing and tap Stop sharing. I'd treat this as the everyday route. The whole reason you share a screen is that you're in some other app showing Gemini what's on it, and the swipe-down card lets you end the share without leaving that app first.
Stopping the share isn't the same as ending the conversation. The chat has its own control for that, covered in the questions at the bottom. If you're new to the feature and want the bigger picture of starting, talking and finishing a chat, our guide on how to use Gemini Live walks through it.
Mute won't hide your screen, but the lock button will
Here's the trap. Muting a Live chat switches off your microphone and nothing else. Your screen keeps going to Gemini, so if you mute because you want a moment of privacy, you've silenced yourself while leaving everything on display. And it is everything: when you share, your full screen goes across, not one app or one window.
Locking your phone works the other way round. Lock the screen, or put Live on hold, and sharing stops automatically. It also stays stopped. Carry on the chat or get back into your phone, and Gemini can no longer see your screen until you choose to share again from scratch.
That makes the side button the fastest exit you've got. If a message you'd rather keep to yourself lands mid-share, pressing lock is one movement, it doesn't need you to find a card or a button, and Google's help page confirms it ends the share. The catch is that you'll come back to a chat that can't see what you were asking about, so you'll need to share again if you weren't finished.
Picking the right exit for the moment
Most of the time any route will do. These are the situations where the choice matters.
Something private has just appeared. Press the lock button. It's the quickest documented way to cut the share, and you can sort out the rest once the display is dark.
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You've finished and want to carry on talking. Use whichever stop control is nearer: the card if you're still in another app, the in-app button if you've already switched over. Neither one ends the conversation.
You only wanted Gemini to stop hearing you. Mute does that, but be clear in your own head that your display is still going across. If you want both off, mute first and then use a stop control.
You put Live on hold to take a call. The share has already ended, so there's nothing to do. Just don't expect Gemini to pick up where it left off.
Before you share your screen again
Because Gemini gets the whole screen, the safest habit is to tidy up before you start rather than rush to stop afterwards. Close anything with messages, account details or someone else's information on it, then share. Notifications can arrive at any time, so it's worth deciding in advance that the lock button is your panic button.
End the share as soon as you've got what you came for, rather than leaving it running while you drift into other apps. If you're still weighing up how comfortable you are letting an assistant look at your phone at all, our piece on whether Gemini is safe covers the wider privacy questions. And if Live itself keeps misbehaving, the fixes in our guide to Gemini not working are the place to start.
Frequently asked questions
How do I start sharing my screen again after it stops?
Head back into Live and tap Turn on screen sharing, then work through the prompts. Nothing restarts it for you, whatever stopped it.
Why won't screen sharing start in the first place?
Notifications for Gemini Live have to be turned on, on your device. Switch them on and try again.
How do I end the Live chat completely and read back what was said?
Tap End or swipe right. That exits the chat and takes you to the transcript.
