Google is replacing Gemini Gems with skills, with automatic migration for personal accounts starting in November 2026. Your saved prompts and supported files are expected to carry over, but some built-in tools, including Canvas and Deep Research, are not supported in skills yet. Before November, check any Gem that depends on one of those tools.
What are Gemini skills?
A skill is a saved set of instructions, plus optional reference files, that teaches Gemini how to handle a task you repeat. In practice it does the same job as a Gem, a custom prompt for things like drafting emails in your style or prepping for a presentation, but it lives inside your normal chat instead of in a separate Gem.
Skills work differently in three ways:
- You call it from any chat. Type a forward slash and the skill’s name in the prompt bar. Google’s help page says the shortcut will soon change to @.
- Gemini can use it on its own. If a prompt matches what a skill is for, Gemini can apply it automatically.
- You can stack them. Google’s example is combining a writing style skill with a brand guidelines skill so the output sounds like you and follows the brand rules.
Google currently limits skills to users aged 18 and older, with access for younger users marked as coming soon. It has not explained how that limit applies to Gems migrated from younger users.
When Gems go away
| Account type | Gems support ends | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Google account | November 2026 | Gems are converted to skills automatically |
| Workspace business, enterprise and nonprofit | March 2027 (no sooner than March 1 for business and enterprise) | Remaining Gems in the Gemini app become draft skills |
| Workspace education | June 2027 | Gems transition to skills |
What carries over, and what doesn’t yet
Google says it will move your Gems “along with any supported files” when Gems end. If a Gem relies mainly on its instructions and supported files, check the converted skill after migration to make sure it still handles the task as you expect. Google has not promised that every Gem will behave exactly as before.
The gaps show up in Gems built around a default tool. According to Google’s help page, most default tools available in Gems do not work with skills for now, including:
- Create video
- Create music
- Canvas
- Deep research
- Guided learning
Some tools and account features are not part of skills yet:
- GitHub files aren’t supported in skills yet.
- Sharing skills through links and adding files from Google Drive or notebooks from Gemini Notebook are promised “in the coming weeks”, not available today.
- Skills don’t have a dedicated page listing past chats the way Gems did. Those chats sit in your regular chat list.
- For Workspace users, skills created in the Gemini app won’t automatically appear in Workspace apps, so they need to be recreated there.
Keep the original instructions and supported files until you have tested the converted skill. Pay particular attention to Gems that rely on Canvas, Deep Research or shared links.
How to move a Gem to skills yourself
If you want to check an important Gem before the automatic move, you can recreate it now. Google’s web steps are:
- Open gemini.google.com, go to Gems in the sidebar and click Edit on the Gem. Download each file under Knowledge into a folder named in lowercase with hyphens, such as exam-notes-helper.
- In a new tab, open Settings, then Skills, and choose Create manually. Paste the Gem’s name, description and instructions, then click Create.
- If the Gem had files, download the new skill as a .zip, put its SKILL.md file into your folder with the Gem files, and use Replace skill to upload the whole folder. The folder name must match the skill name.
Uploading folders to create skills currently works only in the Gemini web app and the Mac app, so plan to do this on a laptop rather than your phone.
FAQ
Do I need a paid Google AI plan to use skills?
Google’s announcement presents skills as a Gemini feature, and its help page explains which accounts can use them. Check the Skills option in your Gemini settings, since availability can vary by account.
Will links to my shared Gems still work?
Google hasn’t said. It has confirmed that sharing is coming to skills in the coming weeks, but not whether existing Gem share links carry over, so keep a copy of the instructions for any Gem other people use.
