Gemini Gems Are Going Away: Dates, Skills and Files to Save

Google is retiring Gems in the Gemini app. If you use a personal Google Account and you’re 18 or older, your Gems are automatically converted to skills and become read-only on November 17, 2026. They’re removed, along with their files, on December 17, 2026. Google Workspace accounts follow in 2027: March for business, enterprise and nonprofit customers, June for education (Google’s transition help page, checked Nov. 5, 2026).

Three things to do before December 17:

1. Copy the name, description and instructions of every Gem you want to keep.
2. Download the knowledge files that won’t carry over: audio, video, GitHub files, legacy Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt), archives (.zip, .rar and so on), and anything beyond 100 MB per Gem.
3. Open the skill created from each Gem and compare it with the original, files included.

Checked Nov. 5, 2026, against Google’s help pages and Gemini release notes. This page will be checked again at the November 17 and December 17 deadlines.

If you do nothing. On November 17, Google recreates each Gem as a skill, with its supported files. The Gem stays viewable, but you can’t use or edit it, and you can’t create new Gems. If a Gem has more than 100 MB of files, the largest files are removed first until it’s under the limit. Unsupported file types aren’t carried over. On December 17, Gems and their files disappear from Gemini Apps: anything you haven’t downloaded is gone (Google help, checked Nov. 5, 2026).

What Happens to Gemini Gems?

A Gem was a version of Gemini with standing instructions and reference files, opened in its own separate chat. Google is replacing Gems with skills: reusable instructions you call up in any chat by typing / followed by the skill’s name (soon @). Gemini can also apply a skill on its own when your prompt calls for it, and you can stack several skills in a single conversation (Google help).

Google announced the change on September 30, 2026: skills “will soon replace Gems,” and existing Gems will be migrated automatically (Gemini release notes, Google’s blog post, checked Nov. 5, 2026). Early news coverage gave conflicting timelines; the dates and rules on this page come only from Google’s official help pages, admin guide, blog post and release notes.

When Do Gems Go Away for Your Account?

Sources: Gemini transition help page, Workspace admin guide (dated Sept. 30, 2026, page updated Oct. 26, 2026), Opal FAQ and Google’s blog post, checked Nov. 5, 2026.

The Gemini help page says “March 2027” and “June 2027.” The Workspace admin guide says “no sooner than March 1, 2027” and “no sooner than June 1, 2027,” so those aren’t firm dates for work and school accounts.

For Opal and Gems made by Labs, the Opal FAQ gives November 17, 2026, as the shutdown date, with no automatic migration: you’ll need to recreate any skills or prompts by hand. Your Opal workflow files stay in Google Drive (My Drive > Opal), and Google says it won’t touch them.

What Are Gemini Skills, and Who Can Use Them?

A skill bundles a name, a description, instructions and, optionally, reference files. You can create one from a chat (“Create a skill based on these instructions…”), from a template, manually, or by uploading a SKILL.md file (“Create & manage skills” help page, checked Nov. 5, 2026).

What Google’s help center says about access, as of Nov. 5, 2026:

• Skills are available in Gemini chat to people over 18 signed in to a personal Google Account; Google’s transition help page says it will “soon” expand them to work and school accounts, while its Workspace admin guide says they’ve been rolling out to all Workspace editions since Oct. 13, 2026 (see the Workspace section).
• You must be 18 or older, be signed in and have Keep Activity turned on.
• Skills work in the Gemini mobile app, the Gemini app on Mac and the web app at gemini.google.com.
• The help page states: “Skills are available without a Google AI subscription.”

News coverage disagreed on whether skills are free. Before the Sept. 30, 2026, announcement, skills were only available in Gemini Spark, Gemini’s agent for paying subscribers (Google’s blog post, PCWorld on Sept. 28, 2026). That led some outlets, such as Notebookcheck on Sept. 29, 2026, citing Android Authority and 9to5Google, to report that skills were limited to Pro and Ultra subscribers, while others, such as PCWorld on Sept. 30, 2026, said the opposite (articles checked Nov. 5, 2026). Google’s blog post mentions “all Google AI subscription tiers.” The help center is the most explicit: no subscription required.

The rollout is gradual. The Sept. 30 release note says skills are rolling out globally and are “currently available to 18+ and coming to more users soon”; Google’s blog post specifies that under-18 users are next (“U18 coming soon”). The Oct. 13 release note says Customize, the menu where skills live, “is rolling out globally across web, mobile, and the Gemini desktop app on Windows and macOS, for all user tiers” (Gemini release notes, checked Nov. 5, 2026). So the feature may not show up on every account yet.

For everything Gemini offers for free and on paid plans, see our Google Gemini guide.

What Doesn’t Carry Over From a Gem to a Skill

Files. A skill can hold up to 100 MB of files in total. During the automatic conversion, if a Gem goes over that limit, Google removes the largest files first until it fits. These file types aren’t carried over (Google help, checked Nov. 5, 2026):

• GitHub files
• Audio and video files
• Legacy Microsoft Office formats: .doc, .xls, .ppt
• Archives and compressed files: .zip, .tar, .7z, .rar, .gz, .tgz

If you still have a local copy of an old Word, Excel or PowerPoint file, saving it as .docx, .xlsx or .pptx lets you upload it again: those formats are on Google’s list of supported skill files, along with .pdf, .txt, .md, .csv and common image formats (supported file types).

Tools. According to Google, most default tools available in Gems don’t work with skills yet, including:

• Create video
• Create music
• Canvas
• Deep Research
• Guided Learning

Skills do work with Connected Apps, such as the Workspace apps. If you mainly used a Gem to run Deep Research or Canvas with fixed instructions, a skill won’t do the same thing for now. These tools are covered in our Google Gemini guide.

Other differences.

• You can create as many skills as you like, but only 100 can be active at a time.
• Sharing skills is coming “in the coming weeks,” according to Google’s transition help page. A Gem you shared with friends or coworkers may not be shareable as a skill yet.
• Google contradicts itself on Google Drive and Gemini Notebook. The transition help page says adding Drive files and notebooks is coming “in the coming weeks,” but the “Create & manage skills” help page already describes adding files from Google Drive, Google Photos or Notebooks (checked Nov. 5, 2026). Depending on your account, the option may already be there. Google Drive files and notebooks aren’t included when you download a skill.
• Unlike Gems, skills don’t have a page listing your recent chats with them; those chats appear directly in the side panel.

How to Back Up Your Gems Before December 17

Google’s help page describes the steps on a computer. There’s no bulk download: you save a Gem’s files one at a time (Google help, checked Nov. 5, 2026).

1. On your computer, go to gemini.google.com.
2. Click Open Sidebar, then Gems (if you don’t see “Gems,” click More first).
3. Next to the Gem you want to save, click Edit.
4. Copy the name, description and instructions into a document of your own.
5. If the Gem has files under Knowledge, click each file to open it, then click Download at the top.

After November 17, Google suggests opening the Gem and the new skill side by side, finding the files that didn’t transfer and downloading them. Do it before Dec. 17, 2026: on that date, Gems are removed and you can no longer access them.

How to Recreate a Gem as a Skill Manually

You don’t have to wait for the automatic conversion. Google’s help page explains how to rebuild a Gem as a skill yourself, which lets you choose which files to keep under the 100 MB limit.

1. Set up a folder. Download the Gem’s files (see the previous section) and put them in a folder named after your future skill, in lowercase with hyphens between words, for example brand-style-checker.

2. Create the skill. In a new browser tab, at gemini.google.com, click Customize > Skills, then Create > Create manually. Paste in the Gem’s name, description and instructions; the name is reformatted automatically. Click Create. If you don’t need to add files, you’re done.

3. Add your files. On the Skills page, next to the skill you just created, click More options > Download. You get a .zip file containing a SKILL.md file. Move that SKILL.md into the folder from step 1. Back on the Skills page, click More options > Replace skill next to the same skill, choose folder, select your folder and click Upload. The folder name must match the skill name.

For now, uploading files to create a skill only works in the Gemini app on Mac and at gemini.google.com.

About the SKILL.md format. It’s a Markdown-based file (per the Workspace admin guide) that holds the skill’s metadata, including its name, and sits in the root folder (Google help). Google says you can import skills you created “on other platforms” by uploading their SKILL.md files, and its Workspace admin guide describes SKILL.md as an open format for moving instructions between tools. Google doesn’t name specific tools, so review the result after each import. Two documented limits: scripts that need internet access aren’t supported, and hidden files (like .DS_Store or .pyc) can make an upload fail.

Google Workspace Users: What Changes in 2027

Work and school accounts get a longer, slightly different timeline (Workspace admin guide, dated Sept. 30, 2026, page updated Oct. 26, 2026, checked Nov. 5, 2026):

• Since October 13, 2026, skills have been rolling out in the Gemini app to all Workspace editions, with the rollout expected to finish by mid-November. Gems and skills coexist. Google contradicts itself here: its consumer help page still says work and school access is coming “soon,” so skills may not appear on every account yet.
• On November 17, 2026, Gems move to Settings in the Gemini app; users can still create, edit and use them.
• No sooner than March 1, 2027 (business, enterprise, nonprofit) or June 1, 2027 (education), Gems stop working. Remaining Gems are migrated to inactive draft skills: creators must review and activate each one before they can use or share it. Names, descriptions, instructions and knowledge files are kept, and so are Drive sharing permissions. Google says it will publish full migration details at least 30 days before the automatic migration starts.
• Skills in the Gemini app and skills in Workspace apps don’t sync. To use a skill in both places, you have to recreate it in Google Workspace Studio.

Workspace Studio and the “Ask a Gem” step. You already can’t add an “Ask a Gem” step to a flow. Existing flows still work for now. The Workspace Studio help page says they stop working starting March 2027; the admin guide says “no sooner than March 1, 2027” for business and enterprise editions and “no sooner than June 1, 2027” for education. Google recommends replacing each “Ask a Gem” step with an “Ask Gemini” step, optionally paired with a Workspace Studio skill. Those skills have been rolling out gradually since October 5, 2026 (Workspace Studio help, checked Nov. 5, 2026).

Skills in Workspace apps (Workspace Studio and the Gemini side panel) are limited to users 18 and older on Business Starter, Standard and Plus; Enterprise Standard and Plus; Google AI Pro for Education; or the AI Expanded Access add-on. In the Gemini app, they’re available to all Workspace editions and users of all ages, according to the same guide.

FAQ

Will I Lose My Gems?

Not their core content: Google converts them to skills automatically on November 17, 2026 (personal accounts, 18+). But unsupported files (audio, video, .doc, .xls, .ppt, archives, GitHub files) and anything beyond 100 MB don’t come along. Download them from the Gem before Dec. 17, 2026.

Can I Still Use a Gem After November 17?

Not on a personal account: the Gem becomes read-only. You can still view it before Dec. 17, 2026, but you can’t use or edit it, and you can’t create new Gems. On a Workspace account, Gems move to Settings and keep working until at least March 1, 2027 (business, enterprise) or June 1, 2027 (education).

Are Gemini Skills Free?

Yes, according to Google’s help center as of Nov. 5, 2026: “Skills are available without a Google AI subscription.” You need to be 18 or older, signed in to a personal account, with Keep Activity turned on.

What’s the Difference Between Gems and Skills?

A Gem opened in its own chat. A skill can be called up in any chat with /, can be triggered automatically by Gemini and can be combined with other skills. But it doesn’t yet work with Canvas, Deep Research, video or music creation, or Guided Learning.

Can I Import a Skill Made Somewhere Else?

Yes. Google says you can import skills created on other platforms by uploading their SKILL.md file, from the Gemini app on Mac or at gemini.google.com. Google doesn’t list which platforms.

Will My Shared Gems Stay Shared?

Not necessarily on a personal account. Google says skill sharing is coming “in the coming weeks,” but doesn’t say whether a Gem’s sharing settings carry over in the conversion. On a Workspace account, the admin guide says Drive permissions and sharing settings move to the migrated skill, but its creator has to activate it before it can be shared.