Google will replace Gems in Gemini with skills on November 17, 2026, for personal Google accounts of users aged 18 and older, and the original Gems will be removed from those accounts on December 17, according to Google. The company says it will migrate existing Gems automatically, but files attached to Gems face new limits and some file types will be deleted.
On November 17, Gems transition to skills. The original Gems stay visible for reference, but users can no longer use, edit, or create them. On December 17, Gems disappear from the account entirely.
Skills work differently from Gems. A Gem has to be opened directly, while a skill can be called up anywhere in Gemini, including in the middle of an existing chat, by typing a slash followed by the skill name.
Google plans to switch that trigger to the at sign. Skills can also run automatically based on a "When to use" section in their instructions, multiple skills can be stacked in one chat, and skills are built on the open SKILL.md standard, which makes them transferable to other AI platforms such as Claude and ChatGPT.
Gemini Gems Transition Timeline by Account Type
Google Workspace accounts follow a later schedule. For those users, Gems move into the Settings panel on November 17 but keep working until at least March 1, 2027. Education users will not see their Gems removed before June 1, 2027. Google has not announced when the transition starts for users under 18, and it has delayed the rollout of skills to Workspace apps such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Studio without a new date.
Skills come with restrictions. They do not work with Canvas, Deep Research, Guided Learning, video creation, or music creation. Content from Google Drive and Gemini Notebook cannot be added, skills cannot be shared with other users, and only 100 skills can be active at one time. Files added to a skill are capped at 100 MB, and skills do not sync between the Gemini app and Workspace apps.
How to Move Gems With Knowledge Files Before December 17
Simple, text-based Gems should survive the automatic migration. Gems with knowledge files need more attention: Google will delete the largest files to bring a skill under the 100 MB limit, and unsupported files are dropped, including legacy Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt), compressed archives, GitHub files, and audio and video files. Those files are deleted on December 17, so users should download them first.
- Click Gems in the Gemini sidebar, then click the Edit (pencil) button next to the Gem.
- Download every file listed under the Knowledge heading.
- Open a new Gemini tab and go to Customize, Skills, Create, and select Create manually.
- Paste the Gem's name, description, and instructions into the new skill and click Create.
- Edit the skill and use Add files for a small number of files, or download the skill, place its SKILL.md file in a folder with the knowledge files, and upload that folder with Replace skill.
Google has not set final removal dates for Workspace accounts, and no date has been announced for skills in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Studio.
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