How-to7 min read · Updated

How to move your Gemini Gems to skills before they disappear

Google is replacing Gems with skills in the Gemini app, and the clock is short for personal accounts. Here is what changes, what gets lost in the automatic move, and how to rebuild each Gem properly in about ten minutes.

The short answer

Google's Gemini app is replacing Gems with skills. On personal Google Accounts of adults, Gems become read-only on 17 November 2026 and are removed on 17 December 2026; Workspace business accounts follow in March 2027 and education accounts in June 2027. Gems convert to skills automatically, but a skill holds at most 100 MB of files, and older Office files, audio, video and archives do not carry over. To move one by hand, download its files, then use Customize, Skills, Create, Create manually.

What is happening to Gems, and when

Gems were the saved, custom versions of Gemini that Google introduced for repeat jobs: a name, a set of instructions and a few knowledge files. Google is replacing them with skills, reusable instruction sets that Gemini can call when you type / and the skill's name, or apply on its own when a prompt matches. The dates come from Google's help article About the transition from Gems to skills:

  • 17 November 2026: Gems on personal Google Accounts of people aged 18 and over become read-only. You can still open and view them, but you cannot use, edit or create Gems.
  • 17 December 2026: Gems are removed from those accounts. Download any Gem files you need before this date.
  • Under 18: a later date that Google has not announced yet.
  • Google Workspace business, enterprise and non-profit accounts: March 2027.
  • Google Workspace education accounts: June 2027.
  • Opal and Gems made by Google Labs: turn off on 17 November 2026 and are not converted, so copy their prompts yourself.

Your own Gems are converted to skills automatically when they go away, together with supported files. So why do anything? Because the automatic move has rules that can quietly break a Gem, and because after 17 November you can no longer run the old Gem to compare. Doing it by hand now, while both still work, takes about ten minutes per Gem and lets you check the result. For the wider picture of the app, see our Gemini guide.

What carries over and what does not

Google lists the limits plainly, and they decide whether the automatic move is safe for a given Gem:

  • 100 MB of files per skill. If a Gem's files add up to more, the largest files are removed first during the automatic move.
  • File types that do not transfer: GitHub files, audio and video files, older Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) and archives (.zip, .tar, .7z, .rar, .gz, .tgz). Modern formats such as .docx, .pdf, .md, .txt, .csv, .xlsx, .pptx and common image files are supported.
  • Tools that do not work in skills yet: Canvas, Deep Research, Create video, Create music and Guided learning. A Gem built around one of these will not behave the same way as a skill.
  • Not available yet: sharing skills and adding Google Drive files or Gemini Notebook notebooks to a skill. Google says both are coming in the coming weeks, and the Google Workspace Updates blog said on 13 October 2026 that it would post when sharing and Drive arrive.
  • Up to 100 active skills. To switch on another one, deactivate one first.

Skills do work with Connected Apps, such as the Google Workspace apps, and you can stack several skills in the same chat, which Google gives as one of the reasons for the switch.

What you need first

  • A personal Google Account, signed in, and aged 18 or over. Skills are available now to adults on personal accounts and do not need a Google AI subscription. If you use Gemini through a work or school account, Google says skills are coming to those accounts soon, and their Gems stay until March or June 2027.
  • Keep Activity turned on. Google's skills help page lists it as a requirement. You can turn it on or off in Gemini Apps Activity. Google says that with Keep Activity on it uses your activity to improve its services, including training generative AI models, so read our privacy guide first if that matters to you.
  • The Gemini web app or the Mac app for uploading a whole skill folder; Google says uploading a SKILL.md file is currently available only there. Skills themselves also work in the mobile app.
  • A list of your Gems with, for each one, its files, their formats and which tools it relies on.
  • Two or three real test prompts per Gem, so you can check the skill gives the same quality of answer.

How to move a Gem to a skill, step by step

These are the menu names Google uses in its own instructions on gemini.google.com.

Step 1: save the Gem's files

  1. Go to gemini.google.com and click Open Sidebar, then Gems. If you do not see Gems, click More first.
  2. Next to the Gem, click Edit.
  3. Copy the Gem's name, description and instructions into a document you control.
  4. Under Knowledge, open each file and click Download.
  5. Make a folder on your computer named after the skill, in lowercase with hyphens (for example write-client-update), and move the files into it. Convert any .doc, .xls or .ppt file to .docx, .xlsx or .pptx now.

Step 2: create the skill

  1. Open gemini.google.com in a new tab.
  2. In the sidebar, click Customize, then Skills. If needed, click More first.
  3. Click Create, then Create manually.
  4. Paste the name, description and instructions from the Gem. The name is formatted automatically.
  5. Click Create.

Step 3: add the files

  1. On the Skills page, click More options next to the skill, then Download. You get a .zip file containing SKILL.md.
  2. Move SKILL.md into your Gem file folder.
  3. Click More options again, then Replace skill.
  4. Click folder in the upload area, choose your folder (its name must match the skill name) and click Upload.

For a single file you can also open the skill and use Add files, which accepts files from your device. Google's help pages list Google Drive files as an option there too, but the transition article says Drive files are still coming, so do not count on them yet. Then run your test prompts by typing / and picking the skill.

Rewrite the description so the skill actually loads

This is the step most people skip, and the one that matters most. A Gem only ran when you opened it. A skill can run on its own, and Google's guide to writing effective skills explains that Gemini first reads only the name and the description to decide whether a skill fits your prompt, and reads the full instructions only if it does. A Gem description such as "My writing helper" will rarely match anything.

  • Name: start with an action verb, avoid vague words such as helper, tools or data, and use lowercase with hyphens, for example plan-meal-from-recipe.
  • Description: one or two sentences, within 1,024 characters, written in the third person, followed by "Use when ..." and the situations it is for.
  • Instructions: short, like a cheat sheet. Include an output template, a common mistakes list and what to do when information is missing, such as asking you rather than guessing.

A worked example: a weekly client update Gem

Say you built a Gem called "Client updates" that turns your rough notes into a friendly weekly email. It has three knowledge files: a tone guide in .doc format, last quarter's project plan as a .pdf and a 40-second voice memo where you explained your style. Here is how the move goes.

First, check it against the rules. The .doc file would not transfer, so you open it in Google Docs and download it as .docx. The voice memo is audio and will not transfer either, so you ask Gemini to summarise what you said in it and save that as a short style-notes.md file. The .pdf is fine, and the total is well under 100 MB. The Gem used no Canvas or Deep Research, so nothing else is lost.

Next, rename and describe it. "Client updates" becomes write-client-update, and the description becomes: "Drafts the weekly client status email from rough project notes, in the house tone. Use when the user pastes project notes and asks for a client update, status email or weekly summary." Then create it with Create manually, download the .zip, put SKILL.md into the folder with the three files and use Replace skill to upload the folder.

Finally, test. Paste last week's notes and type / then write-client-update. Then paste the same notes without the / and ask for "the client update" to see whether Gemini picks the skill up on its own. If the old Gem's answer was better in one way, such as always ending with next week's dates, add that line to the instructions. When it matches, you can stop worrying about 17 November for this one.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

  • Trusting the automatic move for a big Gem. The largest files go first when a Gem is over 100 MB. Fix: trim or split the files yourself and move it by hand.
  • Losing old Office files and recordings. Fix: convert .doc, .xls and .ppt to the newer formats, and turn audio or video into written notes before 17 December.
  • A folder name that does not match. The upload expects the folder name to match the skill name. Fix: rename the folder to the exact lowercase, hyphenated name.
  • A skill that never runs on its own. Fix: rewrite the description with "Use when" and the words you actually type, and check the skill is activated under Customize > Skills.
  • Hitting the 100 skill cap. Fix: deactivate skills you no longer use; a deactivated skill stays saved.
  • Expecting Canvas or Deep Research inside a skill. Fix: run those tools in a normal chat for now and paste the result into a chat that uses the skill.
  • Forgetting Labs Gems and Opal. They switch off on 17 November 2026 and are not converted. Fix: copy their prompts into a document today and rebuild them as skills.

Should you stay with Gemini skills or build somewhere else?

Stay with Gemini skills if your work runs through Gmail, Docs and Drive, because skills work with Connected Apps and the move is free on personal accounts. If you are on a work or school account there is less hurry, because your Gems stay until March or June 2027. If you rely on a Gem that leaned on Canvas or Deep Research, or you need to share an assistant with your team today, consider building it as a Claude Project instead, at least until sharing arrives in Gemini; our Claude Projects guide shows how. ChatGPT is going through a similar change, with custom GPTs moving to plugins, covered in how to create a custom GPT in 2026. The good news is that all three now use the same building block, a SKILL.md file with instructions and reference files, so the folder you make today can be reused elsewhere after small changes, such as Claude's 200-character limit on descriptions. Compare the assistants in ChatGPT vs Gemini, read what an AI skill is, see Gemini alternatives, borrow ideas from our Gemini prompts for Gmail and Docs or practise with the Gemini course.

Prompts to copy

Turn a Gem into a skill

Here are my Gem's name, description and instructions: [paste]. Rewrite them as a Gemini skill: a name in lowercase with hyphens that starts with an action verb, a description of one or two sentences in the third person ending with "Use when" and the situations it is for, then short instructions with an output template, a common mistakes list and what to do when information is missing.

You get: A ready-to-paste name, description and instructions for Create manually

Audit your Gems before 17 November

Here is a list of my Gems with their files, file formats and the tools each one uses: [list]. For each, tell me what will not carry over to a skill (files over 100 MB in total, .doc, .xls, .ppt, audio, video, archives, GitHub files, and Canvas, Deep Research, Create video, Create music or Guided learning), what I need to convert, and rank them by how much I would lose.

You get: A migration plan ordered by risk

Replace an audio or video file with notes

This is a transcript of a recording I used as a knowledge file in a Gem: [paste transcript]. Turn it into a short reference file for an AI assistant with headings and bullet points, keeping only the rules, examples and preferences it needs to follow.

You get: A text file that replaces a recording that cannot transfer

Fix a skill that does not load

My Gemini skill does not run when I need it. Description: [paste]. Prompts that should trigger it: [examples]. Prompts that should not: [examples]. Rewrite the description in under 1,024 characters so it clearly matches the first list and not the second.

You get: A sharper description so Gemini picks the skill automatically

Compare the old Gem with the new skill

Here are two answers to the same prompt, one from my old Gem and one from the new skill: [paste both]. List every difference in content, structure and tone, and give me the exact instruction to add to the skill to close each gap.

You get: The edits that make the skill match or beat the Gem

Keep going

Start the Gemini lessons