Google turns Gemini Gems into skills on 17 November. How do you save your team's Gems?

What is happening to Gemini Gems?

Google is replacing Gems, the custom assistants people build in the Gemini app, with skills. Google announced skills on 30 September 2026. A skill is a reusable set of instructions, with optional files, that you call by typing "/" and its name in a chat, or that Gemini applies when it fits. Google says skills use the open SKILL.md format, so a skill can also be imported as a file.

The dates depend on your type of account. This is what Google's help pages said when we read them on 10 November 2026:

If your team uses Gemini on ordinary Gmail accounts, the deadline that matters is 17 November, one week from today. After that date a Gem still opens, so you can copy from it, but it no longer does any work.

Will my Gems turn into skills automatically?

Yes, Google says Gems convert to skills automatically, with their supported files. Google's Workspace admin page says a converted skill keeps the Gem's name, description, instructions and knowledge files, and arrives as an inactive draft that its creator has to review and switch on before anyone can use it.

The catch is in the files. Google's help page lists what does not make the move:

• Anything over 100 MB. Each skill has a 100 MB file limit. If a Gem holds more, Google removes the largest files first.
• Unsupported file types: audio, video, GitHub files, older Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) and archives such as .zip, .rar, .7z and .tar.
• Some tools. Google says Canvas, Deep Research, Guided Learning, video creation and music creation do not work with skills yet.

Files that do not carry over have to be downloaded from the Gem and added back by hand. Skills in the Gemini app also do not sync with skills in Workspace apps such as Docs and Gmail.

Which Gems should a small team check first?

Not every Gem needs attention. Our advice is to check them in this order:

1. 1Brand-voice and style Gems. They often hold guidelines and logo packs, and a lost file changes every caption and email.
2. 2Gems with archives, audio or video. These files will not carry over.
3. 3Gems several people use daily. Google says sharing for skills is still coming, so plan how your team will reach the new version.
4. 4Gems that rely on Canvas or Deep Research. Those tools do not work with skills yet.
5. 5Gems used in Workspace Studio flows. Google says these must be rebuilt by hand in Workspace Studio.

How do you move a brand-voice Gem to a skill? A worked example

Take a typical case. A five-person marketing team on personal Google accounts has a Gem called "Brand voice". It holds tone-of-voice instructions, a 40 MB brand guidelines PDF, a .zip of logo files and a short brand video. Under Google's rules the PDF can transfer, but the .zip and the video will not. Here is how we would move it before 17 November:

1. 1Copy the text. Open Gemini, go to Gems and click Edit next to the Gem. Copy the name, description and instructions into a document by hand.
2. 2Download every knowledge file. Open each file in the Gem and click Download.
3. 3Create the skill. Go to Customize, then Skills, then Create, then Create manually. Paste the instructions. Gemini formats the name in lowercase with hyphens.
4. 4Add the files. In the skill's More options menu, click Download to get its SKILL.md file. Put SKILL.md and your files in a folder named exactly like the skill, then use Replace skill to upload it. For now this works only in the Gemini web app and the Mac app.
5. 5Turn the logo pack into words. Write the logo rules into the instructions: which version goes on dark backgrounds, the minimum size, what never to do with the mark.
6. 6Test it. Run three everyday jobs, such as a caption, a client reply and a product description, through the skill before 17 November, while the old Gem still works, and compare the answers.
7. 7Keep a master copy. Save SKILL.md and the files in a shared drive, so the rules do not live in one person's account.

Should you rebuild your Gems or let Google convert them?

Letting Google convert them is fine for simple, text-only Gems. Rebuild by hand anything client-facing or brand-related, so you can test it against the old Gem. Our advice: the instructions inside a brand Gem are the real asset, not the Gem itself. If your brand rules only exist as a PDF someone once uploaded, this is a good moment to write them as plain rules that any AI tool can follow. Our brand identity service produces guidelines in that form, and our post on AI design agents and brand systems explains why it matters.

If a Gem has quietly become part of how your team works every day, treat the move as a chance to set it up properly. Our AI workflows and automation service maps the workflows you already run, keeps the output on brand and leaves your team with a setup it can run.

Sources

• About the transition from Gems to skills (Gemini Apps Help, Google, read 10 November 2026)
• About the transition from Gems to skills (Google Workspace Admin Help, updated 30 September 2026, read 10 November 2026)
• Introducing skills in the Gemini app and Workspace, plus what's next for Gems (Google Workspace Updates, 30 September 2026, updated 9 November 2026)
• An update on the launch of skills in the Gemini app and Workspace (Google Workspace Updates, 13 October 2026)