Gemini Gems Become Skills on November 17: What Moves Over, What Changes, and Who Can't Use Skills Yet
Google will automatically convert every Gem into a Gemini skill starting November 17. Google's own help page shows skills work differently, and for now they are limited to personal accounts.
TL;DR
Google is retiring Gemini Gems, the custom Gemini assistants it launched in 2024, and will automatically migrate them to "skills" starting November 17, 2026. Gems keep working until they're migrated. Skills are called by typing / in a chat, can be combined in one task, and can run automatically when Gemini decides they're relevant. Google's help page says skills don't need a paid subscription but, for now, require a personal Google Account, age 18+, and Keep Activity turned on, and they aren't available with work or school accounts.
A notice now sits at the top of the Gems manager in the Gemini app: "Gems will become skills starting Nov 17, 2026." Google says it will migrate Gems automatically and that you can keep using them until then. The coverage so far has treated this as a rename. Google's own help documentation shows it's a bigger change in how custom instructions work, and in who can use them.
The timeline
- 2024: Google launches Gems as "custom versions of Gemini".
- September 27, 2026: 9to5Google spots the migration notice in the Gems manager.
- Now until November 17: Gems keep working. You can recreate them as skills by hand if you want to switch early.
- From November 17, 2026: Google automatically begins migrating Gems to skills.
Gems vs skills
| Gems | Skills | |
|---|---|---|
| How you use it | Open it from the Gems side panel | Type / in a chat or task, or let Gemini apply it automatically |
| Combining | Opened individually from the Gems list | Several skills in one task; skills can reference other skills |
| Files | Add files for context | Upload plain-text, code, data, PDF, and image files with the skill, up to 100 MB; no .docx or .xlsx |
| Default tool | Can set a default tool such as Create image or Canvas | Not described in Google's help page |
| Sharing | Shareable by link | Download as a .zip; link sharing not described |
| Format | Created in the app | Created in the app, with Gemini's help, or by uploading a SKILL.md file |
Who can use skills right now
This is the detail most reports missed. According to Google's help page, to create and use skills you must be 18 or over, sign in with a personal Google Account, and have Keep Activity on. The feature "isn't available if you sign in with a work or school Google Account" for now, and it's limited to the Gemini mobile app, the Gemini app on Mac, and gemini.google.com. Google is also rolling skills out to chats gradually, so some personal accounts don't have them yet. Skills themselves don't need a paid plan; Gemini Spark tasks and schedules do.
Google hasn't said how Gems belonging to Workspace users will behave after November 17 if skills still aren't available on work accounts by then.
Limits to know before you rebuild a Gem
- Scripts inside a skill can't make requests to external websites.
- Reference files can only be added by uploading them with the skill, and updating a file means re-uploading the whole skill.
- Skill names must be lowercase with hyphens, such as my-new-skill.
- Gemini only applies a skill automatically if it's turned on; you can deactivate skills you want to call only by hand.
What this means if you rely on Gems
If you use a personal account, you don't need to do anything: your Gems will convert on or after November 17. It's worth recreating your most-used Gem as a skill now to check it behaves the same, especially if it relied on a default tool or a share link, which Google's skills documentation doesn't mention. If you use Gemini through work or school, check with your admin before November, because Google's documentation currently says skills aren't available on those accounts.
Sources
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