Gemini users who rely on custom-configured AI assistants will need to move to a new format. Google confirmed in a September 30 post on its official Gemini blog that Skills, reusable, invocable custom instructions, are now rolling out globally in Gemini chat as a direct replacement for Gems, with personal account Gems set to be automatically migrated on November 17, 2026.
What Skills Are and How They Work
Skills are described by Google as "reusable custom instructions" that users can apply to automated tasks within Gemini. Unlike Gems, which required users to open a dedicated side panel and select a configuration before starting a session, Skills are activated by typing a forward slash in the prompt box and selecting the desired skill to apply it directly to the current conversation.
Multiple Skills can be stacked together within a single chat session, and Gemini can automatically detect when a skill would be useful and invoke it without the user explicitly calling it. The older Gems format did not support combining more than one configuration per session.
As of September 30, Google began rolling out Skills directly into Gemini chat globally, with the functionality set to reach Google Workspace business, enterprise, nonprofit, and education customers in the coming weeks. Specifically, Skills will begin rolling out to Google Workspace on October 5, followed by the Gemini app on October 13.
Attachment and File Support
Starting September 30, Skills also supports reference files. In the coming weeks, Skills will gain additional features previously available in Gems, including the ability to share them with others and to attach files from Google Drive and notebooks from Gemini Notebook.
Shutdown Timeline by Account Type
Google will remove support for Gems starting in November for individuals with personal accounts, in March 2027 for Workspace business, enterprise, and nonprofit customers, and in June 2027 for Workspace education customers.
Google has posted an in-app alert informing users that Gems will be replaced by Skills on November 17, 2026, and that existing Gems will be automatically migrated; users will be able to continue using each Gem until its migration is complete.
Starting October 13, 2026, users will no longer be able to create or edit Gems, though they may continue using existing ones until the November 17 automatic migration begins.
Also tied to the November timeline, Google confirmed that Opal, its experiment for building mini apps within Gemini, will also shut down in November alongside Gems for personal account users.
What the Transition Means for Marketers
For marketing teams using Gems to maintain consistent brand voice, research workflows, or content formatting instructions across Gemini sessions, the shift to Skills changes the access model but preserves the underlying functionality. The ability to stack multiple Skills in a single session, for example, combining a writing style skill with a brand guidelines skill simultaneously, represents an expanded capability not available in the Gems format. Teams should audit their existing Gem configurations before October 13, when the ability to create or edit Gems ends, to ensure all workflows are documented and ready for migration.
Google stated in its September 30 blog post that all existing Gems will be automatically converted to Skills when Gems are removed, and directed users to its help center for guidance on managing the transition manually ahead of the November 17 date.
