6 min read
Google is retiring Gems. If you built a Gem that writes your client emails, drafts your product descriptions or checks your invoices, it will eventually stop working in its current form, and its replacement is a feature called Skills. The good news: you have time, the move takes about fifteen minutes per Gem, and Skills are genuinely more useful once you know how they work. This guide walks you through it step by step.
What is changing, in plain English
A Gem was a saved version of Gemini with your own instructions baked in. You opened it from a side panel, and it behaved the way you had told it to, every time.
A Skill is a reusable set of instructions too, but you call it up differently. According to Google’s Workspace Updates announcement, Skills work in the Gemini app and most Google Workspace apps, you invoke them inline right in the chat box, and you can use several Skills in the same conversation. Gemini can also recognize when a Skill would help and suggest it.
Here is the timeline that matters for a small business:
- Now: Gems still work. You can create and use them in the Gemini app.
- October 13 onward: Skills began rolling out in the Gemini app, with completion expected by mid November. The Workspace rollout (inside Docs, Gmail and the rest) was paused on October 13 with no new date yet.
- November 17, 2026: Gems move into the Settings panel. You can still create, edit and use them.
- No sooner than March 1, 2027 for Business and Enterprise Workspace accounts: Gems can no longer be created, edited or used, as Android Central’s timeline breakdown also notes. Leftover Gems are converted automatically into draft Skills, which you must review and switch on yourself.
That last detail is the trap. If you wait for the automatic conversion, your Gems arrive as inactive drafts, and anything that depended on them quietly stops until you notice. Moving them yourself, on your own schedule, avoids that surprise.
Before you start: take a five minute inventory
Open the Gemini app and look at your list of Gems. For each one, write down three things in a simple note:
- Its name and what it does (“Invoice reminder writer”).
- How often you use it (daily, weekly, rarely).
- Whether anything else depends on it, such as a Workspace Studio flow with an “Ask a Gem” step. Google says those steps stop working when Gems are retired, and you can already no longer add them to new flows.
Be ruthless here. Most people find that only two or three Gems do real work. Migrate those first and let the rest go.
Step 1: Copy each Gem’s instructions somewhere safe
Open the Gem, view its instructions, and paste the full text into a Google Doc titled something like “My AI instructions.” Include any knowledge files you attached, such as a price list or a style guide, by noting where they live.
This doc becomes your backup and your prompt library, a single place that holds your best AI instructions no matter which tool you use next year. If that idea is new to you, our beginner’s guide to building a prompt library explains why it is the most portable asset you can create.
Step 2: Tighten the instructions while you are at it
Gems were often written in a hurry. Before turning one into a Skill, give it a quick tune up using this simple structure:
- Role: “You write payment reminders for a one-person interior design studio.”
- Goal: “Get the invoice paid while keeping the client relationship warm.”
- Rules: “Under 120 words. Always include the invoice number and due date. Never threaten. Offer a payment link.”
- Example: paste one real message you were happy with, with names removed.
A clear example does more than a paragraph of adjectives. One good sample of your voice teaches the AI how you sound faster than “friendly but professional” ever will.
Step 3: Create the Skill in the Gemini app
Once Skills appear in your Gemini app, create a new Skill, give it a short, memorable name, and paste in your tightened instructions. Short names matter because you will be typing them to call the Skill up in a chat. “Invoice nudge” beats “Professional payment reminder generator v2.”
Two details from Google’s announcement are worth knowing:
- Skills use the open SKILL.md format. That means a Skill is basically a plain text instruction file following a shared standard, and you can bring in Skills created on other platforms. Your instructions are less locked to one company than Gems were.
- Skills do not sync between the Gemini app and Workspace yet. If you want the same Skill in both places, you will need to create it twice. Your instructions doc from Step 1 makes that a copy and paste job.
Step 4: Test it on three real tasks
Do not trust a migrated Skill until it has done real work. Run it on three recent, genuine examples: one easy, one awkward, one where you know exactly what a good answer looks like. Compare the results with what your old Gem produced.
If the Skill drifts (too long, wrong tone, missing a detail), fix the instruction, not the output. Every correction you make to the instructions pays off on every future use.
Step 5: Start stacking Skills
This is where Skills beat Gems. Because you can use more than one Skill in a single conversation, small focused Skills combine well. A solo owner might keep:
- a “Brand voice” Skill with tone rules and banned phrases,
- a “Client email” Skill for structure and length,
- a “Fact check” Skill that asks Gemini to list any claim it is unsure about.
Call up the first two to draft a reply, then add the third before you hit send. That modular setup is easier to maintain than one giant Gem that tried to do everything. If you like running your week from Gemini, pair this with our guide on running your week from one Gemini prompt in Gmail, Docs and Calendar.
A note for free Gemini users
Skills are listed as available to personal Google account users in the Gemini app, not just paying business customers. Remember, though, that the free tier now runs a lighter model, so a Skill that worked beautifully on a paid plan may produce plainer results for free. Our breakdown of what changed in free Gemini helps you decide whether that matters for your work.
Your fifteen minute checklist
- List your Gems and mark the two or three you actually use.
- Copy their instructions into one “My AI instructions” doc.
- Tighten each one with role, goal, rules and one example.
- Create matching Skills with short names once they appear in your app.
- Test each on three real tasks, then retire the old Gem.
You do not need to rush, but you do want to be the one deciding when the switch happens. Which Gem would you hate to lose most? Start with that one today.
