Google Adds Reusable Skills to Gemini Chat, With Gems Set to Migrate Automatically

Repeated instructions are becoming something Gemini users can save and call up inside a conversation, rather than rebuild for each task. Google began rolling out Skills globally in Gemini chat on September 30, 2026. The feature will replace Gems, its custom AI assistants, with Google promising automatic migration as personal and Workspace accounts move over on different schedules.

Instructions become part of the conversation

A Skill is a saved set of instructions for work someone asks Gemini to do repeatedly. To use one, type a forward slash followed by its name in the prompt bar.

Google says Gemini can also help create custom Skills from chats and automatically run them when a prompt matches.

Skills can run together rather than forcing a choice between saved instruction sets. Google’s example combines a writing-style Skill with a brand-guidelines Skill, so both can shape the same output. Starting with this rollout, Skills can also include plain-text documents, PDFs or images as reference files. Those files give the saved directions supporting material to use, alongside the instructions themselves.

The recurring tasks Google highlights

• Presentation preparation: save directions for outlining slides, drafting talking points and preparing for difficult questions, whether the task is a class presentation or a project pitch.
• Consistent writing: use a writing-style Skill, then combine it with brand guidelines when a task needs both a personal voice and an organization’s requirements.
• Broader brainstorming: instruct Gemini to return three to five perspectives on a topic, making that preference reusable for developing ideas, refining arguments or reaching a decision.

The replacement is arriving in stages

Not every feature familiar to Gem users is part of the initial Skills rollout. Google says sharing Skills, adding Google Drive files and attaching notebooks from Gemini Notebook will arrive in the coming weeks.

Access is also staged by account type. Google says Workspace business, enterprise, nonprofit and education customers will receive Skills in the coming weeks. That arrival timetable is separate from the later removal of Gems support.

When Gems support winds down

1. Personal accountsNovember 2026

   Google says removal of Gems support for personal accounts starts in November 2026.

2. Workspace business, enterprise and nonprofitMarch 2027

   Google schedules removal of Gems support for these Workspace customers for March 2027.

3. Workspace educationJune 2027

   Google schedules removal of Gems support for Workspace education customers for June 2027.

The earlier Spark restrictions are not the new chat rollout

Earlier coverage raised a different access concern. Digital Trends reported on September 29 that Skills required a paid Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription and Gemini Spark access, with several regions excluded. Google’s September 30 announcement distinguishes the two settings: Skills were already available in Spark, and the new action is a global rollout directly into Gemini chat.

In its September 30 coverage, Digital Trends explicitly says free Gemini users will have access and describes the chat rollout as available to users aged 18 and older.

Existing Gems are meant to move, not disappear

The more precise November date comes from an in-app notice described by TechCrunch on September 28. It said Gems would become Skills starting November 17, 2026, and remain usable until migration.

Google says existing Gems will migrate automatically when Gems go away; TechCrunch also reported that users would not need to take action.