TipGems are leaving Gemini – how to move your saved instructions to skills
Google is replacing Gems with skills: saved instructions you start with a slash right in the chat. Skills are rolling out in the Gemini app until mid-November, and on 17 November Gems move to Settings.
If you have built your own Gems in Gemini, for example one that plans the weekly menu or writes in your tone, it is time to plan. Google is replacing Gems with skills. A skill is a saved instruction that you start by typing a slash (/) and its name directly in the chat, instead of opening a separate Gem.
Skills can be combined, for example a skill for your writing style and one for your company's tone in the same request. They can include reference files such as text documents, PDFs and images, and Gemini can suggest new skills based on your chats. Skills are stored in the open SKILL.md format, so the instructions can be moved between AI tools.
The timeline according to Google: skills started rolling out in the Gemini app on 13 October 2026 and should reach everyone by mid-November. On 17 November Gems move to Settings, but they can still be used. For personal accounts, Google removes support for Gems starting in November. For Google Workspace business accounts this happens no sooner than 1 March 2027, and for schools no sooner than 1 June 2027. Any remaining Gems are automatically converted into draft skills, which you have to review and activate yourself.
Good to know: skills in the Gemini app are included in all of Google's AI tiers, but for now only for people aged 18 or over (younger users are coming soon, according to Google). Google's premade Gems from Google Labs and the Opal experiment are shutting down and will not be migrated.
Our advice: don't wait until the last day. Copy the instructions from your most important Gems into a document now, and turn the one you use most into a skill.
How to get started
- Open Gemini, go to your Gems and copy the instructions from the ones you use most into a document.
- Open the left menu in Gemini and choose Customize to add a skill. Paste the instruction and give it a short name.
- Test it: type / and the name of your skill in the chat.
- No Gems? Use the "Create a reusable instruction" prompt in the Prompt Workshop to write your first skill.
More on TipAI
Sources
- Google: Let skills in Gemini tackle your most repetitive tasks (30 sep 2026) (retrieved 2026-10-20)
- Google Workspace Help: About the transition from Gems to skills (retrieved 2026-10-20)
- Google Workspace Updates: An update on the launch of skills (13 okt 2026) (retrieved 2026-10-20)
- Gemini Apps release notes (retrieved 2026-10-20)
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