# Google adds Gemini Skills and retires Gems in November 2026

> Google rolls out reusable “Skills” in Gemini chat and will stop the older Gems feature on Nov 17, 2026 for personal accounts.

Oossa · 2026-09-30 · https://oossa.com/en/google-adds-gemini-skills-and-retires-gems-in-november-2026

Produced and translated with AI assistance. Check the original sources below.

Google announced that the Gemini chat app will start using “Skills” – short, reusable instructions you can call with a slash ( / ) – instead of the older “Gems” feature. The change will be final for personal Google accounts on November 17, 2026. Workspace customers get a later deadline in March 2027, and schools in June 2027.

## What Skills can do

A Skill is a package of text, file references and rules that tells Gemini how to perform a task, such as drafting a slide deck or answering a test question. You create a Skill once and then invoke it any time. Skills can be stacked, so you can combine a writing‑style Skill with a brand‑guideline Skill in the same chat. They work with PDFs, images and other documents up to 100 MB.

## Transition timeline

Google will roll Skills out to the Gemini app on October 13, 2026 and to Workspace on October 5, 2026. On November 17, 2026 Gems move to the Settings panel and stop being created for personal accounts. Existing Gems are automatically converted into Skills, but the company warns that the conversion may not preserve every detail.

## The facts

- Google will start rolling out Skills in Workspace on October 5, 2026 (Android Authority).
- Skills begin rolling out in the Gemini app on October 13, 2026 (Android Authority).
- Gems will be moved to the Settings panel and stop being creatable for personal accounts on November 17, 2026 (Android Authority).
- For personal Google accounts, Gems are fully retired in November 2026 (The Decoder).
- Workspace business and nonprofit customers will lose Gems in March 2027; education customers in June 2027 (The Decoder).

## Why it matters

For everyday users, the new Skills let you save frequent prompts and run them with a simple slash, speeding up repetitive tasks like drafting emails or slide decks. However, you will need to check any important Gems before November 17, 2026 because the automatic conversion may miss custom details.

## Sources & references

1. [Google drops Gems for Skills, joining OpenAI and Anthropic in the shift to agent-ready prompt formats](https://the-decoder.com/google-drops-gems-for-skills-joining-openai-and-anthropic-in-the-shift-to-agent-ready-prompt-formats/) – The Decoder, 2026-09-30

Last updated: 2026-09-30