Google Is Replacing Gemini Gems With Skills Starting November 17

Google is replacing Gemini’s Gems feature with a new system called Skills, shifting away from standalone custom assistants toward reusable instructions that can work across different AI tasks.

The change is scheduled to take effect on November 17, 2026. Google says existing Gems will be migrated automatically, so users will not need to recreate their custom assistants. Gems will remain usable until the transition date.

Google originally introduced Gems in 2024 as a way for users to create personalised versions of Gemini for specific purposes without repeatedly entering the same instructions.

Existing Gems Will Become Skills Automatically

Google offered premade Gems for tasks such as learning, brainstorming, career advice, coding and editing, while also allowing users to build and share their own assistants for use cases such as fitness coaching, nutrition planning and travel.

Under the new system, those custom setups will become Skills instead of being removed. The company says users will be able to invoke a Skill inside a task thread by entering a forward slash and selecting the one they want to use.

9to5Google first reported the change after spotting the migration notice in the Gemini app.

Google Is Consolidating How Custom AI Tasks Work

The move comes as consumer AI products increasingly emphasise broader agents that can handle multiple task types rather than separate assistants for individual workflows.

For Gemini users, the practical effect is that the work already put into creating Gems will carry over, but the way those custom instructions are accessed will change. Instead of navigating to a separately branded Gem, users will call a Skill directly within a conversation.

The transition also reflects Google’s effort to consolidate overlapping AI features as Gemini evolves into a broader platform for consumer and productivity tasks.