Google Is Replacing Its Gemini Gems — Here's What Will Happen
Google will retire Gemini Gems on November 17, 2026, and replace them with skills. TechCrunch
Existing Gems will turn into skills on their own. Users will not need to take action. Gems will stay usable until November 17.
Skills work differently. Instead of opening a separate custom assistant, users type a forward slash "/" in a chat thread to pick a skill. Skills in Gemini Apps let users create and save custom instructions once and use them across tasks, like a saved note you can pull into any chat.
Gems launched in 2024 as a way to build custom helpers for specific tasks. The intent was to teach the model to do a task without repeating instructions. That design targeted repeat work such as writing help or simplifying sentences.
Google shipped pre-made Gems for common patterns. The set included a learning coach, brainstorming assistant, career guide, coding partner, and editor. Users could use those versions right away or customize them.
Users could also make their own Gems for narrower needs such as a running coach, nutritionist, or vacation planner. Gems could be shared with others. For construction, Google advised giving details about goals, desired behaviours and preferred format to personalize responses, with a magic wand icon to get Gemini's help writing the instructions. Educators could create Gems, described as custom versions of Gemini, for students to interact with.
The wind-down was first reported by 9to5Google over the weekend before September 28, 2026. 9to5Google reported on September 27 that the Gemini app would replace Gems with skills in November, with the formal migration starting November 17.
Looking at daily use, the change moves from separate helpers to reusable directions. A Gem kept persona, instructions, and task context together in one object. A skill keeps the instructions separate so they can be called up when needed. One kept-up skill can serve many chats, rather than many almost identical helpers kept in parallel.
In my view, heavy Gem users should check the trade. Slash use is faster to put together, but it puts more weight on clear names and tidy instructions. A vague skill used widely can leak tone or format into tasks where it does not belong. The automatic move keeps continuity, but users who built detailed Gems will want to audit what transferred, how each skill starts, and where defaults now apply.
The broader context here is instruction reuse. The industry has moved away from one-off chats toward saved guidance and reusable templates used inside a chat. Skills fit that direction. If the migration works as described, the gain is less setup work and more steady output across tasks without rebuilding context each time.
