Gemini Skills: How to Create and Use Them (and What Happens to Your Gems)

Gemini Skills are reusable sets of instructions you save once and call up in any Gemini chat by typing a forward slash. Google launched them globally on 30 September 2026, for free and paid users, and they are replacing Gems: your existing Gems will be converted into skills automatically, starting with personal accounts in November. This guide explains how to create and use Gemini Skills step by step, what changes for Gems users, and how to get the best results.

Everything below was checked on 1 October 2026 against Google’s skills announcement, the Gemini Apps Help pages on creating and managing skills and the transition from Gems to skills, and the Google Workspace Updates blog. Google is still rolling the feature out, so menus may look slightly different on your account.

What Are Gemini Skills?

A skill is a saved instruction set for a task you do repeatedly. Instead of pasting the same long prompt every time (“write in my brand voice, keep it under 150 words, use British spelling…”), you save it as a skill and run it with / plus the skill’s name.

Three things make skills more flexible than the Gems they replace:

• They work inside your normal chat. You no longer open a separate Gem; you call a skill in the conversation you are already having.
• You can stack them. Google says you can combine several skills in one task, for example a writing-style skill plus a brand-guidelines skill.
• Gemini can use them automatically. According to Google’s help page, Gemini can apply skills you have turned on when it recognises a matching task.

Skills are also built on a portable format. Google’s Workspace blog says they use the open, Markdown-based SKILL.md standard, the same file format used for skills in other AI assistants. In practice, a skill you write as a SKILL.md file can be downloaded and reused elsewhere.

Gemini Skills vs Gems at a glance

Who Can Use Gemini Skills?

Google says skills are available on free and paid plans, so you do not need a Google AI subscription. The Gemini Apps Help page lists these requirements for now:

• Age: 18 or older. Google says access for under-18s is coming later.
• Account: a personal Google Account. Work and school accounts are getting skills through a separate Workspace rollout (see below).
• Activity setting: Keep Activity must be turned on in your Gemini settings.
• Where: gemini.google.com, the Gemini mobile app or the Mac app. Google notes not every platform is supported yet.

If you are in the UK or the EU, skills are part of the same global rollout. Because they need Keep Activity switched on, your Gemini activity will be saved to your account. Review your activity and retention settings if that matters to you, and avoid putting personal or client data into skill instructions or reference files.

How to Create Gemini Skills: 5 Ways

Every method starts from the same place on the web: open gemini.google.com, select Settings in the sidebar, then Skills.

1. Create a skill with Gemini (easiest)

1. Go to Settings > Skills.
2. Click Create with Gemini.
3. Describe the task in plain language and answer Gemini’s questions in the chat.
4. Review the draft skill and save it.

2. Start from a recommended template

1. Go to Settings > Skills.
2. Under Recommended, pick a template.
3. Edit the name, description and instructions to suit you.
4. Click Create.

3. Write one from scratch

1. Go to Settings > Skills and click Create manually.
2. Enter a skill name, a short description and the full instructions.
3. Click Create.

4. Upload a SKILL.md file

1. Go to Settings > Skills and click Upload.
2. Select a SKILL.md file, or a folder or .zip with SKILL.md in its root.
3. Click Open, review the skill and click Create.

5. Ask for one in a normal chat

In any chat, type something like: “Create a skill based on these instructions: …” and submit it. You can keep refining the skill by describing changes in the same chat. Google also says Gemini can suggest turning a chat into a skill when you repeat a similar request.

How to Use Gemini Skills in a Chat

• Run a skill: type / in the prompt box and choose the skill from the list, then add your request.
• Stack skills: add more than one skill to the same task, for example /brand-voice and /linkedin-post together.
• Let Gemini decide: skills that are turned on can be applied automatically when Gemini judges they fit your request.

A simple example. You save a skill called meeting-summary with these instructions: “Summarise the notes into decisions, owners and deadlines. Use bullet points. Flag anything without an owner.” Next time, you paste your notes, type /meeting-summary, and get the same format every time.

How to Manage, Edit and Delete Skills

All management happens on the Settings > Skills page, not inside chats.

• Turn a skill off or on: select the skill, click More, then Deactivate or Activate. Deactivating is useful if Gemini keeps applying a skill automatically when you don’t want it to.
• Edit: change the Description and Instructions fields directly, or use More > Edit with Gemini to revise it in a chat. Click Save.
• Replace files: use More > Replace skill to upload an updated version.
• Download: More > Download saves the skill as a .zip, handy as a backup.
• Delete: More > Delete. Google warns this cannot be undone, so download a copy first.

Adding Files to a Skill: What Works

Skills can include reference files, such as a style guide, a template or example images. According to Google’s help page:

• Supported: text and documents (.txt, .md, .pdf and similar), data and config files (.csv, .json, .yaml and others), code files (.py, .sh), web files (.html, .css, .svg) and images.
• Not supported: binary Office formats such as .docx and .xlsx. Export them to PDF or CSV first.
• Size: up to 100 MB in total per skill.
• Structure: the folder needs a SKILL.md file in its root, and Google recommends lowercase skill names with hyphens, such as my-new-skill.
• Limits: skills cannot reference external websites or run scripts from the internet, and to update a reference file you re-upload the whole skill.

Google says linking Google Drive files and Gemini notebooks to skills is coming soon. If you already organise research in notebooks, our guide to Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) explains how they work.

What Happens to Gemini Gems?

Gems are being retired, and Google will convert them into skills automatically. The timeline Google has published:

What does not carry over

Google’s transition page lists default tools that Gems could use but skills will not keep: Create video, Create music, Canvas, Deep research and Guided learning. GitHub files are also not supported in skills yet, and the premade “Gems by Google Labs” are being discontinued. Skills also lack the Gems page that showed recent use; chats where you used a skill simply appear in the side panel.

What Gems users should do now

1. List your Gems and note which ones you actually use.
2. Download any knowledge files attached to them, so you have copies.
3. Recreate the important ones as skills early. Copy each Gem’s instructions into Create manually, or package the instructions and files as a .zip with a SKILL.md and use Upload.
4. Rebuild workflows that relied on default tools. If a Gem always opened Canvas or ran Deep Research, ask for that tool in your prompt instead.
5. Test the converted skills after the switch and check the output still matches what the Gem produced.

Gemini Skills in Google Workspace

For work accounts, Google is rolling out skills both in the Gemini app and inside Workspace apps such as Gmail and Docs. According to the Workspace Updates blog:

• Skills in Workspace apps start rolling out from 5 October 2026, reaching Rapid Release domains by 12 October and Scheduled Release domains from 19 October, finishing by mid-November.
• Skills in the Gemini app for Workspace users roll out from 13 October to mid-November.
• Eligible editions include Business Starter, Standard and Plus, and Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus, plus education customers with the Google AI Pro for Education add-on.
• Important: skills do not currently sync between the Gemini app and Workspace apps, so you need to create them separately in each. Skills are also central to Google’s newer Gemini agent, which adds a shared skills registry for teams.

Practical Gemini Skills Ideas

• Writing style: your tone, spelling (UK or US), banned phrases and preferred length.
• Brand voice: product names, taglines and messaging rules for a team or client.
• Lesson planner: a fixed structure for lesson plans with objectives, activities and assessment; teachers can pair it with tools from our list of free AI tools for teachers.
• Presentation prep: turn notes into a slide outline with speaker points. Google highlights this use case itself. If you also need visuals for the slides, see how to use Nano Banana 2.1 in Gemini.
• Translation check: review a translation for tone and local conventions in German, French or Spanish.
• Second opinion: ask Gemini to argue against your plan and list risks, another example Google suggests.

Tips for Writing Better Skills

1. One job per skill. Small skills are easier to stack and fix than one giant skill.
2. Write a clear description. Gemini uses it to decide when a skill applies automatically.
3. Show an example. Include a short sample of good output in the instructions or as a reference file.
4. Give hard rules. Word limits, formats and must-include items work better than vague goals.
5. Deactivate what you don’t need. Too many active skills can trigger at the wrong time.
6. Keep a backup. Download important skills as .zip files.

Gemini Skills vs ChatGPT and Mistral

Google is not alone in this shift. Mistral’s assistant also uses reusable skills, invoked with @, as we explain in our Mistral Vibe guide. Because Gemini Skills use the open SKILL.md format, well-written instructions are easier to move between tools than Gems were. For a broader look at the assistants themselves, see our comparison of ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude.

Gemini Skills FAQs

Are Gemini Skills free?

Yes. Google says skills are available on free and paid plans. You do not need a Google AI subscription.

How do I use a Gemini skill?

Type / in the Gemini prompt box, choose the skill and add your request. Gemini can also apply active skills automatically when they match your task.

Are Gemini Gems going away?

Yes. Gems for personal accounts are being retired in November 2026, with Workspace business accounts following in March 2027 and education accounts in June 2027. Google will convert them to skills automatically.

Why can’t I see Skills in my Gemini settings?

The rollout is gradual. Check that you are 18 or over, signed in with a personal Google Account, and have Keep Activity turned on. Work and school accounts follow a separate Workspace rollout from October.

Can I share a Gemini skill?

Not yet through a link. Google says sharing is coming in the next few weeks. For now you can download a skill as a .zip and send the file.

Can Gemini Skills use Word or Excel files?

Not directly. Google lists .docx and .xlsx as unsupported, so convert them to PDF, text or CSV first.

Final Verdict

Gemini Skills are a genuine upgrade on Gems for anyone who repeats the same kinds of prompts. They work inside normal chats, can be stacked, are free to use, and rely on an open format you can download and reuse. The trade-off is that some Gem features, such as default Canvas or Deep Research, do not carry over. If you rely on Gems, recreate your most important ones as skills before November rather than waiting for the automatic switch. For more ways to save time with AI at work, browse our list of the best AI tools for work and productivity.

Sources: Google – Let skills in Gemini tackle your most repetitive tasks, Gemini Apps Help – Create and manage skills, Gemini Apps Help – Transition from Gems to skills, Google Workspace Updates and 9to5Google. Checked 1 October 2026; Google is still rolling out skills and may change features and dates.