Converter → How to convert
How to Convert Gemini Gems to Skills
Convert by November 17, 2026. After that, personal Gems are shut down. You can still create or edit Gems until October 13, 2026, so do the conversion before then instead of relying on the automatic migration.
The short version: you do not have to convert manually — Google does it automatically. But automatic does not mean complete. Converted Gems arrive as disabled drafts, knowledge files need re-uploading, and five Gemini features have no skill equivalent. Ten minutes of manual work now removes all three risks.
On this page
Step 1 — Back up your Gems now
Open every Gem you own and copy the instruction text into a document. Download each knowledge file. The migration is automatic, but a backup costs ten minutes and protects instructions you may have spent hours writing.
Two things make this worth doing rather than skipping:
- Converted Gems are disabled drafts. Google does not activate them for you. You still have to open, review and switch each one on after November 17.
- Knowledge files need re-uploading. Google's own guidance describes the manual path as downloading the files and attaching them to the new skill, which the automatic path does not fully replicate.
Step 2 — Decide which Gems need a skill
Google's own wording is direct: "Skills work with some but not all features." Check this table before you convert anything.
| Gem feature | Works in a skill? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Canvas | No | Save the canvas content elsewhere before the shutdown |
| Deep Research | No | Use Deep Research directly instead of through a Gem |
| Create video | No | Rebuild as a standalone workflow |
| Create music | No | Rebuild as a standalone workflow |
| Guided learning | No | Nothing to migrate |
| Connected Apps | Yes | No action needed |
| Workspace apps | Yes | No action needed |
| Your knowledge files | Re-upload | Attach them to the new skill manually |
If your Gem used any of the five unsupported features, rebuild that specific Gem as a standalone workflow first. Those are the ones that will break silently.
Step 3 — Create the skill and write the frontmatter
Create a folder, then put a SKILL.md inside it. The folder name and the name field must match exactly, or the skill will load but never trigger.
my-gem/
└── SKILL.mdThe SKILL.md file is a Markdown document with a YAML frontmatter block:
---
name: my-gem
description: >
Converts Gemini Gem instructions into a reusable skill.
Use when the user asks to migrate or format a Gem, or mentions
SKILL.md frontmatter.
---
# My Gem
Follow these steps when the user asks for a launch email.
1. Draft a subject line under 60 characters.
2. Keep the body under 150 words.
3. End with a single call to action.
Tone: direct, no hype.What each frontmatter field does
| Field | Required | Rules |
|---|---|---|
name | Yes | 1–64 characters. Lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens only. No leading or trailing hyphen, no consecutive hyphens. Must match the parent folder name. |
description | Yes | 1–1024 characters. Must state both what the skill does and when to use it. |
license | No | License name or a reference to a license file. |
compatibility | No | Up to 500 characters describing required environment. |
metadata | No | Arbitrary key–value pairs. |
allowed-tools | No | Space-separated list of pre-approved tools. Experimental. |
The description is the most important line in the file. It is what the AI reads to decide whether to load your skill. A vague description means the skill never fires.
Use the WHAT + WHEN pattern: say what it does, then say when to use it, and include the words a user would actually type. Add "even if they don't explicitly ask to…" for near-miss triggers.
Description examples
| Description | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
Helps with documents | Too vague | No trigger signal for the AI to match against |
Extract text from PDF files | Incomplete | Says what but not when, so the AI has to guess |
Extract text and tables from PDFs, fill forms, merge documents. Use when the user mentions PDFs, forms, or document extraction — even if they don't say "extract". | Good | WHAT and WHEN, with real trigger keywords |
Step 4 — Validate before uploading
Two rules fail an upload if you miss them: the name must be all lowercase with words separated by hyphens, and scripts cannot make requests to external websites.
The fastest way to check a file is to paste it into the validator. It runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you paste is uploaded — which matters if your Gem contains business logic you would not send to a third-party server.
Step 5 — Upload and test before November 17
Upload the folder as a skill, then invoke it by typing a forward slash / in the Gemini chat box. Google has said it will move to the @ symbol later. Gemini can also apply a skill automatically when it decides the skill is relevant, so you do not always have to invoke it yourself.
Test it properly:
- Invoke the skill and check the output matches what the old Gem produced.
- Check the knowledge files are actually attached and readable.
- Confirm any Connected Apps the Gem relied on still work.
- Only then delete or archive the original Gem.
What to do on November 18
If you converted before the deadline, this is what you should see:
- Your old Gems are gone from the Gems list.
- Their replacements appear in your Skills list as disabled drafts.
- You open each one, review it, and activate it. Google does not do this for you.
- Chats that used a Gem now appear in the normal side panel instead of a per-Gem page.
If you did nothing before November 17, the automatic migration still runs — but your Gems will be inactive drafts, and anything relying on Canvas, Deep Research, video, music or Guided Learning will not have carried over. Rebuild those specific pieces by hand.
FAQ
- Do I have to convert my Gems manually?
- No. Google automatically recreates your Gems as Skills. Manual conversion is still worth doing because migrated Gems arrive as disabled drafts you must activate, and knowledge files may need re-uploading.
- What is the deadline to convert?
- October 13, 2026 is the last day to create or edit Gems in the Gemini app. November 17, 2026 is when personal Gems are converted and support ends.
- Will the skill work exactly like the Gem?
- Not always. Canvas, Deep Research, Create video, Create music and Guided learning do not carry over. Everything else generally does.
- Can I keep the old Gem after November 17?
- No. Personal Gems stop working entirely. Test the replacement skill before the date.
- What about Workspace and enterprise accounts?
- Workspace business, enterprise and nonprofit accounts lose Gems in March 2027, and education accounts in June 2027. The October and November 2026 dates apply to personal accounts.