Months ago, you built yourself a Gem. A "job application coach", maybe. Or a "leftovers chef" that knows you hate coriander. Since then you click on it, and it just works.
From November 17, it goes by a different name.
Google is retiring Gems in the Gemini app and replacing them with Skills. Personal accounts go first. The good news up front: your work isn't lost. The less good news: the move doesn't quite happen on its own.
Gems, Skills – what's what?
A Gem is a tailor-made version of Gemini. You write fixed instructions into it once ("keep it short, be casual, ask if something is unclear"), attach a few files as a knowledge source if needed, and your personal assistant is ready. If you know ChatGPT: the idea is the same as custom GPTs there.
A Skill is a reusable set of instructions that the AI pulls in when the task fits. How that works is explained in our article on AI skills in everyday life. The difference is small but noticeable: you had to open a Gem on purpose. Gemini can use a Skill in the middle of a normal chat.
Google didn't invent this. Other providers have had Skills for a while. Google is catching up – and clearing out its old system along the way.
The timeline
The November 17 deadline applies to personal Google accounts of adults. According to Google's help page (source, in German), Gems turn into Skills from that day. The old Gems then become read-only: you can still look at them, but you can no longer use them, edit them or create new ones. On December 17, they disappear from the Gemini apps entirely.
If you're under 18, your turn comes later. Business accounts (Google Workspace) reportedly have until March 2027, school and university accounts until June 2027.
The most important point: your Gem becomes a draft. Name, description, instructions and uploaded knowledge files are supposed to come along. But the Skill isn't active afterwards. You have to look at it once and switch it on. Miss that, and you'll wonder why your application coach has suddenly gone quiet.
What does it cost?
This got confusing for a moment in the autumn. Early reports said Skills were for paying subscribers only. Since then, several tech outlets, citing Google's help pages, report that Skills in Gemini chat are available without a Google AI subscription.
With strings attached, as always:
- You have to be at least 18 and use a personal Google account.
- Activity saving ("Keep Activity") has to be switched on. Google then keeps your Gemini history.
- Free means what it always means: within the free quota. And at Gemini, that quota has recently shrunk. Anyone who works with it a lot and regularly will pay sooner or later – at Google as everywhere else. Computing power costs real money, even if you never see it.
- Scheduled tasks ("do this every Monday at eight") reportedly remain a paid feature. The agent system behind them is blocked in the EU anyway.
And in Germany? Honest answer: not entirely clear yet. Google reportedly names no country exceptions. But in a test by Notebookcheck (source, in German) with a free account in Germany, the "Create Skills" button still didn't respond at the end of September. Staggered launches are normal at Google. Still, don't count on everything running smoothly on the 17th.
The privacy sticking point
Keep Activity is the point where you should stop and think for a moment. If you deliberately switched history saving off, you can't use Skills. Full stop.
That's no scandal. An assistant that's supposed to remember your preferences has to store them somewhere. Anyone with a Google account for mail, calendar and photos already trusts the company with quite a lot. Still, it's a decision, not a formality.
You have two options:
- Switch it on and use Skills. Convenient, but Google stores your Gemini chats.
- Leave it off and keep your instructions as a text note. When needed, paste them at the start of a new chat. Less convenient, but it works with any AI.
Your checklist before November 17
- Back up your instructions. Open every Gem you actually use and copy the instruction text into a note. One minute per Gem. If something goes wrong in the conversion, you still have it.
- Download knowledge files. Google itself recommends this, because not every file makes the move. Downloading still works until December 17. But it's easier to get it done now.
- Tidy up. How many of your Gems have you opened since the summer? What you don't miss, you don't need to rescue.
- Activate after the move. Go through your Skill drafts, switch on the ones you need, and quickly test whether the answers still fit.
- Don't expect everything. Canvas (the workspace for longer texts and code) and Deep Research (the in-depth research feature) don't work with Skills yet.
If you don't want to wait, you can already recreate your Gems as Skills by hand – provided the button responds for you.
Who does this matter to?
Never built a Gem? Then nothing changes for you for now. The switch might even be a good reason to try it: a Skill is a piece of text with an instruction. You don't need to program anything. If you're just getting started, our entry into AI will help with the first step.
You have five Gems you use every day? Then take fifteen minutes. Back up, clear out, activate after the 17th. That's all there is to it.
And when Google rebuilds the next system in a year, your instructions will be sitting in a note on your own computer. That survives every product change.