Google will replace Gemini Gems with skills starting in November and shut down Opal at the same time

A Gem in the Gemini app is a saved assistant with its own instructions and files, opened from the sidebar. Google is retiring the feature and moving that role to skills, which you call from inside any chat. Its help page lays out the dates by account type, what converts automatically, and what does not carry over yet.

When Gems go away

Google removes Gems on three dates, depending on the account you sign in with:

• November 2026 for personal Google accounts;
• March 2027 for Workspace business, enterprise, and nonprofit accounts;
• June 2027 for Workspace education accounts.

Opal ends in November as well

The same help page says Opal, Google's experiment for building mini apps, and Gems by Google Labs will go away at the same time in November. The Gems help page does not describe what happens to apps built in Opal.

What converts and what does not

Google will convert each Gem to a skill automatically, along with its supported knowledge files. GitHub files are not supported in skills for now. You can also recreate a Gem by hand before then, but knowledge files have to be downloaded one by one first.

Most default tools available in Gems do not work with skills yet. Google names Create video, Create music, Canvas, Deep research, and Guided learning. The company says sharing skills and adding files from Google Drive and notebooks from Gemini Notebook will arrive in the coming weeks.

How skills work

You call a skill by typing a slash and its name in any chat, and Google says the trigger will soon change to the @ sign. Gemini can also apply a skill on its own when it judges the skill relevant, and several skills can be combined in one chat.

There is no cap on how many skills you create, but at most 100 can be active at once. Skills from other platforms can be imported by uploading their SKILL.md files, which for now works only in the Gemini app on Mac and on the web. Skills are available to people over 18 signed in with a personal Google account, and Google says work and school accounts come later.

What is not confirmed

According to an in-app notice reported by 9to5Google, automatic conversion begins on November 17, 2026. Google's help page gives only the month.

The help page does not say what happens to Gems belonging to users under 18, who cannot use skills. It also does not say whether creating skills requires a paid Google AI Pro or Ultra plan, which some reports suggest.