Made a Gem in Gemini that you use every week?
Check on it this weekend.
On November 17, Google starts moving every Gem over to a new feature called skills.
From that day, your Gems go read-only. You can still open them, but you can't use or edit them.
On December 17, they're gone.
Most of each Gem moves over on its own, but a few things get left behind.
(This is for personal Google accounts, 18 and over. Work and school accounts on Google Workspace switch later, in 2027.)
Right after this: what carries over, what gets dropped, what you get instead, and the three steps that keep your work safe.
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Right. Back to it.
What carries over
The Gem's name, description and instructions
Your files, as long as they're a supported type and fit within the 100 MB limit
What gets dropped
Audio and video files, ZIPs and other archives, GitHub files, and old Office files (.doc, .xls, .ppt)
If your files add up to more than 100 MB, Google drops the largest ones first
Most default tools. If your Gem was set to open Canvas, Deep Research, Create video, Create music or Guided Learning, the skill won't do that.
What you get instead
Skills work a little differently, and mostly in your favor:
Type "/" in any chat and pick a skill. No more digging through the side panel.
Use several skills in the same chat.
Gemini can apply the right skill on its own when it fits what you asked.
Skills work with your connected Google apps, though not yet with Canvas or Deep Research.
Skills are still rolling out, and Google expects to finish by mid-November. If you don't see them yet, check again next week.
Do these 3 things this weekend
Save your files. Open each Gem you care about and download the files you uploaded to it. Anything in an unsupported format won't make the move.
Back up your instructions. Paste each Gem's instructions into a doc. They're supposed to carry over, but a copy takes 30 seconds and you'll never regret it.
Note your default tools. If a Gem opened Canvas or Deep Research for you, write that down. After the switch, you'll run those tools on their own for now.
Want a head start?
You don't have to wait for November 17.
Copy your favorite Gem's name, description and instructions into a new skill. Then open the Gem and the skill side by side and check that nothing's missing.
Make it stick
Pick your most-used Gem tonight.
Copy the instructions, save the files. Five minutes, and it's safe.
Gems, skills, Projects: the names keep changing. The part worth keeping is the instructions and files that say how you work, saved somewhere you control. That's the whole idea behind The One-Person Company Playbook.
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Six jobs that run on a clock: the morning briefing, follow-ups, invoice checks and more
The step-by-step path from picking a business model to your first paying customer
Works on Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok, whichever you already pay for.
The catch: it takes about eight hours over a weekend to set up. After that, it's yours. $97, one-time (down from $297).
Talk tomorrow,
Zephyr
P.S. What's the one Gem you'd hate to lose? Hit reply and tell me what it does.