Gemini Skills are reusable instructions that Google says you can invoke in a chat with / and a Skill’s name, or trigger automatically when a prompt matches. Google also says you can combine Skills. To create one, ask Gemini to build it from a chat, or use a reported manual route through Settings → Skills → Create Manually.
What Gemini Skills do
A Skill is a reusable set of custom instructions for Gemini. Instead of rebuilding the same prompt each time, you can save directions for a recurring task, then call on them in a chat. Google says Skills can also use plain-text documents, PDFs, and images as reference files.
Create a Skill from a chat
Google says Gemini can help build a Skill from a conversation. Start with a task you repeat and describe what the Skill should do. For example, you could ask Gemini to create one for meeting notes that extracts key decisions and action items. These are instructions to reuse, not a guarantee about what any particular response will contain.
Create a Skill manually
A reported manual route goes through Settings → Skills → Create Manually. The form asks for a Skill name, a description of what it should do and when to use it, and the instructions Gemini should follow. Make the description specific enough to match the task you have in mind, then put the actual directions in the instructions field.
A practical setup might ask a meeting-notes Skill to extract decisions, list action items, and flag unresolved questions. If you use reference files, Google says Skills can include plain-text documents, PDFs, or images.
Invoke and combine Skills
To call a Skill directly, type / followed by its name in your prompt. Google also says Gemini can run a Skill automatically when a prompt matches it. Multiple Skills can be used together in the same prompt: for instance, pair writing-style instructions with brand guidelines when you want both to shape the task.
Gemini Skills, Workspace, and Gems
Skills created in the Gemini app do not sync with Skills in Workspace apps, according to Google. Create the workflow separately in each surface if you need it in both. Google lists Workspace Skills for Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Google AI Pro for Education, and AI Expanded Access; Workspace Skills are for users over 18.
Gems have not completed a universal transition to Skills. Google says Gems remain usable for now. Its schedule set November 17, 2026 as the date to move Gems into the Gemini app’s Settings panel, with users still able to create, edit, and use them after the move. Google scheduled the end of Gems support no sooner than March 1, 2027, for Workspace business and enterprise users, and no sooner than June 1, 2027, for education users; remaining Gemini-app Gems are scheduled to migrate to draft Skills.
