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Google Is Replacing Gemini Gems With Skills. Make a List Before March 2027.

Google says skills will eventually replace Gems in Gemini, and Workspace Studio flows that use an "Ask a Gem" step will stop working no sooner than March 1, 2027. Here are the dates and what to save now.

Kevin R.

4 min read

Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash

The takeaway

List every Gem your team relies on, download any files attached to them, and find Workspace Studio flows with an "Ask a Gem" step so you can rebuild them before March 2027.

If someone at your business built a Gem in Google’s Gemini, such as a proposal drafter or a brand-voice checker, it has an end date. On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, Google announced that skills, which are reusable custom instructions for Gemini, will “eventually replace Gems.” A Gem is a saved, customized version of Gemini with its own instructions and, optionally, reference files.

Nothing breaks this month. The changes that matter for businesses arrive no sooner than March 2027, but there is one restriction in place now.

Key dates

According to Google:

  • Monday, October 5, 2026: Skills began rolling out in Workspace apps for Rapid Release domains, with completion expected by October 12. Scheduled Release domains start Monday, October 19, with completion expected by mid-November. (Rapid Release and Scheduled Release are the two update tracks a Workspace admin chooses between.)
  • Tuesday, October 13, 2026: Skills begin rolling out in the Gemini app.
  • Tuesday, November 17, 2026: Gems move to the Settings panel of the Gemini app. People can still create, edit and use them.
  • No sooner than Monday, March 1, 2027 (business and enterprise plans): Gems can no longer be created, edited or used. Workspace Studio flows with an “Ask a Gem” step stop working. Any Gems left in the Gemini app are converted to draft skills.

Google gives education customers a later date, no sooner than June 1, 2027.

What applies now

You can no longer add an “Ask a Gem” step to a Workspace Studio flow, according to Google. Flows that already have one keep working until the 2027 cutoff.

Two more details are easy to miss:

  • Skills don’t sync. Google says skills currently “do not sync between the Gemini app and Workspace apps.” A skill needed in both places has to be created in both.
  • Converted Gems need attention. Google’s admin guide says converted Gems arrive as inactive drafts that each creator must review and turn on, and that Google will share migration details with admins at least 30 days in advance.

Skills inside Workspace apps are available on Business Starter, Standard and Plus and on Enterprise plans, among others, and only to users over 18, according to Google’s announcement.

Who is affected

Google Workspace businesses where someone built Gems for repeat work, or built Workspace Studio automations that call a Gem. If nobody at your business has made a Gem, there’s nothing to do yet.

What to do now

1. List your Gems. In the Gemini app, Google’s help page shows your Gems under Open sidebar > Gems. Ask each person who uses Gemini for work to do the same, since Gems belong to the people who made them.

2. Save the reference files. For each Gem, note whether it has files under “Knowledge” and download them. You’ll need them to rebuild the Gem as a skill.

3. Find flows that call a Gem. In Workspace Studio, open Flows and look for any “Ask a Gem” step. Google’s Studio guide explains how to replace it with an “Ask Gemini” step.

4. Decide who can create skills. Workspace admins can control this in the Admin console under Apps > Google Workspace > Workspace Studio > Skills > Create and use skills, according to Google’s admin help.

You don’t have to rebuild anything today. A list made now means the March deadline won’t arrive as a surprise.

If you’d like help taking stock of the AI tools and automations your team has built in Google Workspace, NightSquawk Tech offers a free assessment.

Sources

Editorial note: This article was drafted with AI assistance from Google’s Workspace Updates announcement and Google help pages, linked above. Dates and menu paths are as published on October 9, 2026, and Google says some dates are “no sooner than,” so they may change.