Gemini Gems to Skills Migration: Deadlines, SKILL.md, and Android Limits

Choose Automatic Migration or Recreate a Skill

For a normal Gemini Gem, you do not have to import a SKILL.md file on Android to preserve its reusable instructions. Google says normal Gems will migrate to Skills when Gems are removed for the relevant account type, including supported knowledge files. If you need the workflow in Skills sooner, you can recreate the Gem manually and check the result before its retirement date.

Android-only users can wait for the applicable automatic migration, subject to their account's Skills availability. Skill file upload is currently supported in the Gemini Mac app or the Gemini web app; the web app is not limited to Mac computers. The detailed folder-migration route below uses the web app on a computer. Being able to chat with a Skill on Android does not establish an Android file-upload control or a mobile-browser workaround.

Skills are reusable instructions that Gemini can match to a request; they can also be invoked directly and combined when appropriate. That does not make them exact copies of every Gem tool, file connection, or past conversation. Decide whether to wait or recreate based on what you need to verify: the instructions alone, knowledge-file coverage, or a specific output format. Google's Skills announcement describes the migration and rollout, while its Gem-to-Skill instructions give the manual file steps.

Check Your Deadline and Exceptions

The retirement date depends on the Google account that owns the Gem. A family member's personal account and a work or school account should not be treated as one migration schedule.

Skills are gradually rolling out for eligible users with a personal Google Account who are 18 or older and have Keep Activity enabled. Google's Create and manage Skills guidance lists those requirements. Work and school access is upcoming, not guaranteed for every organization now. Check the account where the Gem lives and whether Skills appears there before starting a manual move. Switching to another account may give you a different feature view, but it does not transfer ownership, files, or authorization from the original account.

The Labs exception deserves an explicit inventory check. A normal custom Gem and a Gem made through Google Labs may sit near one another in a user's workflow, yet Google explicitly says Labs Gems do not migrate. Opal's November retirement is a separate announcement; record its important instructions, files, and a representative output without assuming an automatic import of its data.

Move Instructions and Files on a Computer

For a Gem with knowledge files, use a small working copy and keep the original until the Skill passes an output check. Google's manual route is more than pasting a prompt: the files and folder name matter.

1. Open the Gem on a computer and download each knowledge file individually. Note any file that cannot be downloaded or is unsupported for the new route.
2. Create a folder for the Skill using a lowercase, hyphen-separated name, such as weekly-report-helper.
3. In Gemini, choose to create a Skill manually. Copy the Gem's name, description, and instructions into the new Skill's corresponding fields.
4. Download the new Skill as a ZIP archive and extract its SKILL.md file.
5. Place SKILL.md at the root of the folder with the separately downloaded knowledge files. Check that the folder and Skill names match.
6. Use Replace skill to upload that folder through the documented computer web route, then inspect the resulting Skill and its files.

Run a harmless request that used to produce a recognizable format, such as a short outline with specified headings. Compare the new answer with the expected structure and with information from one supported knowledge file. If a file is missing, restore the file first; if the structure is wrong, review the copied instructions. Neither an automatic migration nor a manual upload should be treated as a promise that past Gem chats or every tool behavior transferred.

What Android Can and Cannot Do

Separate Skill use from Skill creation. An eligible user may work with Skills in Gemini chat, including on Android where the feature is available to that account. Google currently supports Skill file upload in the Gemini Mac app or the Gemini web app. It does not document an Android SKILL.md upload control. If you only have an Android phone, you can use an eligible migrated Skill when it appears; the folder-upload tutorial uses a computer.

Google lists a current issue where manually created Skills do not save in the Gemini mobile app. Its alternatives are conversational creation in Gemini chat or task, or manual creation in the Gemini web app. A separate current issue prevents editing Skills with uploaded files in the mobile or Mac app; edit those Skills in the web app. These are current surface-specific problems, not proof that Skills can never be created or edited elsewhere.

Also check the requested action rather than assuming a Gem's capabilities carry over. Google says Skills can use supported Connected Apps, but not Canvas or Deep Research. Most default Gem tools, including video, music, and guided-learning tools, do not currently work in Skills, and GitHub files are unsupported. If a workflow depends on one of those surfaces, preserve its instructions but do not call the migration complete until the specific action works through a supported route.

Google has described sharing and Drive or Gemini Notebook attachments as forthcoming. Check whether each control is actually present in your account before planning a shared Skill around it. Skills also do not have a dedicated recent-chat page like Gems; look in the general chat panel when searching for a prior Skill conversation. For broader Gemini productivity tasks beyond migration, Gemini Productivity on Android: What It Helps With and Where Phone Agents Still Matter covers the different assistant surfaces.

Fix Missing Skills, Files, and Actions

Diagnose the first missing piece rather than rebuilding everything. The account, uploaded folder, supported file type, and requested tool each have a different remedy.

For a repeatable check, use the same nonsensitive input before and after migration. Look for the required headings, tone, and supported file facts, then record what differs. This verifies the output you care about without assuming that every Gem conversation, Labs artifact, or authorization was copied.

Use a Reviewed Result for an Android Task

After reviewing a Skill's result, start a separate FoneClaw request with the details needed for a supported personal phone task. For example, provide a checked action item and ask FoneClaw to create a personal To-do Center entry, then inspect the saved item. For a calendar follow-up, specify the title, date, time, and destination calendar and verify the event there.

FoneClaw uses the model you configure for reasoning and enabled Android tools for supported execution. Its own permissions and actual approval policy govern those tools; an online model may receive the context you supply. Reusable Gemini Skill instructions stay in Gemini and do not transfer Google account access, Connected Apps permissions, or credentials to the separate FoneClaw task. Our FoneClaw Features page describes the phone-side capabilities. For the separate question of cloud tasks versus Android execution, see Gemini Spark vs FoneClaw: Cloud Tasks, Schedules, or Android Phone Actions?. If the reviewed result belongs in a personal task list, Best Voice To-Do List Apps for Android: Todoist, TickTick, Gemini, or FoneClaw? compares those destinations.