Gemini Gems are saved Gemini configurations that bundle a Name, Description, Instructions (system prompt), an optional Default tool, and optional Knowledge files into a reusable AI assistant. Open the profile menu, click Gems, then click New Gem. Fill in the builder, optionally let Gemini rewrite your Instructions via the wand icon, pick a Default tool (No default tool, Create image, Canvas, Deep Research, Create music, Guided Learning), attach Knowledge files, and Save. Free on every Gemini plan. Verified May 2026.

How to Use Gemini Gems: Build Custom AI Assistants (2026)

Gemini Gems turn a long prompt and a stack of reference docs into a single clickable assistant inside Gemini. Instead of pasting your brand voice, output format, and source documents at the start of every chat, you bake them into a Gem once and call the Gem directly from the Gem manager. This guide walks every step of the current Gem builder with screenshots from May 2026 and shows where AI Toolbox (formerly Gemini Toolbox) complements Gems with full-text search across every Gemini conversation (including every chat your Gems produce) and multi-format export. AI Toolbox is part of the same unified Chrome install that also powers our ChatGPT and Claude modules.

What Are Gemini Gems?

A Gemini Gem is a saved package of Name, Description, Instructions, Default tool, and Knowledge files that behaves like a dedicated assistant for one purpose. Once you save a Gem, it appears in My Gems on the Gem manager page and in the Gem strip in the Gemini sidebar. Every conversation with that Gem runs with the same system prompt and the same default tool, so you do not have to re-paste instructions or re-pick a tool for every new chat.

Gems are the right surface for repeatable work where the framing stays the same but the inputs change: a Reddit-post reviewer that always returns a PASS/FAIL checklist, a coding tutor that always uses your team's style guide, a research Gem scoped to one industry. For one-off prompts, regular Gemini is faster.

Step 1: Open Gems From the Profile Menu

Click your profile avatar in the bottom-left of Gemini to open the menu, then select Gems. The profile menu lists Activity, Personal Intelligence, Import memory to Gemini (New), Usage limits, Gems, Your public links, Theme, View subscriptions, NotebookLM, Send feedback, and Help. Click Gems and Gemini opens the Gem manager page with two sections: Pre-made by Google (a row of curated example Gems like Chess champ, Storybook, Brainstormer, Career guide) and My Gems (your saved Gems plus a New Gem button on the right).

The Gem manager is the source of truth for every Gem you have built. You can edit, share, or delete any Gem from this page using the three icons that appear on hover next to the Gem name.

Step 2: Open the Builder With New Gem

Click the blue New Gem button in the top-right of the My Gems section to open the empty Gem builder. The builder is a split view: the form on the left (Name, Description, Instructions, Default tool, Knowledge) and a live Preview pane on the right that updates as you fill the form. Until you give the Gem a name, the Save button is disabled and a red "Your Gem requires a name to start testing" message appears under the Name field.

Name and Description are short labels (Name shows in My Gems, Description shows under the Name on hover). Instructions is the system prompt that runs at the start of every chat with this Gem, so it deserves the most attention.

Step 3: Write the Gem's Instructions

The Instructions field is the system prompt that runs at the start of every conversation with this Gem. Spell out exactly what the Gem does, what tone and format to use, what data to prioritize, and what to avoid. Write prescriptively. Bad: "Be helpful and friendly." Good: "You review draft Reddit posts before they are submitted. For every draft I paste, return a checklist with PASS/FAIL plus one short reason per line: 1. Title sounds like a real user (relatable pain), not promotional. 2. No em dashes used as punctuation anywhere in the body. 3. Brand name mentioned no more than twice in the whole post. If any item fails, suggest a specific one-sentence fix."

Anything you would otherwise paste at the start of every chat belongs here. The Preview pane on the right shows the Gem's chat surface as you fill the form, so you can test wording without leaving the builder. To reuse the same Instructions across many Gems, save the prompt as a template in the ChatGPT module of AI Toolbox (the prompt library works across all our supported AI surfaces, not just ChatGPT).

Step 4: Let Gemini Rewrite Your Instructions

The Instructions textarea has a wand icon below it that opens a Use Gemini to re-write instructions tooltip. Click the wand and Gemini drafts or refines your Instructions based on what you have already typed. Useful for turning a rough one-liner into a structured prompt, for tightening a prompt that has drifted across many edits, or for adapting the tone of an Instructions block to a different audience.

This is one of the genuine differentiators of Gems compared with ChatGPT Custom GPTs: the AI helps you write the prompt that another AI will run. Use it as a first draft generator, not a final editor. Read whatever the wand produces carefully before clicking Save, since Gemini will sometimes add hedges or generic instructions you do not want.

Search across every Gem-generated chat in one query. Gems pile up chats fast, and Gemini's native sidebar search is limited to titles and recent chats. AI Toolbox (formerly Gemini Toolbox) adds full-text search across every synced Gemini conversation (including every chat your Gems produce) with date, role, and exact-match filters, plus a Cmd+Shift+F (Ctrl+Shift+F on Windows) keyboard shortcut. Export any conversation as TXT, Markdown, JSON, or PDF for local archival. Free plan: 5 results per query. Premium: unlimited at $9.99 per month or $99 lifetime. Working across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude? All Access Lifetime ($149) covers all three modules and saves $148 versus three single-platform Lifetimes ($99 × 3 = $297). See the Gemini module →

Step 5: Pick a Default Tool

Open the Default tool dropdown to set which Gemini tool the Gem launches with on every new chat. Options: No default tool (default, the Gem runs in regular chat mode), Create image (every chat starts in image-generation mode), Canvas (every chat opens with the Canvas surface), Deep Research (every chat runs as a Deep Research run with a plan + sources), Create music, Guided Learning. Pick the one your Gem usually uses so users do not have to enable it manually each time.

Match the tool to the Gem's purpose. A research Gem benefits from defaulting to Deep Research so every conversation produces a cited report. A drafting Gem benefits from Canvas. A study Gem benefits from Guided Learning. A general-purpose review Gem (like the Reddit Post Reviewer in our screenshots) usually wants No default tool, so the user keeps full control over what mode each chat runs in.

Step 6: Attach Knowledge Files

The Knowledge section has an Add files for your Gem to reference input with a + button on the right. Click the + and upload reference documents the Gem can pull from in every conversation. Knowledge files persist with the Gem, so anyone who uses the Gem benefits from the same knowledge base without re-uploading. This is where brand voice docs, style guides, product specs, FAQ libraries, internal glossaries, or any reusable reference material belongs.

Keep file sizes reasonable for fast retrieval. Large or dense files slow every Gem chat. If you need to swap a stale Knowledge file for an updated one, open the Gem from My Gems, click the pencil icon, detach the old file, attach the new one, and click Update.

Save and Use Your Gem

Click Save in the top-right of the builder to commit the Gem. The Gem appears in My Gems on the Gem manager page and in the Gem strip in the Gemini sidebar. Click the Gem from either place to open a fresh chat with the Instructions and Default tool already applied. The Preview pane in the builder mirrors this final chat surface, so any quirks you want to fix should be addressed before saving.

Common edits after the first save: tightening Instructions whenever a recurring output goes wrong, swapping stale Knowledge files when source docs change, toggling the Default tool as the Gem's scope shifts. Custom Gems improve a lot in the first 2-3 edits as you watch real users hit edge cases; lock in those iterations early.

Gems vs ChatGPT Custom GPTs: When to Use Each

Gemini Gems and ChatGPT Custom GPTs solve the same problem on two different platforms: saving an AI configuration so you do not re-paste it every chat. Pick based on which platform you actually use day to day. Gemini Gems lean on Google's tools (Deep Research, Canvas, Create music, Guided Learning) and integrate with Gemini for Workspace. ChatGPT Custom GPTs use OpenAI's capabilities (Web Search, Canvas, Image Generation, Code Interpreter) and can publish to the public GPT Store.

Both are paid-feature-friendly: Gemini Gems are free on every Gemini plan (some Default tool options have per-tier limits), while ChatGPT Custom GPT creation requires ChatGPT Plus or higher. If you split work across Gemini and ChatGPT, build the same assistant twice (one as a Gem, one as a Custom GPT) and pick whichever platform is open when you need it.

Get More From Gems with AI Toolbox

Gems handle the per-Gem system prompt and default tool. What they do not do is help you search across every Gem-generated chat, export Gem conversations as TXT/Markdown/JSON/PDF, or share one search shortcut across all your Gemini conversations. That is what AI Toolbox (formerly Gemini Toolbox) adds on top of native Gemini.

• Full-text search across every synced Gemini message, including every chat your Gems produce. Use Cmd+Shift+F (Ctrl+Shift+F on Windows) to search by message content, role, or date range with exact-match toggle. Free: 5 results per query. Premium: unlimited.
• Multi-format export of any Gemini conversation as TXT, Markdown, JSON, or PDF. Useful for archiving Gem outputs to your own knowledge base or feeding them into downstream tooling.
• Background sync to IndexedDB so searches stay fast even with thousands of conversations.
• Recent searches so you can re-run the same query across freshly synced Gem chats without retyping it.

AI Toolbox is also available for ChatGPT and Claude as part of the same unified install. The ChatGPT module adds folders, a prompt library with the // shortcut, bulk delete/archive, and a media gallery. The Claude module adds full-text search with exact-match toggle and message-level bookmarks. Pricing details are on the AI Toolbox pricing page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Gemini Gem?

A Gemini Gem is a saved Gemini configuration that bundles a Name, Description, Instructions (system prompt), an optional Default tool (Create image, Canvas, Deep Research, Create music, Guided Learning), and optional Knowledge files. Once saved, the Gem appears in My Gems and behaves like a dedicated AI assistant for one purpose without you re-pasting the prompt every chat.

How do I create a Gemini Gem?

Click your profile avatar to open the menu, select Gems to open the Gem manager, then click New Gem in the top-right. Fill in Name, optional Description, Instructions (the system prompt), pick a Default tool, optionally add Knowledge files, and click Save. The Gem appears under My Gems and is ready to use immediately.

Are Gemini Gems free?

Yes. Creating and using Gems is available on free Gemini accounts. Some pre-made Gems and the Default tool options (Create image, Canvas, Deep Research, Create music, Guided Learning) may have per-tier limits tied to your Gemini plan, but the Gem builder itself does not require Google AI Pro or AI Ultra.

What goes in the Instructions field of a Gem?

Instructions is the system prompt for the Gem. Spell out what it does, what tone and format to use, what data to prioritize, and what to avoid. Aim for prescriptive language with concrete examples. Anything you would otherwise paste at the start of every chat belongs here, since it applies automatically to every conversation with the Gem.

Can Gemini help me write the Gem's Instructions?

Yes. The Instructions textarea has a wand icon below it with a Use Gemini to re-write instructions tooltip. Click the wand and Gemini drafts or refines the Instructions for you based on what you have already typed. Useful for turning a rough one-liner into a structured prompt, or for tightening a prompt that has drifted.

What is a Default tool on a Gem?

Default tool sets which Gemini tool the Gem launches with on every new chat. Options: No default tool, Create image, Canvas, Deep Research, Create music, Guided Learning. Pick the one your Gem usually uses (for example, a research Gem can default to Deep Research) so users do not have to enable it manually for every conversation.

How are Gemini Gems different from ChatGPT Custom GPTs?

Both are saved AI configurations with a custom system prompt and optional files. Gemini Gems lean on Google's tools (Deep Research, Canvas, Create music, Guided Learning) and live inside the Gemini app and Gemini for Workspace. ChatGPT Custom GPTs use OpenAI's capabilities (Web Search, Canvas, Image Generation, Code Interpreter) and can publish to the public GPT Store. Pick by which platform you actually use.

Can other people see my Gems?

Your custom Gems are private to your Google account by default. Inside Gemini for Workspace, Gems can also be shared with your organization. There is no public Gem marketplace equivalent to OpenAI's GPT Store, so Gems work best as personal or team assistants rather than published apps.

Conclusion

Gems collapse "paste the system prompt, attach the files, pick the tool, remember the tone" into a single saved assistant. Open the Gem manager from your profile menu, click New Gem, write prescriptive Instructions (or let the wand help), attach Knowledge files for repeated context, pick the Default tool that matches the Gem's purpose, and click Save. Iterate by re-opening the Gem from My Gems. Gems are free on every Gemini plan, so the only reason not to build one is if your work is genuinely one-shot. To search across every Gem-generated chat, export Gem outputs to TXT/Markdown/JSON/PDF, and keep the search shortcut consistent across all your Gemini conversations, install AI Toolbox for Chrome: free plan covers full-text search with up to 5 results per query. Premium ($9.99 per month) or Premium Lifetime ($99 one-time) unlocks unlimited results plus multi-format export.

References and Further Reading

• Google Gemini: Gems overview (Retrieved May 2026)
• Gemini Help Center: Create and use Gems (Retrieved May 2026)
• Google Gemini blog — release notes and feature updates
• How to Use Gemini Deep Research (2026) — Deep Research is one of the Default tool options on a Gem
• How to Create Custom GPTs (2026) — the ChatGPT equivalent of Gems for direct comparison
• Search Your Gemini Conversation History — full-text search across every Gem chat
• Export Gemini Conversations to TXT/Markdown/JSON/PDF — back up Gem outputs
• AI Toolbox pricing — All Access Lifetime $149 covers ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude modules

Last updated: May 31, 2026