A Gem is a saved configuration in Gemini that holds a name, a set of instructions, and optional uploaded files. You set it up once, and every new conversation with that Gem starts from that context automatically. Premade Gems for brainstorming, career advice, and writing come included; you can create your own in about five minutes.
If you've ever started a Gemini conversation by typing the same long explanation — your dietary rules, your job title, the tone you want — you already know the problem a Gem is designed to fix. A Gem stores that context once. Every conversation you open with it starts from the same briefing, automatically. You stop explaining and start asking.
What Is a Gem?
A Gem is a saved setup inside Gemini: a short name, a set of instructions you write, and optionally some files you upload. Think of it as a version of Gemini that's been briefed on your situation before you type a word.
Gems don't replace regular Gemini — they sit alongside it. Open a plain Gemini chat and it starts fresh every time. Open a Gem, and it already knows you cook for a family of four, avoid nuts, prefer grams over cups, and want weeknight-friendly meals. You just describe what's in the fridge and ask what to make.
Gems are free on all Gemini plans, including the free tier. Google Workspace organizations can also share Gems with colleagues, which makes them useful beyond personal use.
The Premade Gems Worth Trying First
Gemini comes with several ready-made Gems you can use immediately, without any setup.
Brainstormer helps when you need more ideas than you can generate alone — for a gift, a project name, a travel itinerary, or a fundraising idea. It's designed to push past the obvious and get you to a longer list.
Career guide handles job search questions: how to present a career change on a resume, how to prepare for a particular type of interview, how to turn a list of tasks into a strong bullet point.
Coding partner helps when you're working on code and want a programming assistant that can explain concepts, help debug a problem, review a snippet, or walk you through an unfamiliar language or framework.
Learning coach works well for anyone who wants to understand something rather than just get an answer. Ask it to explain a concept and it will check your understanding by asking questions back.
Writing editor reviews text you paste in and suggests improvements in plain language — useful for emails, appeals, cover letters, or anything you want to sound more polished before you send it.
To find these, look for the Gems section in the left sidebar when you're in Gemini.
How to Create Your Own Gem
Trying a premade Gem requires no setup. Building your own takes about five minutes, and the payoff starts the second time you use it.
Open Gems in the sidebar
Sign in to Gemini at gemini.google.com. On the left side, look for a "Gems" section in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down or expand a menu to find it.
Click New Gem
Inside the Gems panel, you'll see the premade Gems plus a button to create your own. Click "New Gem" or the "+" button to open the Gem editor.
Name your Gem
Choose a name you'll recognize at a glance: "Sunday Cook," "Letter Helper," "Fitness Check-In," "Project Tracker." Make it specific enough that you can tell your Gems apart without opening each one.
Write your instructions
This is where you describe the role you want Gemini to play and the rules it should follow. You don't need formal language — clear, direct sentences work best. Think of it as briefing a new assistant: explain your situation, your preferences, and anything they should always remember. See the worked examples below for what good instructions look like.
Upload any files (optional)
If you have a document the Gem should always reference — a recipe list, a house style guide, a template letter, an address block — you can upload it here. The Gem will have access to it in every conversation.
Save and start your first chat
Click Save. Your Gem now appears in the sidebar. Click it to open a new conversation — it already knows everything you wrote in the instructions, so you can start talking about your actual question straight away.
Two Worked Examples
The "Sunday Cook" Gem
This Gem handles weekly meal planning without requiring you to re-explain the same dietary constraints every week.
Instructions to paste in:
You are my weekly meal planning assistant. I cook for two adults. We avoid all nuts and shellfish. I prefer metric measurements (grams, milliliters, Celsius). Meals should take 30 to 45 minutes of active cooking. I like Mediterranean and East Asian flavors, but variety is welcome. When I say "plan this week," suggest five dinners and a shopping list grouped by category. Flag any ingredient that needs advance preparation.
Once the Gem is saved, you can open it any Sunday and say: "I have chicken, zucchini, and two cans of chickpeas — plan three meals." No setup, no re-explaining.
The "Letter Helper" Gem
This Gem drafts formal letters, complaints, or requests — things you don't write often enough to have a ready template for.
Instructions to paste in:
You help me write formal letters and emails in English. Use a professional but warm tone — not stiff or overly legal-sounding. My name is Your Name and my address is Your Address. When I describe what I need to say, draft the full letter: greeting, body, and closing. If I don't specify a recipient, leave a placeholder. Ask me one clarifying question before you start if anything is unclear.
Replace the bracketed details with your own. You can also upload a file with your common recipients' addresses as a Knowledge file so the Gem can fill them in.
When a Gem Beats a Plain Chat
A Gem earns its keep when you find yourself typing the same preamble over and over. Good fits include:
- A recurring creative project — you're writing a novel and keep briefing Gemini on the world, the characters, and the rules each time.
- A consistent professional task — you draft weekly reports in the same format for the same audience.
- A personal specialty — you're a nurse and want health questions answered at a clinical level, not a general-audience one.
- Household rules — dietary restrictions, home renovation measurements, your car make and model for maintenance questions.
A Gem is probably overkill when you have a one-off question, you're exploring a topic fresh and don't yet know what context matters, or the task varies so much each time that standing instructions wouldn't help.
What to Watch Out For
Gems don't verify facts. A cooking Gem will confidently suggest a substitution that doesn't work in practice. Test before serving.
Instructions can fade over a long conversation. As a conversation grows very long, Gemini may start weighting the Gem's instructions less. If it stops following your rules, open a fresh conversation in the same Gem.
File uploads have limits. Very long documents may not be fully processed. If your Gem isn't referencing an uploaded file, try summarizing the key points in the instructions instead.
Shared Gems expose their instructions. If you share a Gem within a Workspace organization, anyone who uses it can see your instructions. Don't include passwords, private addresses, or confidential details.
Gemini is still an AI. For health, legal, financial, or safety decisions, treat a Gem's output as a starting point, not a final answer. It's a well-read assistant — helpful, but worth a second opinion when the stakes are high.
What to Try Next
If you want to get more from the instructions you write for your Gems, How to Write Better AI Prompts has the practical techniques that transfer directly. If you're still deciding whether Gemini or ChatGPT is the right fit for you, ChatGPT vs. Gemini: Which AI Assistant Is Right for You? has the comparison you need.
