What are skills in Google Workspace?
A skill is a recipe card for Gemini. Google calls skills reusable, custom instructions.
You write down how a job gets done in your business. That could be your tone, your template or a file to check against. Gemini follows it each time.
Once a skill is on, Gemini can spot when it fits and use it. You can also call it by name with the @ key.
Google gives 3 examples:
- Keep your voice and layout the same across emails, proposals and slide decks.
- Check contracts, proposals or invoices against a guide saved in Drive.
- Turn meeting notes, chats and files into a status update, with no need to explain the format again.
Who can use Workspace skills?
Skills come with these Google Workspace plans, says Google:
- Business: Starter, Standard and Plus
- Enterprise: Starter, Standard and Plus
- Add ons: Google AI Pro for Education and AI Expanded Access
You must be 18 or over. Skills are on by default, but the person who runs your Workspace account can turn them off.
The rollout is slow on purpose. If your account gets new features early (Rapid Release), it started November 9. If not (Scheduled Release), it starts November 30. Either way, Google says it can take up to 15 days to show up.
How do you make a skill in Workspace Studio?
Workspace Studio is Google's place to build skills and flows. Here are the steps from Google's help page.
- Go to studio.workspace.google.com.
- On the left, click Skills.
- Click Create.
- In the chat box, tell it what the skill should do.
- Read the steps it writes. Change anything that is off.
- If you want, click Add, then Gemini search settings, and pick where Gemini can look. Drive and Web are checked by default.
- Click Turn on.
Want a head start? Under Templates, pick one. Some show Turn on, which turns the skill on right away. Others show Customize, so you can edit them first.
You can test a skill first, too. In the chat box, describe a real case and read what comes back.
How do you make a skill in Google Docs?
Use Skill builder. This is handy when your team wants to agree on the steps first.
- Open a doc and click Ask Gemini with skills at the top right.
- Click Tools, then Skill builder.
- Describe the skill. Read the steps Gemini writes and edit them.
- Share the doc so your team can weigh in.
- When you all agree, click Make this skill in Studio.
- In Workspace Studio, click Turn on.
How do you use a skill in Gmail?
- Open Gmail and click Ask Gemini at the top right.
- In the side panel, type @ and pick your skill from the list.
- Type what you want and click Submit.
It works the same way in Docs and Slides. You can also use skills in Drive, in Chat and in the Google Chat phone app.
Try this: a client email skill
Google's own Gmail help page suggests a skill for client emails. Here is one way to write it. Paste this into the chat box in Workspace Studio:
Make a skill called Client Email. When I write to a client, use a warm, direct tone. Keep each email under 150 words. Start with their name. Answer their question in the first line. End with one clear next step and a date. Never use hype words. Follow the rules in this Drive file: [paste the link to your style guide].
Then open Gmail, click Ask Gemini, and try it:
@Client Email Reply to this client. Tell them their plan is ready and ask for a time to meet this week.
Read the draft before you send it. If one line sounds off, fix the skill once, not every email.
A second use: weekly status updates
Do you send clients a weekly update? Make a skill that says what goes in it. Name the parts, the order and the length.
Point it at your notes in Drive. To use your chats too, tick Chat in Gemini search settings. Then each week, ask for the update with the @ key. Google lists this use in its own post.
What should you watch out for?
- Files live in Drive. You can't attach a file from your computer. Save it in Drive and paste the link into the skill.
- Sharing gives a copy. When you share a skill, each person gets their own copy to change as they like.
- Share the files, too. If a skill links to a Drive file, the people you share it with need access to that file.
- Your email shows. Anyone with the link can see your email address as the one who made it.
- Not every app yet. Skills are not in Google Sheets or Google Meet yet. They work in English only for now.
- No new powers. Google says a skill guides how Gemini works. It does not add new things Gemini can do.
Workspace skills vs Gems: what changes?
Gems are another way to save instructions for Gemini. Here is what Google says about the two.
Workspace skills do not sync with Gems or with skills in the Gemini app. Both use the SKILL.md format, so you can copy the steps over by hand.
In Workspace Studio flows, you can no longer add new Ask a Gem steps. Google has a help page on swapping those for skills.
The bigger picture
Here's the thing. The tools moved. The habits did not.
Most of us still explain the same rules in every chat. A skill lets you write them once. Then every email, doc and deck starts closer to done.
Questions people ask
Is Workspace Studio free?
Google has not said in these posts. Skills come with the Workspace plans Google lists above. For prices, check Google Workspace's own pricing page.
Can I use Workspace skills with a free Gmail account?
Google has not said. Its list names only Business and Enterprise plans and 2 add ons. The Gemini app has its own skills, and the two do not sync.
Can I share a skill with my team?
Yes. In Workspace Studio, open the skill, click Share, then Private, then My organization. Then click Copy link. You can only share a skill that is turned on.
Can I share a skill outside my company?
Maybe. It depends on what the person who runs your Workspace account allows. They control sharing outside your company.
Will my Gems turn into Workspace skills?
No. Google says Gems will become draft skills in the Gemini app in 2027, not Workspace skills. To use one in Workspace, copy its steps into a new skill by hand.
Do skills work in Google Sheets?
Not yet. Google says skills are not in Sheets or Meet yet. Google has not said when they will be.