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Share a Gemini Gem (or a Canvas)

Hand someone a custom assistant you built in Gemini — your instructions and reference files baked in — so they can use it, copy it, or edit it. Or share a Canvas: an interactive doc or mini-app Gemini built with you, openable from a link.

Time: the share itself is a few clicks in the Gemini web app — there's no agent path; this is manual (Gemini has no public sharing API). The un-delegable bits: a Gem with files only shares if those files are Drive uploads or device uploads (not a code folder or your Gmail), and on a work/school account your admin may have switched sharing off. [confirmed] Last verified: 2026-06-07 · roles, link options, and the Drive-backed mechanism come from Gemini Apps Help — Share a Gem and Canvas. [confirmed]

Before you begin

  • A Google account with Gemini, signed in at gemini.google.com. A free personal account works for building and sharing Gems.
  • The recipient's email — only for the named-people path. The link and public paths need no email.
  • Know which account you're on. A personal Google account can share to named people, anyone with the link, or public. A work/school (Google Workspace) account shares through your org's Drive rules — usually named people and your organization, and only outside the org if your admin allows it. [confirmed]

New to Gems entirely? A Gem is a saved version of Gemini with your own instructions and reference files — build one first at gemini.google.com → Explore Gems → New Gem, then come back here to share it.

Why there's no "ask your agent" path here. Gems and Canvas live inside Google's Gemini web app, which exposes no sharing API your coding agent could call. Every step below is a manual click. (Other Google surfaces do have agent paths — see Share a Google Doc.)

Build the Gem (if you haven't)

  1. At gemini.google.com, open the sidebar → Gems → New Gem (or Explore Gems → New Gem). [confirmed]
  2. Name it and write instructions — what it does, its tone, what to always/never do. [confirmed]
  3. Optional: add knowledge — upload reference files so the Gem answers from them. For a Gem you intend to share, keep these to Drive files or device uploads (see the sharing caveat below). [confirmed]
  4. Test it in the preview panel on the right, then Save. [confirmed]

Stuck on the instructions? Use "Use Gemini to re-write instructions" — it expands a one-line description into a fuller prompt you can edit before saving. [confirmed]

Share the Gem

  1. Open the sidebar → Gems. Next to the Gem you want, click Share. [confirmed]
  2. Pick who gets in:
    • Named people — type their email(s), pick a role (below), optionally add a message or an expiration date, then Send. [confirmed]
    • Anyone with the link — switch the general-access dropdown to Anyone with the link, then Copy link. Anyone who opens it can use the Gem without signing in to a Google account. [confirmed]
    • Public (personal accounts only) — anyone can find your Gem in Google Search and use it, no sign-in. The only difference from "anyone with the link" is discoverability. [confirmed]
  3. Send the link (or the invite goes out by email). Done.

The two roles, in plain terms. Every share picks one. [confirmed]

  • Viewer — use the Gem and see its instructions and uploaded files. Can't change it.
  • Editor — use it, rewrite its instructions, re-share it, and delete it. The widest grant; hand it out deliberately.

Use vs edit is the thing people get wrong. Viewer lets someone run your assistant without touching how it works — right for handing a team a ready-made helper. Editor lets them rewrite (or delete) the original. If you wanted them to just use it and they changed it, you granted Editor by mistake.

The sharing caveat worth knowing first

A Gem only shares cleanly if its knowledge files are device uploads or Google Drive files. If you fed it other sources — a synced code folder, your emails — the Gem can't be shared at all, and the Share option won't behave. [confirmed] Swap those for Drive/device files before you try.

This is because shared Gems live in Google Drive: sharing one creates a Drive folder, and the whole thing rides on Drive's familiar share machinery (the same dialog you'd see for a Doc). Your org's Drive sharing rules therefore decide how far a Gem can travel. [confirmed]

Share a Canvas instead

A Canvas is the interactive doc, slide deck, or mini-app Gemini builds with you in a side panel. Sharing it is separate from Gems: [confirmed]

  1. Open the chat with the Canvas creation → at the top-right of the Canvas panel, click Share & export. [confirmed]
  2. To share a live link: next to the g.co/gemini/share link, click Copy link, then paste it anywhere. Anyone with that public link can view and edit the creation, and make their own copy to keep working on. [confirmed]
  3. To hand off a finished file instead: Export to Docs (text → Google Docs), Export to Slides (→ Google Slides), or Export to Colab (Python → a Colab notebook). [confirmed]

For a polished, durable doc others can comment on, exporting to a Google Doc and sharing that is often cleaner than a Gemini share link. [estimate]

To stop or change sharing

  • Remove one person / change their role: click Share again, click their current role, pick Viewer, Editor, or Remove access. Removing them deletes the Gem from their Drive. [confirmed]
  • Kill the public link: set general access back to Restricted (named people only). The old link stops working for everyone you didn't name. [confirmed]

If it doesn't work

  • Recipient sees "You need access" / can't open it → it's still Restricted and they're not on the list. Add their email, or switch general access to Anyone with the link. [confirmed]
  • The "Anyone with the link" or "Public" option is missing/greyed out → you're on a work/school account and your admin has restricted external Drive sharing (or turned Gem sharing off entirely). You can usually still share with named people inside your org. [confirmed] (admin control)
  • The Share button does nothing / says the Gem can't be shared → it has knowledge files that aren't Drive or device uploads (e.g. a code folder or Gmail). Replace them with Drive/device files, save, then share. [confirmed]
  • You meant to share a Canvas but you're clicking around the Gem → they're different things. A Gem is the saved assistant (sidebar → Gems → Share). A Canvas is a one-off doc/app from a chat (top-right of the Canvas panel → Share & export). Use the matching path above. [confirmed]
  • Recipient opened it but can't change anything → you shared as Viewer, which is use-only. Re-share as Editor if they need to edit the instructions. [confirmed]
  • Editor edited the original and broke it → Editor can rewrite and delete. For most hand-offs, share as Viewer, or tell them to make a copy and edit that. [confirmed]

Watch / read

Best written walkthrough: Google's own Share a Gem from Gemini Apps — authoritative on the Viewer/Editor roles, named-people vs link vs public, the Drive-backed mechanism, and the file-type caveat, kept current. Pair it with Create docs, apps & more with Canvas for the Canvas share-and-export steps. [confirmed]

Short videos (YouTube transcripts couldn't be verified from this machine this session, so titles/channels are the signal):

Other ways to share

  • Just want a finished, interactive thing they click and use? → a Claude Artifact or a deployed website — opens in any browser, no account, nothing to run, and your agent can do it for you.
  • It's really a document people read or mark up? → export the Canvas to a Google Doc — one-tap viewing, no account, comments in the margin.
  • Want a reusable assistant your agent can hand off as a file? → a Claude skill packages instructions your agent shares and version-tracks, where a Gem stays inside Gemini.

Sources

  • Share a Gem from Gemini Apps — Computer — Gemini Apps Help (Share button; Viewer/Editor roles; named people / Anyone with the link / Public; "without signing in to their Google Account"; expiration date; shared Gems saved in a Drive folder; Drive/device-files-only sharing caveat; removing access deletes from the user's Drive) — checked 2026-06-07
  • Create, edit & save Gems — Gemini Apps Help (New Gem, name + instructions, add knowledge files, "Use Gemini to re-write instructions", preview, Save) — checked 2026-06-07
  • Create docs, apps & more with Canvas — Computer — Gemini Apps Help (Share & export button; g.co/gemini/share link; anyone with the link can view and edit and make a copy; Export to Docs / Slides / Colab) — checked 2026-06-07
  • Introducing Gems sharing in the Gemini app, including admin controls — Google Workspace Updates (launched 2025-09-18; Drive-powered sharing; shareable only when knowledge comes from Drive/device files; internal + external per org policy; admin control under Generative AI > Gemini app > Gems, on by default) — checked 2026-06-07
  • Turn Gem sharing on or off — Google Workspace Admin Help (admin console toggle that can disable Gem sharing for a domain, org unit, or group) — checked 2026-06-07