How to Import ChatGPT to Gemini and Rebuild Your Setup

Key highlights

• Learn what Google’s tools move when you import ChatGPT to Gemini and what you rebuild by hand.
• Save your custom instructions, assistant setups and Project files before switching from ChatGPT.
• Rebuild your custom GPTs as Gemini skills now, while Google prepares to convert existing Gems automatically.
• Check imported chats, memory and instructions with a short checklist, then fix common import problems.
• Choose Bluehost AI All-Access Pack to keep ChatGPT and Gemini side by side in one dashboard.

You can import ChatGPT to Gemini from “Settings & help” > “Import memory to Gemini”, as shown on Google’s import help page. Paste a memory summary generated through Gemini’s prompt in ChatGPT, or upload your ChatGPT export as a .zip file. Google’s tools cover memory and chat history, while your custom instructions, custom generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) and Projects need to be rebuilt manually in Gemini.

Pew Research Center’s 2026 survey asked adults in the United States about artificial intelligence (AI) in February 2026. It found that 38% of employed adults use chatbots for work tasks. Your saved preferences and past threads help Gemini pick up where ChatGPT left off.

This guide covers the export, the import and the rebuild. You’ll also learn how to verify the results or keep both models.

What Google’s import moves and what you rebuild?

Google’s import brings over a summary of your remembered information and your exported chat history. Google built both options into Gemini’s settings. The rest of your ChatGPT setup has a Gemini home too, and you move those pieces by hand.

This map shows where each part of your setup lands, so you know the scope before any steps.

Start with memory, then add chat history only if you need your old threads.

Also read: See how Gemini and ChatGPT compare if you’re still deciding.

Before you start: check your account and clean up your data

You can use Google’s import with a personal Google Account if you’re 18 or older and outside the excluded regions. A few settings also decide whether the option appears. Check each one before you export.

• Account: Use a personal Google Account. Work, school and supervised accounts can’t use the feature.
• Age: Confirm you’re 18 or older.
• Region: As of October 2026, the import isn’t available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.
• Where: Use gemini.google.com, since the import isn’t available in Gemini in Google Messages, Chrome or Android XR.
• Keep Activity: Turn on “Keep Activity” for memory features. Imported chats are saved in your Activity, so review the privacy implications first.

Before importing, remove sensitive details from your memory summary and avoid uploading chat history containing confidential client or financial information. The Bluehost guide on what to keep out of AI chats explains which details to strip first.

How to import ChatGPT to Gemini in four steps?

Steps 1 and 2 happen in ChatGPT, and steps 3 and 4 in Gemini. For a closer look at each screen, follow our step-by-step Gemini import guide.

1. Request your ChatGPT data export

Start with the export, because it’s the slowest part. Request it about a week before you plan to switch.

• Open “Settings” > “Data controls” > “Export data”, select “Export” and then “Confirm export”.
• Watch for your export notification by email or SMS, then download the file before the link expires after 24 hours.
• Allow time, since OpenAI’s export instructions say exports can take up to 7 days.
• Use a Free, Go, Plus, Pro or eligible Edu account, since Business, Enterprise and Healthcare workspaces don’t support this export method.
• Store the downloaded file somewhere safe until your import is done.

2. Save the parts of ChatGPT you’ll rebuild

Google’s tools cover memory and chat history, so copy everything else while you still have access. Saving these items now gives you a record to rebuild from once you start working in Gemini. Keep your instructions in one document and the original GPT and Project files in a separate folder.

• Copy your custom instructions from “Settings” > “Personalization” into your document.
• Open “Settings” > “Personalization” > “Memory” and review your Memory summary or available saved memories for details Gemini should know.
• Open each GPT through “My GPTs” > “Edit GPT” and copy its instructions, following editing a GPT in ChatGPT.
• Keep the original files you uploaded as GPT knowledge so they’re ready to reuse in Gemini where supported.
• Download each Project’s files from its sources list, as Projects in ChatGPT explains. Copy its project instructions too.

Pro tip: Keep your instructions and original files somewhere you control. Those copies stay with you if menus or features change.

3. Import your ChatGPT memory into Gemini

Memory import gives Gemini a summary of what ChatGPT knows about you. You run one prompt in each tool, so it’s the fastest win.

• Go to gemini.google.com, select “Settings & help” at the bottom left and choose “Import memory to Gemini”.
• Copy the prompt, paste it into a new ChatGPT chat and send it.
• Read the reply and edit out anything outdated or sensitive.
• Paste the edited reply into Gemini and select “Add memory”.

4. Upload your ChatGPT chat history

Upload chat history only if you want your old threads in Gemini. You’ll use the same screen as step 3.

• Under “Import chats”, select “Add” and choose the .zip file you downloaded from ChatGPT. Gemini accepts .zip files only.
• Keep each file to 5 GB or less, and upload up to 5 files per day.
• Allow up to a day for processing, depending on the platform you exported from.
• Look for the imported-chat icon on your old threads in the “Chats” list.
• Re-upload the same .zip file with care, since Gemini adds new conversations and overwrites previously imported ones from that export.

How to rebuild what the import doesn’t move?

Google’s tools cover memory and chat history, but Google doesn’t document automatically moving custom instructions, GPTs or Projects. Plan to rebuild them with the files and instructions from step 2, which takes a few minutes each.

Note: As of October 2026, OpenAI has scheduled custom GPTs to retire on December 11, 2026, according to OpenAI’s custom GPT retirement FAQ. Google begins converting existing Gems to skills for personal accounts in November 2026, as covered in Google’s Gems-to-skills transition. Create skills now for your ChatGPT assistants, while existing Gemini Gems will be converted automatically.

Move custom instructions to Instructions for Gemini

Instructions for Gemini is the closest match to ChatGPT custom instructions, and it applies to every chat. As of October 2026, open “Settings & help” > “Personal Intelligence” > “Instructions for Gemini” and select “Add”. Some regions label this feature “Saved info”.

Paste the “about you” and “how to respond” parts of your saved instructions, trimmed to what still matters.

Example: A bakery owner might add “I run a neighborhood bakery” and “Use a warm tone and short paragraphs.” Gemini then applies that tone in every new chat, so you don’t have to repeat it.

Turn custom GPTs into Gemini skills

Gemini skills provide reusable custom instructions, though some GPT capabilities may need separate rebuilding or aren’t supported yet. As of October 2026, go to gemini.google.com > “Customize” > “Skills”, as Google explains in creating a skill in Gemini. If “Customize” isn’t visible, open “More” first.

Select “Create” > “Create manually” to paste your GPT’s instructions, or select “Upload” to add a SKILL.md file or folder containing supported reference files. Uploaded folders must include SKILL.md in the main folder. Gemini supports formats such as Markdown, text and PDF, but not Word .docx files for skill uploads.

Type / or @, depending on your Gemini interface, to select a skill, or let Gemini apply it automatically when relevant. Skills require age 18 or older and “Keep Activity” on. Test each one with 2 or 3 prompts you often used with the GPT.

Example: For a proposal-writing GPT, create a skill with its instructions and a supported PDF or Markdown proposal template uploaded together. Then ask for a draft and compare it with your last proposal.

Until Google converts them, your existing Gems and their knowledge files still work. To keep an assistant in ChatGPT instead, the same OpenAI FAQ describes a “My GPTs” > “Migrate to plugin” option when migration becomes available for your account.

Recreate ChatGPT Projects as Gemini notebooks

Gemini notebooks are the closest match to ChatGPT Projects, because they organize a project in one space with sources and notebook instructions. Open “Notebooks” > “New notebook”, add the Project files you downloaded as sources, then add your project instructions. Source limits depend on your Google AI plan, and notebooks are rolling out gradually.

Example: For a client-onboarding Project, add your welcome packet and contract template to a notebook. Then paste your onboarding instructions so each new client gets the same steps.

Check your import and fix common problems

A quick check confirms what came across before you rely on Gemini for client work. Run through this list once your chat import finishes processing.

• Open “Chats” and look for the imported-chat icon on your old threads.
• Open 2 or 3 imported chats that had images or attachments, since Google doesn’t specify whether those come across.
• Ask Gemini “What do you know about my work?” and correct anything wrong.
• Confirm your “Instructions for Gemini” entry is saved.
• Test each skill with a familiar prompt.

If something went wrong after you import ChatGPT to Gemini, start with these fixes. Each one matches a limit or setting covered above.

• Option missing: Check your account type, age, region and the Gemini surface you’re using.
• Import interrupted: Delete the import entry and try again, as Google recommends.
• Upload rejected: Select the .zip file you downloaded from ChatGPT, at 5 GB or less and within 5 uploads per day.
• Export link expired: Request a new export from ChatGPT, since each link lasts 24 hours.

Keep ChatGPT and Gemini side by side with AI All-Access Pack

You may want to use ChatGPT and Gemini together instead of switching fully. Bluehost AI All-Access Pack brings ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok into one dashboard with model switching and response comparison.

To bring your context in, follow our import chat memory guide. Open your AI All-Access Pack dashboard, select “More” > “Settings” > “Memory” and click “Import” under “Import Memory”. Copy the prompt into ChatGPT or Gemini, then paste the response back and select “Add to Memory”. This brings in a memory summary rather than complete chat history.

Once your memory is in, three features help you work across both models. Our AI All-Access Pack memory update explains how both memory tools work, and the pack doesn’t require hosting.

• Chat Memory: Keeps relevant details across your chats in the dashboard.
• Model switching: Lets you switch models for a task and compare their responses.
• Privacy+: Adds privacy controls that help reduce exposure risk for sensitive prompts. Chat Memory requires Privacy Mode sanitization to be turned off.

Also read: Weigh one bundle against separate subscriptions with our guide to all-in-one AI plans for small businesses.

Final thoughts

Import your memory first, then rebuild your instructions and skills so Gemini works the way you do. Request your ChatGPT export today so the file is ready when you switch.

If you’d rather keep ChatGPT, you can bring that context into one place and pick a model for each task. Start using ChatGPT and Gemini together with Bluehost AI All-Access Pack.

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