I typed the same sentence into Docs so many times I could recite it in my sleep. “Keep it short. No fluff. Write like a person, not a corporation.”
Every new document. Every time.
It wasn’t the writing that wore me down. It was the babysitting. I wasn’t running my business, I was managing an assistant with amnesia.
So when Google rolled out Gemini custom instructions for Docs, Gmail, Chat, and Slides in May, I actually said “thank you” out loud to my laptop. Repeating myself is not my favorite thing to do. Turns out it doesn’t have to be.
TLDR
Gemini custom instructions let you save what you want it to remember — your tone, your formatting rules, your role, what you always want included. Set them once inside the Gemini side panel in Docs or Gmail, and they carry across eligible Workspace apps. This is different from “Saved info,” which is a consumer-plan feature Business Standard doesn’t have. If you’re on Business Standard, this is the version built for you.
Why It Matters
Every solopreneur I work with does the same thing without realizing it. They open a new Doc and spend the first thirty seconds re-explaining themselves. Their role. Their tone. What they always forget to include in a proposal.
That’s not a big cost on any single day. But add it up over a year of proposals, emails, and drafts, and it’s hours of your life spent training an assistant that forgets you exist the moment you close the page.
Custom instructions fix that. You teach Gemini once. It remembers.
How to Set Gemini Custom Instructions (Step by Step)
A word of warning before you start: don’t look for this inside the standalone Gemini app at gemini.google.com. On Business Standard, that menu is thin — Activity, Connected Apps, Scheduled Actions, Gems, Theme, Gemini Notebook. No personalization option in sight. I know, because I regularly check.
The setting you want lives inside Gmail and Docs themselves.
- Open Gmail or Google Docs.
- Click Ask Gemini to open the side panel.
- At the top left of the panel, click the Menu icon.
- Click Settings.
- Click Personalization.
- Click Add.
- Type your instruction.
- Click Save.
That’s it. No admin approval needed. It’s on by default, and once you set it in one app, it carries over to the others — set it in Gmail, and Docs and Slides already know.
What to actually type. Google’s own guidance points to four categories, and they’re a genuinely useful frame:
- Role — “When helping me write client proposals, remember I run a one-person consulting business.”
- Tone — “Keep responses conversational, not corporate. No fluff.”
- Content — “Always include a cost estimate when I ask for a proposal.”
- Format — “Summarize long documents in bullet points, not paragraphs.”
You can save up to 1,000 instructions. You will not need 1,000 instructions. Start with three or four that solve your actual daily annoyances.
Custom instructions are one piece of a bigger system. If you want to see the whole picture — activity settings, connected apps, instructions, and building Gemini a real memory across your business — I mapped the whole thing out here.
Common Mistakes
Looking in the wrong app. This is the one that will send you down a rabbit hole. The Gemini app and the Gemini side panel inside Docs and Gmail are not the same settings menu. Business Standard personalization lives in the side panel.
Confusing this with “Saved info.” If you’ve seen screenshots or read articles about Gemini remembering your name, your job, and your preferences automatically — that’s “Saved info,” and it’s a consumer-plan feature (Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra). It’s not available on Business Standard. If the tiers are still fuzzy for you, I’ve broken down exactly what’s included in each Google AI plan here — worth a read before you go hunting for a feature you don’t have.
Custom instructions also aren’t a memory bank for your business — they just shape how Gemini behaves. If what you actually want is a permanent, trained-up second brain that knows your business inside and out, that’s what NotebookLM is built for.
Asking Gemini to explain its own settings. I tried this. I asked Gemini directly whether it had a personalization option on Business Standard. It gave me a vague, mostly-wrong answer about in-prompt tone requests and Gems — never once mentioned the actual Personalization menu sitting one click away. Don’t trust the tool to accurately describe itself. Go look.
Setting it once and forgetting it exists. Treat your instructions like a living document, not a one-time setup. When Gemini does something repeatedly that annoys you, that’s your cue to add a rule. Every few months, it’s worth asking Gemini to review your current instruction list and suggest a cleaner version — then update it with the improved wording.
FAQ
Where do I set Gemini custom instructions on Google Workspace Business Standard? Inside the Gemini side panel in Gmail or Docs — not in the main Gemini app. Open the panel, click the menu icon, then Settings, then Personalization.
Do custom instructions carry over between Gmail and Docs? Yes. Instructions are shared across eligible Workspace products, so setting one in Gmail applies in Docs and Slides too.
Is this the same as Gemini’s “memory” or “Saved info” feature? No. Saved info is a consumer-plan feature on Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra. Custom instructions are the Workspace equivalent, and they’re what Business Standard subscribers actually have access to.
How many instructions can I add? Up to 1,000. Most people need a handful to solve their real day-to-day friction.
Can I override an instruction for one specific task? Yes. Your saved instructions apply broadly, but you can always give a one-off prompt that overrides them for that single request.
Quick Win Summary
You don’t need to repeat yourself to Gemini anymore. Open Gmail or Docs, find Personalization under Settings in the side panel, and save three or four instructions that solve your real annoyances — your tone, your role, what you always forget to ask for. It takes five minutes, and it’s the exact first step we set up together in Week 1 of Workspace Elite, before we build anything else.
