Gemini Knowledge Base Glitch: Documents Disappearing? How to Secure Your Files and Find Them on Google Drive

The Disappearing Act: Understanding the Gemini Gem Knowledge Base Issue

Users leveraging Google Gemini's custom 'Gems' for specialized knowledge are encountering a frustrating problem: documents uploaded to a Gem's knowledge section vanish when returning to a new chat. This issue not only necessitates repeated uploads but also leads to the Gem hallucinating information, unable to accurately retrieve data from its supposed knowledge base. A key observation from affected users is the automatic creation of a dedicated Google Drive folder for these Gems, a feature not present in older, unused Gems.

This scenario highlights a critical flaw in how Gemini is sometimes handling persistent knowledge, impacting the reliability and effectiveness of custom AI agents within the Google Workspace ecosystem.

Community Insights and Solutions

Distinguishing Between Gem Knowledge and Chat Attachments

A crucial distinction, as clarified by community experts, lies in how documents are attached to a Gem. There are two primary methods, each with a different outcome:

• Adding to a Gem's Knowledge Base (Permanent): This method integrates documents directly into the Gem's long-term memory, allowing it to reference them across multiple conversations.
• Attaching to a Conversation (Temporary): Documents added this way are only accessible within that specific chat session and do not become part of the Gem's persistent knowledge.

To ensure your documents are permanently added to your Gem's knowledge base, follow these steps:

1. Open the Gemini app.
2. Select "Gems" from the left menu.
3. From the "My Gems" area, select the pencil / edit icon to the right of the Gem title.
4. In the "Knowledge" area, select the + icon and upload a document or + add from Google Drive.
5. Select the blue "UPDATE" button to save the Gem knowledge updates.

Failing to click the "UPDATE" button or attaching documents only within a chat conversation are common reasons why documents might appear to disappear from the Gem's knowledge.

Verifying Your Document Links and Google Drive Integration

The observation of a new Google Drive folder for each Gem is significant. This suggests an underlying integration where Gemini manages its knowledge assets. If your documents are disappearing, it's essential to verify their presence and accessibility within this dedicated Drive folder. Understanding how to find a shared document on Google Drive, especially those automatically created by Gemini, becomes a key troubleshooting step. Ensure the documents are correctly stored and that Gemini has the necessary permissions to access them from this Google Drive location. This integration is a core component of how Gemini operates within Google Workspace, so any inconsistencies here can lead to knowledge base issues.

Providing Feedback to Google

When encountering hallucinations or incorrect responses from your Gem, the most effective way to contribute to a solution is by providing direct feedback. Use the thumbs-down icon after a degraded response within the Gemini app and report the issue. Similarly, use the thumbs-up icon for correct responses to help train the system. This direct feedback loop is invaluable for developers to identify and rectify bugs.

Check Your Gemini Activity Settings

Another troubleshooting step involves checking your Gemini Settings to ensure that your activity is being saved and that the archive duration is set to your preference. If activity saving is paused or set to a short duration, it might inadvertently affect the persistence of knowledge base updates or how Gemini retains access to linked documents.