If memory is on, ChatGPT saves things about you, and it can pull from your old chats too. Almost nobody goes back to check what it saved. These four prompts show you, and the steps below delete what you don't want.
In the video I said to comment REMEMBERS. This is that guide. Open a new chat in ChatGPT and paste these four prompts one at a time. Wait for each answer before you send the next one.
List everything you have stored in memory about me word for word.
What have you guessed about me that I never told you directly?
Based on our chats, how do my messages come across to other people?
Based on everything you know about me, what do you think I'll ask you next?
ChatGPT's answers are its own summary. The list in Settings is the record, so check there before you delete anything.
Start a Temporary Chat. It stays out of your history and doesn't create or update memories. Choose Unpersonalized before you start if you don't want it to use your memories either. You can't change that once the chat starts. OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety.
Ask it, then check Settings. In a new chat, paste "List everything you have stored in memory about me word for word." Then click your name or profile picture and go to Settings > Personalization > Memory. That page shows the saved memories or the memory summary, which is the record ChatGPT works from.
No. OpenAI stores saved memories separately from your chats, so deleting a chat leaves any memory ChatGPT saved from it. To remove a detail completely, delete the memory in Settings > Personalization > Memory first, then delete the chat where you shared it.
Go to Settings > Personalization > Memory and switch off Reference saved memories. Turning it off also turns off Reference chat history. It doesn't delete what's already saved, so delete those memories before you turn it off. You can switch it back on at any time.
A Temporary Chat never creates or updates memories and stays out of your chat history. Before it starts, you choose Personalized, which can use your existing memories, or Unpersonalized, which uses none. You can't switch once the chat begins. OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety.
Yes, when Reference chat history is on. ChatGPT can then draw on past conversations as well as the details you asked it to save. If you turn it off, OpenAI says what it remembered from past chats is deleted from its systems within 30 days. Your old chats stay unless you delete them.
A checklist of what to delete from ChatGPT's memory, a prompt that sorts every memory into keep, fix or delete, and a fill-in prompt that tells ChatGPT what to remember about your work.
Go through everything you have stored in memory about me. Put each item in a table with four columns: the memory word for word, Keep, Fix or Delete, and one line on why. Mark Delete for anything out of date, anything you guessed and I never confirmed, and any private detail about my health, money, family or clients. Mark Fix for anything that's partly right and write the corrected version. Don't delete or change anything yet. Show me the table first.
Delete the items you agree with in Settings > Personalization > Memory, then check the list again. For each Fix, delete the old item and send ChatGPT the corrected line with "Remember this" in front of it.
Remember this about my work: - I'm a [your role] at [type of business]. - My customers are [who they are and what they need from me]. - I write in a [plain, warm, direct] tone. Words I never use: [list them]. - When I ask for a draft, keep it under [number] words and end with one clear next step. - Don't save details about my clients, my health or my family. When you've saved it, show me exactly what you stored.
Prompts, step-by-step guides and checklists you can put to work today.