TL;DR
How do I check what ChatGPT and Claude remember about me?
Anthropic said on November 6 that a wrong note saved by Claude can be trusted later unless something checks it. The same goes for what ChatGPT and Claude save about you. Once a month, open your memory settings, delete anything wrong or old, and turn memory off for one-off or private chats.
Why does my AI assistant remember wrong things about me?
On Friday, November 6, 2026, Anthropic made an admission about its own AI that applies to every assistant with memory. In a research post, it wrote that a saved note "that's wrong from the start or that drifts as the environment changes can be read, and trusted, by Claude in a later session." Its fix for agents is an automatic check it calls dreaming. Your everyday chat app has no such step.
Memory goes wrong in ordinary ways. You mention a client once and it becomes a "key project." You ask for a formal tone for one email and get it forever. You change jobs, drop a product line or move house, and the assistant keeps the old version.
People notice. One r/ChatGPT thread is titled "ChatGPT’s fixation on my past conversations has made it borderline unusable." That's an extreme case, but most of us have had a chat answer bend around some detail we'd forgotten we ever typed.
How do I check and delete ChatGPT memory?
Go to Settings, then Personalization, then Memory. OpenAI's memory announcement and its help page, Memory in ChatGPT, say you can review and delete your saved memories there.
One detail catches people out. Deleting a chat doesn't always delete a memory that ChatGPT saved from it, because saved memories are stored separately. If something bothers you, remove it from the memory list itself. Menus move around, so if the path above doesn't match your screen, the help page has the current one.
How do I check Claude's memory settings?
Open Settings, then Your Claude, and select Manage next to Your memory. In the older layout, it's Settings, then Memory. Claude's help page says everything it remembers is listed by topic. You can open a topic, edit it, or delete it, and the fix applies to every conversation after that.
Deleted chats work much the same way in Claude. Its help page says memory entries made from a conversation aren't removed when you delete that conversation. Claude also keeps some subjects out by default, such as health, religion and politics, unless you switch on sensitive topics. Some details, like government ID numbers and financial account numbers, are never saved even if you ask.
To get a full copy, Anthropic suggests asking Claude: "Write out your memories of me verbatim, exactly as they appear in your memory." Paste the answer into a file and you have a backup.
Can I just tell the AI to forget something?
You can ask, and Claude's help page says chat requests to remember, change or forget something apply from your next conversation. We'd still use the settings page. It shows what is actually saved, while a chat request leaves you trusting the same system that saved the mistake.
Some users say the same. Reddit posts carry titles like "PSA: Always manually delete saved memories" and "PSA: Requests to "forget" entries in the memory tool / personalization memory not being deleted." Ask in chat if you like, then open the list and confirm the entry is gone.
What is a good monthly AI memory check?
Ten minutes, once a month, with a calendar reminder. Open the memory page and read every entry against this table:
| What you find | What to do |
|---|---|
| Right and still current | Keep it |
| Right but out of date (old job title, finished project, last year's prices) | Edit it |
| Simply wrong | Delete it |
| A one-off request saved as a rule ("always reply in bullet points") | Delete it |
| Something private you didn't mean to share | Delete it, and use memory-off chats for that subject |
Do an extra check after any big change, like a new job, a rebrand or a new business partner. Those are the moments old notes do the most damage.
When should I turn AI memory off?
Turn it off for one-off chats you don't want shaping later ones: a gift for your partner, a medical question, a draft for a client you'll never work with again. In Claude, start a new chat, click "+" and switch off Memory before you send the first message. Claude won't use or add to memory in that chat. The ghost icon opens an incognito chat, which also skips your chat history. ChatGPT's memory help page covers its options.
Small businesses that share one login need this most. When the owner, a part-time assistant and a freelancer all use the same account, the assistant ends up with a blend of three people's preferences and every customer name anyone typed. Give one person the monthly check, keep chats with customer details off memory, and move to separate seats when you can. On Claude's Team and Enterprise plans, each member manages their own memory, and owners can't read a member's individual memories.
A good memory saves you from re-explaining yourself. Ten minutes a month keeps it remembering the right version of you.
FAQ
Does deleting a ChatGPT chat delete what it remembers?
Not necessarily. OpenAI says saved memories are separate from chats, so delete the memory itself from Settings.
Can I move my memories from ChatGPT to Claude?
Yes. In Claude, go to Settings, then Your Claude, and select Start import. Claude gives you a prompt to paste into your old assistant, then you paste the results back. Anthropic calls the feature experimental.
Does Claude remember health details?
Not by default. Health and other sensitive topics are only saved if you turn on "Include sensitive topics in memory."
Is memory on by default?
In Claude, yes, for Free, Pro, Max and Ultra plans on the web, desktop and mobile apps. On Claude's Team and Enterprise plans, it depends on how the organization is set up.
Sources
- OpenAI Help Center: Memory in ChatGPT — where to review, edit and delete saved memories; deleting a chat may not remove a saved memory.
- OpenAI: Memory and new controls for ChatGPT — Settings > Personalization > Memory; "Deleting a chat doesn't erase its memories; you must delete the memory itself."
- Claude Help Center: Use Claude's chat search and memory to build on previous context — managing, editing and deleting memory, memory-off chats, incognito, sensitive topics, Team and Enterprise controls. Read November 8, 2026.
- Claude Help Center: Import and export your memory from Claude — import flow and the export prompt. Read November 8, 2026.
- Anthropic: The components of agent memory — November 6, 2026; the "read, and trusted" quote.
- Reddit threads on r/ChatGPT, r/OpenAI and r/ChatGPT (titles only).
