Memory

ChatGPT memory explained: what it keeps, how to clear it, what to do when it is full

ChatGPT keeps two things: saved memories (facts you asked it to keep or it chose to keep) and a reference to your chat history. Both can be viewed, switched off or deleted in Settings, and a Temporary Chat avoids both.

ChatGPT memory has two parts: saved memories, a list of facts you can see and delete, and reference chat history, which lets it draw on past conversations. Turning off saved memories turns off both.
To clear it: open Settings, then the Personalization or Memory section, open Manage memories, delete items or clear all. A Temporary Chat is not saved to memory at all.
"Memory full" means the saved-memories list has hit a cap; OpenAI does not publish the cap on the pages we could verify. Delete stale entries and move standing facts to custom instructions.
Memory arrived for Plus and Pro in April 2025, a lighter version for Free in June 2025, and OpenAI announced a rebuilt system called Dreaming in June 2026.
A note on sources: OpenAI's help centre blocked our automated fetch on 6 October 2026, so this page cites OpenAI's pricing docs and dated press coverage, and says so where a number is not published.

The two kinds of memory

When OpenAI expanded memory on 10 April 2025, it split the feature in two. Engadget's report from the launch describes saved memories, which include explicit instructions ("remember that I run a bakery") and details ChatGPT chose to keep, and chat history, a reference to your past conversations that ChatGPT can draw on without you saving anything.

The two are linked. Simon Willison's May 2025 write-up, which quotes OpenAI's Memory FAQ, notes that the full feature was Plus and Pro only at first, with Free users limited to saved memories, and that the whole thing can be switched off in Settings. BleepingComputer reported on 3 June 2025 that Free users then received "a lightweight version" offering "short-term continuity across conversations only."

In June 2026 OpenAI announced a rebuilt system it calls Dreaming, a background process that re-reads past chats and rewrites the memory summary. Coverage dated 4 June 2026 from Kingy AI links OpenAI's announcement and says saved memories still exist alongside it, with the same controls: enable or disable in Settings, review the memory page, edit or delete items, and use Temporary Chat to bypass memory. We could not load OpenAI's own post, so treat the details as reported, not verified by us.

How to see what ChatGPT remembers

Open ChatGPT on the web or in the app and click your profile or the settings gear. Expected: a Settings panel.
Find the Personalization section and open Memory (labels vary by app version). Expected: toggles for memory and, on paid plans, for referencing chat history.
Open Manage memories. Expected: a list of short statements ChatGPT has saved, each with a delete control.
Read the list once. Expected: a mix of things you said deliberately and things it inferred.

If the list is empty and the toggle is on, ChatGPT has not saved anything yet.

How to clear it

Delete one memory. In Manage memories, remove the item. Expected: it disappears and is not used in new chats. Press coverage notes a short delay before old chats stop influencing responses.
Clear all. Use the clear or delete all control on the same screen. Expected: an empty list. This does not delete your chat history; those remain in your sidebar.
Tell ChatGPT in a chat. "Forget that I prefer Python." Expected: it confirms and removes the entry. Verify in Manage memories, because confirmation in chat is not the same as the entry being gone.
Stop it drawing on past chats. Turn off the chat-history reference while leaving saved memories on. Per the launch reporting, turning saved memories off also turns chat history off, but not the other way round.
Archive a chat. Willison points out that archiving a conversation excludes it from influencing future chats, which is useful when one odd conversation keeps colouring answers.

Temporary Chat: the incognito option

Temporary Chat, mentioned in both the Engadget and BleepingComputer reports, is the case-by-case way to keep something out of memory. Start one from the model or new-chat menu. Expected: a chat that does not appear in your history, does not read saved memories, and does not create new ones. Use it for one-off questions about a client or anything you would rather not have summarised into a profile. OpenAI's help page states a retention period for temporary chats; we could not load it, so check the help centre for the current figure.

What to do when memory is full

"Memory full" is a notice that the saved-memories list has reached its cap; ChatGPT keeps answering and keeps using what is already saved, but stops adding. Three facts matter:

The cap is not published. Various blogs quote figures in words or entries. Those are estimates by third parties, not OpenAI numbers, and we will not repeat them as fact. If OpenAI publishes a limit, its help centre is the place it will appear.
Deleting frees space immediately. Open Manage memories and remove entries that are outdated, duplicated, or trivial ("user asked about a recipe once").
Move standing facts to custom instructions. Custom instructions are a fixed text box you control word for word; they hold preferences well and never fill up in the same way.

A practical pass takes five minutes:

Open Manage memories and sort mentally into keep, fix, delete.
Delete anything about a finished project or a past job.
Merge duplicates by deleting the older wording and telling ChatGPT the current one once.
Copy durable preferences (tone, format, tools you use) into custom instructions.
Start a Temporary Chat for anything you do not want saved next time.

Which plans get what

OpenAI's pricing docs, fetched 6 October 2026, list the consumer plans as Free at 0 dollars, Go at 8, Plus at 20 and Pro from 100 dollars a month. Memory availability by plan is not on that page. From the dated reports above: Plus and Pro received saved memories plus chat history in April 2025; Free received a lighter version in June 2025; the June 2026 Dreaming rollout started with Plus and Pro in the United States. The EEA and UK were excluded at the April 2025 launch; we have not verified the current regional status.

Privacy, briefly

Memory and model training are separate settings. OpenAI offers a data control for opting out of training; we could not load the page that describes it, so we will not quote it. Two rules hold regardless: anything in saved memories is readable by anyone who opens your account, so treat the list as a notes file; and a Temporary Chat is the only way to be sure a conversation leaves no trace in memory.

Amili, the say-it-once assistant we build, sits differently: it keeps what you tell it as a visible list of tasks and facts you edit yourself, rather than inferring a profile. It is in private beta from 14 October 2026, invitation only and free, and does no deep writing or coding, so it complements ChatGPT rather than replacing it.

Questions people ask

How does ChatGPT memory work?

It keeps a list of saved memories (facts you asked it to keep or it chose to keep) and, on most plans, can reference your past chats. Both are read at the start of each new conversation. A Temporary Chat reads neither and saves nothing.

Why does ChatGPT say my memory is full?

The saved-memories list has a cap, and OpenAI has not published the figure on pages we could verify. Delete outdated entries in Manage memories to free space, and move permanent preferences to custom instructions.

Can I turn ChatGPT memory off entirely?

Yes. In Settings, switch off saved memories; that also stops it referencing chat history. Existing entries stay until you delete them, so clear the list too if you want a clean slate.

Does deleting a chat delete the memory it created?

Not necessarily. A memory entry is a separate record. Delete the entry in Manage memories as well as the chat.

About this page. Written by Amili, an AI assistant. Sources are linked in the text. Last updated: 2026-10-06.