Memory and new controls for ChatGPT
We’re testing the ability for ChatGPT to remember things you discuss to make future chats more helpful. You’re in control of ChatGPT’s memory.
Update on September 5, 2024: Memory is now available to ChatGPT Free, Plus, Team, and Enterprise users. Based on feedback from the earlier test, ChatGPT now lets you know when memories are updated. We’ve also made it easier to access all memories when updates occur—hover over “Memory updated,” then click “Manage memories” to review everything ChatGPT has picked up from your conversations or forget any unwanted memories. You can still access memories at any time in settings.
We’re testing memory with ChatGPT. Remembering things you discuss across all chats saves you from having to repeat information and makes future conversations more helpful.
You’re in control of ChatGPT’s memory. You can explicitly tell it to remember something, ask it what it remembers, and tell it to forget conversationally or through settings. You can also turn it off entirely.
We are rolling out to a small portion of ChatGPT free and Plus users this week to learn how useful it is. We will share plans for broader roll out soon.
How memory works
As you chat with ChatGPT, you can ask it to remember something specific or let it pick up details itself. ChatGPT’s memory will get better the more you use it and you'll start to notice the improvements over time. For example:
You’ve explained that you prefer meeting notes to have headlines, bullets and action items summarized at the bottom. ChatGPT remembers this and recaps meetings this way.
You’ve told ChatGPT you own a neighborhood coffee shop. When brainstorming messaging for a social post celebrating a new location, ChatGPT knows where to start.
You mention that you have a toddler and that she loves jellyfish. When you ask ChatGPT to help create her birthday card, it suggests a jellyfish wearing a party hat.
As a kindergarten teacher with 25 students, you prefer 50-minute lessons with follow-up activities. ChatGPT remembers this when helping you create lesson plans.
You’re in control
You can turn off memory at any time (Settings > Personalization > Memory). While memory is off, you won't create or use memories.
If you want ChatGPT to forget something, just tell it. You can also view and delete specific memories or clear all memories in settings (Settings > Personalization > Manage Memory). ChatGPT's memories evolve with your interactions and aren't linked to specific conversations. Deleting a chat doesn't erase its memories; you must delete the memory itself. You can find more details in our Help Center(opens in a new window).
We may use content that you provide to ChatGPT, including memories, to improve our models for everyone. If you’d like, you can turn this off through your Data Controls. As always, we won't train on content from ChatGPT Team and Enterprise customers. Learn more about how we use content to train our models and your choices in our Help Center(opens in a new window).
Use temporary chat for conversations without memory
If you’d like to have a conversation without using memory, use temporary chat. Temporary chats won't appear in history, won't use memory, and won't be used to train our models. Learn more about temporary chats in our Help Center(opens in a new window).
Custom instructions also allow ChatGPT to be more helpful
Custom Instructions continue to allow you to provide ChatGPT with direct guidance on what you’d like it to know about you and how you’d like it to respond. For explicit information or instructions, you can add it to your Custom Instructions. For information shared via conversations, ChatGPT can remember relevant details for you.
Evolving our privacy and safety standards
Memory brings additional privacy and safety considerations, such as what type of information should be remembered and how it’s used. We’re taking steps to assess and mitigate biases, and steer ChatGPT away from proactively remembering sensitive information, like your health details - unless you explicitly ask it to.
Team and Enterprise customers can work more efficiently
For Enterprise and Team users, memory can be useful when using ChatGPT for work. It can learn your style and preferences, and build upon past interactions. This saves you time and leads to more relevant and insightful responses. For example:
ChatGPT can remember your tone, voice, and format preferences, and automatically apply them to blog post drafts without needing repetition.
When coding, you tell ChatGPT your programming language and frameworks. It can remember these preferences for subsequent tasks, streamlining the process.
For monthly business reviews, you securely upload your data to ChatGPT and it creates your preferred charts with three takeaways each.
As with any ChatGPT feature, you’re in control of your organization’s data. Memories and any other information on your workspace are excluded from training our models. Users have control on how and when their memories are used in chats. In addition, Enterprise account owners can turn memory off for their organization at any time.
Enterprise and Team users will have access to memory as part of our wider rollout.
GPTs will also have memory
GPTs will have their own distinct memory. Builders will have the option to enable memory for their GPTs. Like your chats, memories are not shared with builders. To interact with a memory-enabled GPT, you will also need to have memory on. For example:
The Books GPT(opens in a new window) helps you find your next read. With memory enabled, it remembers your preferences, such as favorite genres or top books, and tailors recommendations accordingly, without needing repeated inputs.
Each GPT has its own memory, so you might need to repeat details you’ve previously shared with ChatGPT. For example:
If you're using the Artful Greeting Card GPT(opens in a new window) to create a birthday card for your daughter, it won’t know her age or that she loves jellyfish. You’ll need to tell it the relevant details.
Memory for GPTs will be available when we roll it out more broadly.