In ChatGPT, open Settings > Personalization > Memory to review the memory controls and any summary or saved memories available to your account. You can also ask in a chat, “What do you remember about me?” The exact controls vary by plan, region, platform, and workspace.
Review what ChatGPT may remember
- Open ChatGPT and select Settings.
- Select Personalization, then Memory.
- Review the controls shown for your account. Depending on availability, these may include Memory, Reference saved memories, Reference chat history, a Memory summary, Manage, or Saved memories.
- If a summary or saved-memory list is available, inspect it for details you want to correct or remove.
- For a conversational check, start a chat and ask, “What do you remember about me?”
OpenAI describes its memory summary as “a high-level view of information that ChatGPT may use to personalize responses.” It is not a complete record: it may omit less relevant details or information derived from sources that are not individually displayed. A short or empty summary therefore does not prove that no past-chat context or other information is informing responses. OpenAI: Memory in ChatGPT and OpenAI: Memory FAQ
When personal context affects a response, a Sources control may show material that contributed, such as a chat, saved memory, custom instruction, file, or connected email. It may not show every factor. Use the summary, chat question, and any available source details as complementary checks rather than assuming one view is exhaustive.
Understand the different memory controls
| Control or action | What it affects | Does it delete the original source? |
|---|---|---|
| Reference saved memories | Information kept as saved memories for personalization; these are stored separately from chats. | No. Remove the saved memory and separately delete relevant chats or other sources if you want them removed. |
| Reference chat history | Relevant information ChatGPT may draw from past conversations; what is useful can change over time. | No. Turning it off schedules deletion of information remembered from past chats within 30 days, but the chats remain unless you delete them separately. |
| “Don’t mention this again” or a request not to use a detail | How ChatGPT personalizes future responses about that detail. | No. The chat, file, email, or other underlying source may remain. |
| Temporary Chat | A conversation that should not use existing memories or create new ones for personalization. | No. It is a conversation mode, not a cleanup operation for existing sources. |
| Data Controls model-improvement setting | Whether content is used to improve models on personal accounts. | No. It is separate from reviewing or deleting memory. |
Control names and availability can differ across accounts. OpenAI’s current Memory article says that turning off Reference saved memories also turns off Reference chat history in the experience it describes. In a managed workspace, an owner or administrator may determine whether supported memory settings are available; ask the workspace administrator if a control is missing.
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Correct or remove information
Correct a detail
Tell ChatGPT that a remembered detail is wrong or outdated. If editing is available, update it in the memory summary or saved-memory controls. This addresses personalization, but check the underlying source too if the inaccurate information appears in a chat, file, connected app, or other material.
Stop future references
When offered, choose “Don’t mention this again”, or tell ChatGPT not to use a particular detail in future responses. This changes how it personalizes responses; it does not necessarily remove the information from its source.
Delete a saved memory and its sources
Remove the item from the memory summary or saved-memory controls. Deleting only the chat where the information first appeared may not remove a saved memory, because saved memories and chat history are separate. For broader removal, check other places the information may exist, including regular and archived chats, Library files, connected apps, and saved memories, as applicable. Updates and deletions may take time to propagate.
OpenAI says deleted saved-memory logs may be retained for up to 30 days for safety and debugging. This is a product-policy window, not a guarantee that every copy of all data is deleted on that schedule. OpenAI: Memory in ChatGPT
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Turn off memory-related features
Turning off Memory is not the same as deleting past chats. If you turn off Reference chat history, OpenAI says information remembered from past chats is scheduled for deletion within 30 days; the original chats remain unless you delete them separately. Turning off a control changes future use, but is not by itself a request to clear every source.
Use Temporary Chat for a conversation
Start a Temporary Chat when you want a conversation that does not use existing memories or create new ones for personalization. If a chat is saved as a regular chat, it follows the account’s ordinary personalization settings. See OpenAI: Temporary Chat in ChatGPT.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Memory is separate from model-improvement settings
If your concern is whether content is used to improve models on a personal account, review the model-improvement setting under Settings > Data Controls. That setting is distinct from memory: changing it does not show, correct, or delete saved memories or past chats.
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