Does deleting a chat delete ChatGPT's memory of it?

Not necessarily. OpenAI says a saved memory is stored separately from the chat it came from, so you need to delete the memory itself as well as the chat.

Does turning off memory delete my existing memories?

No. Switching memory off stops ChatGPT from using and creating memories, but anything already saved stays until you delete it. The Delete and turn off memory option does both at once.

How long does OpenAI keep deleted memories?

OpenAI's Memory FAQ says it may keep logs of deleted saved memories for up to 30 days for safety and debugging. If you turn off Reference chat history, information remembered from past chats is scheduled for deletion within 30 days.

Can I use ChatGPT without it remembering anything?

Yes. A Temporary Chat doesn't create or update memories and stays out of your chat history. Choose the unpersonalized option before your first message if you also don't want it to use existing memories.

How to Delete ChatGPT Memory (One Item or Everything)

ChatGPT can remember details about you between conversations, such as your job, your preferences, or a project you mentioned weeks ago. If something in there is wrong, outdated, or too personal, you can delete ChatGPT memory one item at a time or wipe all of it. The catch is that memory, chat history, and files are stored separately, so removing one doesn’t remove the others.

Quick answer: Go to Settings › Personalization › Memory. Remove a single detail from your memory summary or saved memories list. To clear everything, open the ••• menu on the memory summary and choose Delete and turn off memory. Then delete any chats that contain the same information.

Two kinds of ChatGPT memory

Before you delete anything, it helps to know what ChatGPT actually remembers. OpenAI’s Help Center describes two sources:

Saved memories are specific details ChatGPT has stored, either because you asked it to remember something or because it decided a detail was useful.
Chat history is what ChatGPT can pick up from your past conversations when Reference chat history is turned on.

OpenAI has also been changing how memory looks. Its release notes describe a memory upgrade that started rolling out on June 4, 2026, beginning with Plus and Pro users in the US, that adds a memory summary: a written overview of what ChatGPT may use about you. OpenAI said the upgrade would reach more countries and Free and Go users later.

That means your screen may show the newer memory summary, the older list of saved memories, or both. The steps below cover each case.

How to delete one ChatGPT memory

If you see a memory summary

Click your profile icon and open Settings.
Select Personalization.
Under Memory, open your memory summary.
Find the detail you want gone and use the summary’s update box to ask ChatGPT to remove or correct it. Some guides note you can also highlight text in the summary to fix it.
Check the summary again to confirm the change.

The summary is rewritten as prose rather than shown as a list, so there may not be a separate delete button for each fact. Always reread it after a change.

If you see a list of saved memories

Open Settings › Personalization.
Select Manage memories (on newer accounts this may appear as a link to your saved memories in the Memory section).
Click the trash icon next to the memory you want to remove.

You can also ask ChatGPT in a chat to forget a specific detail. Afterward, open the memory settings and make sure the item is actually gone.

“Don’t mention this again” is not deletion

Where it’s available, this option only tells ChatGPT to stop bringing a topic up. According to guides that summarize OpenAI’s help pages, the original chat, file, or other source stays where it is.

How to delete all ChatGPT memory at once

On the newer memory summary:

Go to Settings › Personalization › Memory and open the memory summary.
Click the ••• (more options) menu next to the title.
Choose Delete and turn off memory.

This removes the memories shown on the summary and switches memory off. It does not delete your past chats, archived chats, uploaded files, or custom instructions. If you later turn memory back on, ChatGPT can start building new memories from chats still in your history.

If your account only shows the older saved memories list, look for the option to clear all memories in the same Manage memories panel.

Some sources say newer memory controls reached the web before the mobile app. If you can’t find an option on your phone, try chatgpt.com in a browser.

Turn off memory without deleting it

Turning memory off and deleting memory are different actions:

Switch off memory in Settings › Personalization. ChatGPT stops using and creating memories, but existing ones stay saved.
Turn off Reference chat history (where shown) to stop ChatGPT from drawing on past conversations. OpenAI says information remembered from past chats is then scheduled for deletion from its systems within 30 days. Your chats themselves stay in your sidebar.
Turn off Reference saved memories (where shown). OpenAI’s FAQ says this also turns off Reference chat history, but it doesn’t delete your saved memories.

Pick the off switch if you just want a break. Use delete if you want the information gone.

Why deleting a chat doesn’t erase the memory

This is the step most people miss. OpenAI’s Memory FAQ explains that deleting a chat doesn’t necessarily delete a saved memory that was created from it, and deleting a memory doesn’t erase what you typed in past chats.

To fully remove a piece of information, work through every place it might live:

Delete the memory from the memory summary or saved memories list.
Delete the chat where you first shared it, including any archived copy.
Remove files you uploaded that contain it.
Check custom instructions in Settings › Personalization for the same detail.
Disconnect connected apps that hold the information, if you use any.

If you want a copy of your conversations before you clean up, see our guide on how to export ChatGPT chat history. Download and check the export before you delete anything.

How long OpenAI keeps deleted memories

Removing a memory from your settings doesn’t mean every trace disappears from OpenAI’s systems that day. According to the Memory FAQ, OpenAI may retain logs of deleted saved memories for up to 30 days for safety and debugging purposes.

Memory is also separate from model training. If you don’t want your conversations used to improve OpenAI’s models, that setting lives under Settings › Data controls › Improve the model for everyone.

Use Temporary Chat to avoid new memories

If you want to ask something without it ending up in memory, start a Temporary Chat. OpenAI says temporary chats don’t create or update memories and stay out of your chat history, though a copy may be kept for up to 30 days for safety.

Guides that describe the current version say you choose between a personalized temporary chat, which can use existing memories, and an unpersonalized one, which uses none, before you send the first message. You can’t switch after that.

If a memory keeps coming back

It reappears after deletion: the detail is probably still in a past chat and Reference chat history is on. Delete that chat or turn the setting off.
You can’t find the Memory section: memory controls vary by plan, region, platform, and workspace, and your app may not have the newer layout yet. If you use a work or school workspace, ask its owner. Try chatgpt.com on the web.
Labels don’t match these steps: OpenAI has changed memory names and menus several times. Look under Settings › Personalization first, since that’s where every version keeps memory.

One last tip: after a cleanup, ask ChatGPT “What do you remember about me?” in a new chat. It’s a quick way to see whether anything slipped through.