How to Turn On (and Off) ChatGPT’s Newly Available Memory Feature

ChatGPT has undergone significant enhancements, now offering increased utility and personalization by retaining key information about you.

OpenAI's New Memory Feature: Enhancing ChatGPT Plus

OpenAI has rolled out its highly anticipated memory feature, previously teased in February, to all ChatGPT Plus users (excluding those in Europe or Korea).

This new capability allows ChatGPT to remember and utilize personalized information shared during conversations, enabling the AI chatbot to continually improve and become more useful over time. Notably, this feature is currently unique in the chatbot landscape, positioning ChatGPT ahead of competitors like Gemini and Microsoft Copilot.

Users have the ability to selectively forget specific interactions, maintaining control over how the memory feature operates. Whether you're eager to leverage this enhancement, concerned about privacy implications, or somewhere in between, this guide offers insights on utilizing ChatGPT's new memory tool, managing selective memory, or opting out altogether.

What Is ChatGPT’s Memory Feature?

OpenAI's ChatGPT Memory Feature: How It Enhances Conversations

Back in February, OpenAI introduced a groundbreaking feature that allows ChatGPT to remember details from conversations to enhance future interactions. But how does this innovative capability function?

According to OpenAI's blog post, as you engage with ChatGPT, you can prompt it to remember specific details or allow it to autonomously capture information. Over time, this leads to subtle enhancements in the chatbot's responses, making them more tailored to your preferences.

For instance, if you've informed ChatGPT that you prefer meeting notes with headlines and bullet points, all future meeting recaps will adhere to this format. Similarly, if you mention that your toddler loves jellyfish, ChatGPT will retain this detail and incorporate it when creating a card for their birthday.

OpenAI ensures transparency and user control by notifying when memories are updated. Users have the autonomy to manage what ChatGPT remembers, including the ability to "forget" certain details from conversations. Simply hover over "Memory updated" and access the controls under "Manage memories" to customize your experience with ChatGPT's memory feature.

How Can I Use ChatGPT’s New Memory Feature?

Exploring ChatGPT's Memory Feature: How to Activate and Manage It

Now that OpenAI has expanded this capability to all ChatGPT Plus users outside of Korea and Europe, it's an ideal opportunity to try it out for yourself. If you're not yet a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, you'll need to subscribe to the premium service first.

Activating the memory feature is straightforward. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Open ChatGPT

2. Go to "Settings"

3. Select "Personalization"

4. Toggle the "Memory" option by moving the slider to the left

Voilà! ChatGPT's memory feature will now be activated. Use ChatGPT as usual and experience the personalized results firsthand. If there are specific details you'd like ChatGPT to forget from your conversations, simply tell ChatGPT, "I would like you to forget this."

You can also delete certain interactions by following these steps:

1. Open ChatGPT

2. Go to "Settings"

3. Select "Personalization"

4. Choose "Manage Memory"

5. Select which interactions you'd like ChatGPT to forget

Enjoy exploring ChatGPT's memory feature and tailor your conversations to your preferences with ease.

ChatGPT Memory Sounds Creepy, Can I Opt Out?

The Introduction of ChatGPT's Memory Feature: Advancements and Privacy Concerns

ChatGPT's new memory feature marks a significant technological breakthrough, granting OpenAI's chatbot a competitive edge over rivals like Gemini and Claude. However, this innovation may not be universally embraced, especially by users already skeptical of the tool's data collection practices.

It's widely known that OpenAI trains ChatGPT by scraping data from diverse internet sources—a controversial approach that has led to multiple lawsuits alleging unauthorized data acquisition from millions of internet users.

Despite assurances from OpenAI that memorized user input will not be used as training data, the research lab's history raises concerns among privacy advocates and regular users alike. If ChatGPT's enhanced conversational capabilities raise privacy concerns for you, learn how to disable the memory feature here.