--- title: "Does Claude Have Memory? Settings, Controls, Limits" description: "Yes, Claude does have memory. The exact settings to view, edit, pause, reset, or turn off Claude memory, plus incognito chats and Team admin controls." canonical: https://past.dev/blog/does-claude-have-memory date: 2026-09-03 category: Research authors: The past.dev team --- # Does Claude Have Memory? Settings, Controls, Limits Yes. Claude does have memory: it saves individual topic entries while you chat and reads them back in later conversations ([Anthropic help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). The mechanics (what gets stored, how projects scope it, what never lands in memory) are covered in [Claude Memory: How It Works and What It Stores](/blog/claude-memory). This page is the control panel: where each setting lives as of September 2026, and what each button does. ## The direct answer Memory is on by default for Free, Pro, and Max accounts across web, desktop, and mobile, and off by default for Team and Enterprise organizations until an owner enables it ([Anthropic](https://claude.com/blog/claudes-memory-works-everywhere-and-you-decide-whats-in-it), [help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). Everything remembered is visible as a list of entries you can read, edit, or delete. Some searchers mean Claude Code, the terminal product; that is a separate system with separate controls, covered in [Claude Code memory](/blog/claude-code-memory). ## Claude memory settings: view and edit entries - Open Settings > Memory. Accounts on the older interface find the same controls under Settings > Capabilities ([import and export article](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12123587-import-and-export-your-memory-from-claude)). - Entries are listed under Topics. Select one to read it, use the edit icon to change it, or select Delete to remove it ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). - You can also manage memory conversationally: tell Claude in plain language to remember, change, or forget something ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). - Health, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, politics, and gender identity stay out of memory unless you switch on "Include sensitive topics in memory" ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). - To copy your memory out, choose "View and edit your memory" and save the text. To bring another assistant's export in, select "Start import", paste it, then click "Add to memory". Anthropic labels imports experimental ([import and export article](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12123587-import-and-export-your-memory-from-claude)). ## How to turn off Claude memory: pause it Pause memory keeps existing entries while Claude stops reading them and stops writing new ones ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). That makes pausing the reversible option, and reset (below) the permanent one. Chat search has a switch of its own: toggle "Search and reference chats" off in Settings > Memory ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). ## How to delete Claude memory: one entry or a full reset - One entry: open it under Topics and select Delete ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). Asking Claude to forget the memory in chat works too. - Everything: choose Reset memory. The warning is blunt: once you select the option and click "Reset memory", it "cannot be undone" ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). The reset also deletes project memories ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). - No recovery path after a reset appears anywhere in the documentation, so export first if you might want the content back. Anyone shipping deletion controls in their own product faces the same design questions, collected in [GDPR memory deletion](/guides/gdpr-memory-deletion). ## Incognito chats: no history, no memory Click the ghost icon in the upper right corner to start one ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). Incognito chats are available on every plan, do not appear in your conversation history or save to memory, and are excluded from chat search ([Anthropic](https://claude.com/blog/memory), [help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). ## Per-plan and admin notes - Free, Pro, and Max get memory on by default, and one memory serves claude.ai on the web, the desktop app, mobile, and Claude Cowork ([Anthropic](https://claude.com/blog/claudes-memory-works-everywhere-and-you-decide-whats-in-it)). - Chat search requires a paid plan: Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). - On Team and Enterprise, memory exists only after an owner enables it under Capabilities in organization settings, and admins can disable it for the organization at any time ([help center](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context)). ## For builders: memory your own product controls Claude's memory personalizes Claude; the assistant you are building cannot call it. For that layer, past.dev is a memory API: POST /api/v1/ingest accepts raw text with its original timestamp (fields: content, timestamp), entity resolution links references to the same person across sources, and POST /api/v1/recall (field: query) returns ranked, dated evidence with sources and one of four status values (Supported, Conflicted, NoKnownSupport, UnknownBecauseDegraded). Facts carry event time, validity windows, and supersession links, and deployment is managed or self-hosted in your own Postgres. Start with the [Memory API quickstart](/docs/memory-api/quickstart) and the [benchmarks](/benchmarks).