--- title: "Does Gemini Have Memory? Settings and Controls" description: "Yes, Gemini does have memory. Where the Memory toggle lives, how deletion works through Gemini Apps Activity, Temporary Chats, and availability rules." canonical: https://past.dev/blog/does-gemini-have-memory date: 2026-09-03 category: Research authors: The past.dev team --- # Does Gemini Have Memory? Settings and Controls Yes. Gemini does have memory: a setting named Memory lets it learn from your past chats to personalize responses ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). It is one of three systems grouped under Personal Intelligence, and the mechanics of all three are covered in [How Gemini Memory and Personalization Work](/blog/gemini-memory). This page is the controls: the exact paths, toggle names, and deletion procedures as the documentation states them as of September 2026. ## The direct answer, and the current names Google renames these features often, so three names matter today: - **Memory** is the toggle that lets Gemini learn from your past chats, under Personal Intelligence in settings ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). - **Keep Activity** governs whether your chats are saved to your Google Account at all, and Memory requires it to be on ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469), [Gemini Apps Privacy Hub](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13594961)). - **Instructions for Gemini** holds standing rules applied to every chat; it launched as saved info and is still labeled "Saved Info" in some locales ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598625), [Privacy Hub](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13594961)). There is no itemized list of learned facts to browse; what Gemini picks up from chats is managed through the chats themselves ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). ## Gemini memory settings: where to look - Web app: Menu > Settings & help > Personal Intelligence. Mobile app: Menu > your profile picture or initial > Personal Intelligence ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). - The Memory toggle sits there, and Instructions for Gemini has its own page under the same heading: tap "Add +" then "Submit" to create an instruction, or "More" then "Edit" or "Delete" on an existing one ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598625)). - The documented way to check what influenced a response is asking Gemini in the chat whether it used any info from past chats ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). - The chats themselves are reviewed and deleted in Gemini Apps Activity ([Privacy Hub](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13594961)). ## Deleting a remembered fact means deleting chats To remove something Gemini knows from past chats, Google's procedure is deleting every chat that contains it, from Gemini Apps Activity or Recent chats ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). A deleted chat stops personalizing responses after a short delay ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). For facts picked up through connected Google apps, two steps are documented: delete the chats containing the info and disconnect the app so Gemini does not use it again ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598406)). With Memory on, you can also correct Gemini directly in the chat ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). Retention has documented edges: activity auto-deletes after 18 months by default, adjustable to 3 or 36 months or to no auto-delete, while chats reviewed by human reviewers are kept up to three years and are unaffected by activity deletion ([Privacy Hub](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13594961)). Rules like these are compared across assistants in [AI data retention](/guides/ai-data-retention). ## Turn off Gemini memory and its neighbors - Memory: switch the toggle off under Personal Intelligence ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). - Instructions for Gemini: the switch at the top of its page, labeled "Instructions for Gemini on" or "off", disables the whole set without deleting it ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598625)). - Keep Activity: turning it off stops chats from saving and ends Memory, which requires the setting ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). - Connected apps: a per-chat toggle under Tools turns Personal Intelligence off for that chat; the choice sticks with that chat, and new chats default to on ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598406)). ## Temporary Chats Next to New chat, click Temporary chat ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13275745)). Inside one, Gemini gives no personalized responses, saves nothing for future personalization, and cannot use Gems or connected apps; when you leave, the chat is gone from your recent chats ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13275745)). Google keeps temporary chats up to 72 hours and does not use them to train its AI models ([Privacy Hub](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13594961)). ## Availability notes - Personal Google Accounts only: work, school, and supervised accounts get none of the personalization features ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598623)). - Memory requires being 18 or over and having Keep Activity on ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). - Memory does not operate inside Gems or Live chats ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598469)). - Connected apps personalization is unavailable in the EEA, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the UK as of September 2026 ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598406)). - Google states the personalization features "are not available to everyone at this time" ([Google help](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16598623)). ## For builders: memory outside Gemini past.dev is a memory API for assistants you build. It runs as a managed service or, on an Enterprise agreement, in your own cloud. `POST /api/v1/ingest` accepts timestamped source text, stable source metadata, an audience slug, and an author identity. Once ingestion completes, `POST /api/v1/recall` requires a query and identity and returns ranked documents with dates and source excerpts. Start with the [Memory API quickstart](/docs/memory-api/quickstart) and the [benchmarks](/benchmarks).