If you use Claude regularly, you may get tired of explaining the same things in every new conversation. Your preferred writing style, ongoing projects, technical preferences, or the way you like answers formatted may need to be repeated whenever you start a fresh chat.
That is where Claude memory can help. Claude can remember useful context from your conversations and use that information in future chats, making it more useful as a long-term AI assistant rather than treating every conversation as completely separate.
The good news is that Claude’s current memory system is available on Free, Pro, and Max plans, while Team and Enterprise organizations may have memory controlled by an organization owner. On supported accounts, memory can be managed directly from Claude’s settings.
What Is Claude’s Memory Feature?
One of the amazing features of Claude is its memory of what you’ve said in a previous chat, which can be applied to future ones without you repeating the same information. Rather than saving all of the chat history, Claude pulls out key information like your projects, preferences, role, and other important context to tailor the next chat to your needs.
With memory enabled, Claude can automatically save useful information as you chat, while you can also tell it to “remember this” when you want a specific detail saved. Memory can work across ongoing projects, with separate project-level memory helping keep information focused on the right project. It also works alongside Claude’s ability to search and reference previous conversations.
Claude’s memory is designed to be transparent and controllable. You can access Settings > Memory to see what Claude remembers, review the stored information topic by topic, and edit or delete details that are incorrect or outdated. This makes it easier to keep Claude’s remembered information accurate and relevant to your future conversations.
Step-by-step guide to Turning ON Claude Memory
Follow these instructions based on your device and plan type.
Free and Pro Users (Web or Desktop)
You can follow these simple steps to turn on Claude’s memory:
| STEPS | WEB | MOBILE |
| Step 1: Open Claude and access Settings | Click your profile icon in the lower left or upper right corner, then select Settings | Click profile icon, then tap Settings. |
| Step 2: Navigate to Memory settings | In the Settings menu, look for Memory (on some interfaces, it may appear under Capabilities first, then Memory) | Tap or click to open the Memory settings page |
| Step 3: Turn on memory | Look for the toggle labeled Generate memory from chats support.Switch it ON if it’s currently off | You should see a confirmation that memory is now active |
| Step 4: Review and manage what Claude remembers | Click View and edit memory or look for the Topics section.Here you can see the things Claude has stored, organized, or categorized. | You can edit any info using the pencil icon or delete items you do not want to store. |
For Team and Enterprise Users
If you’re on a Team or Enterprise plan, memory is off by default and controlled by your organization’s administrator.
| STEPS | For Team and Enterprise Users |
| Step 1: Check with your admin | Contact your workspace owner or administrator to ask if memory has been enabled for your organization.Admins can turn on memory for the entire organization through their admin settings |
| Step 2: Once enabled by an admin, verify your personal settings | Follow Steps 1 to 4 mentioned above to make sure the memory is activeIf the Memory option does not show in Settings, your admin has not enabled it yet |
For the app (Apple and Android)
| STEPS | For The APP |
| Step 1: Update your app | Go to the App or Google Play StoreSearch for Claude by AnthropicTap Update if an update is available |
| Step 2: Follow the same steps as for the web | Open the app, click your profile icon, and go to Settings and then MemoryTurn on Generate memory from chats |
How to Verify Claude Memory Is Working or Not
After enabling Claude’s memory, use these quick checks to confirm it’s functioning correctly:
Run a two step recall test:
- In one conversation, give Claude some information like: “I’m working on a marketing campaign for a coffee shop called Bean and Brew.”
- Start a completely new chat and ask: “What project am I working on?” without repeating any details.
- If Claude accurately recalls the Bean and Brew coffee shop marketing campaign, memory is active and working.
Check stored topics directly:
- Go to Settings > Memory > Topics to see exactly what Claude has saved.
- This section shows individual memory entries organized by category—your role, preferences, ongoing projects, and more.
If memory isn’t working:
- When the information is not found in Topics, or Claude can’t remember it in a new chat, make sure to check that Generate memory from chats is enabled in Settings.
- On mobile, ensure you’re running the latest version of the Claude app.
- Team and Enterprise users: memory may need to be enabled by your workspace administrator before it functions.
How to Delete Saved Data From Claude’s Memory
If you no longer want Claude to remember certain information, you can manage or remove it from Settings > Memory. Open the Memory section and review the saved topics, then select the information you want to change or delete. You can also tell Claude directly to forget or remove specific information.
To delete all your saved data, select Reset memory, which erases all saved data. If you just want Claude to temporarily stop saving your data, you can choose the temporary stop memory option. Claude provides different options for controlling your saved memory, and each one works differently:
- Pause Memory: Temporarily stops Claude from using or creating new memories. Your existing saved memories remain available and are not deleted.
- Delete Specific Memories: Lets you remove individual saved details that are incorrect, outdated, or no longer useful while keeping your other memories.
- Reset Memory: Permanently deletes all of your saved memories, including project memories. This action cannot be undone.
Claude Memory Isn’t Behaving as Expected
Claude’s memory should help it learn how to be useful over time, but if it gets something confused or it gives the wrong answer, it might feel like it’s not working. The checks below can help you pinpoint the problem without deleting information you may want to keep.
You can’t find the memory toggle:
Open Settings > Memory. Depending on your version of Claude, Memory may appear inside the Capabilities section. If the option is still missing, update the Claude mobile or desktop app and reopen Settings.
Claude does not remember an important detail:
Memory is not a complete copy of every chat; Claude saves useful context gradually. For information you want retained, state it clearly—for example: “Please remember that I prefer concise responses with bullet points.” You can then check Settings > Memory > Topics to see whether it was saved.
You paused memory and want to continue using it:
Choose Pause memory only when you want a temporary privacy break. Claude keeps existing memories but does not use them or create new ones while paused; chats from the paused period are not added later when you turn memory back on.
You reset memory by mistake:
A reset permanently removes all saved memories, including project memory, and cannot be undone. If you only need Claude to stop using memory temporarily, pause it instead of resetting it.
Cowork does not use your saved context:
Shared memory works in cloud-based Cowork sessions, where Claude can use context from chat and carry relevant task information back to chat. Local Cowork sessions do not use that shared cloud memory.
Conclusion – How To Turn On Memory in Claude
Memories are a great feature for Claude to improve AI interactions by avoiding the need to share the same context repeatedly. Enabling memories in Claude is a simple process that can greatly enhance its ability to provide insightful and relevant responses in AI interactions. Most of the users on Free or Pro plans can enable memory under Settings > Memory by switching Generate memory from chats to On.
If the feature is not available, team and enterprise users should check with their administrator to coordinate. Once it’s activated, you can view, edit, and delete everything Claude remembers from the Topics section, and you’ll have total control over the information that you store. In just a few minutes, you can test the memory, adjust sensitive topic preferences as per your comfort level, and enjoy more efficient contextual conversations in the future.
FAQs
1. Is memory on by default in Claude?
Yes, for Free, Pro, and Max plans across web, desktop, and mobile. Team and Enterprise plans have it off by default until an owner enables it.
2. Does the memory system work the same on mobile and desktop?
Yes, as long as you’re running an updated version of the Claude app — memory is available across web, desktop, and mobile.
3. Will Claude remember things from Claude Cowork too?
Yes, if Cowork is running in the cloud. Locally run Cowork sessions on your own computer don’t currently use memory.