How to move your ChatGPT memory to Claude

If you're switching from ChatGPT (or Gemini, or another AI) to Claude, you don't have to start from a blank slate. Claude has a built-in memory import: you ask your old AI to list what it knows about you, then paste that list into Claude. Here's how it works, what Claude keeps, and what it won't, based on Anthropic's own help pages.

Anthropic calls memory import experimental and still in development. Menu names in Claude change often, so follow what you see in your own account and treat menu names as signposts.

Who can use it

Plans: memory import is available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise.
Where: on the web and in the Claude Desktop app.
Good to know first: the import adds to Claude's memory, so it helps to know how that works. See Does Claude remember past conversations?

Step 1: Ask your old AI for everything it remembers

Open a new chat in ChatGPT (or whichever AI you're leaving) and paste the export prompt Anthropic recommends. Here it is, word for word from Anthropic's help page:

I'm moving to another service and need to export my data. List every memory you have stored about me, as well as any context you've learned about me from past conversations. Output everything in a single code block so I can easily copy it. Format each entry as: [date saved, if available] - memory content. Make sure to cover all of the following — preserve my words verbatim where possible: Instructions I've given you about how to respond (tone, format, style, 'always do X', 'never do Y'). Personal details: name, location, job, family, interests. Projects, goals, and recurring topics. Tools, languages, and frameworks I use. Preferences and corrections I've made to your behavior. Any other stored context not covered above. Do not summarize, group, or omit any entries. After the code block, confirm whether that is the complete set or if any remain.

Before you import, read the answer and delete anything you don't want Claude to have. Anthropic suggests editing the prompt to leave out sensitive information, and asking for a Markdown file instead if your old AI can create files, so you keep a copy for yourself.

Tired of re-checking these settings? The free one-page Mini Context Card gets your context into any AI in about 10 minutes. Get the free card

Step 2: Open the import in Claude

In Claude, go to Settings > Your Claude and select Start import. In the older settings layout it's under Settings > Memory (or Settings > Capabilities if your account still has the older memory setup, where an "Import memory to Claude" card on the home screen also works). The import screen shows the same prompt plus a box to paste into.

Step 3: Paste and add to memory

Paste the list from your old AI into the box and click Add to memory. Claude pulls out the key details and saves them as individual memory entries you can review. When it's done, click See what Claude learned about you, which starts a chat asking "I updated my memory. What did you learn about me?" so you can check the result. Anthropic says the update shows up shortly after the import (within 24 hours on the older memory setup).

What Claude may not keep

Personal details unrelated to work. Anthropic says Claude's memory focuses on work-related topics, so it may not hold on to things like hobbies or family details from your import.
Some entries, sometimes. Because the feature is experimental, Anthropic says Claude may not always take in every imported memory.
Your old chats themselves. The import moves a list of facts and preferences, not your conversation history.

To add something that didn't stick, go to Settings > Your Claude, select Manage next to Your memory, and use the "Tell Claude what to change or remove" box, or just tell Claude in a chat.

Exporting your Claude memory

It works the other way too. To see your memory exactly as Claude sees it, go to Settings > Your Claude and select Manage next to Your memory. Or ask Claude in a chat: "Write out your memories of me verbatim, exactly as they appear in your memory." Anthropic suggests saving that text in a file on your computer as a backup, or to take to another AI.

Don't rely on memory alone

Memory is something the AI writes and edits on its own, and it can leave out what matters to you. The details you never want to repeat (your role, your projects, how you like answers) are safer in Instructions for Claude, which apply to every chat. If you had ChatGPT Custom Instructions, copy that text over by hand rather than counting on the import to catch it.

Better still, keep those details in a personal context file: a short document about you that you write once and own. It works in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok, so the next time you switch you just paste it in. In any new chat, you can paste this line with your file underneath:

Here is my personal context file. Read it and use it for everything in this chat. You don't need to summarize it back to me. Just reply "Got it" and wait for my first request.

[paste your context file here]

Sources: Anthropic Help Center, Import and export your memory from Claude and Use Claude's chat search and memory to build on previous context; Anthropic, Switch to Claude without starting over.

Related guides

More guides on how AI assistants remember you:

Start free in 10 minutes. Grab the free Mini Context Card: a one-page fill-in sheet to write your first context file.
Get the free card Full Context Kit ($19 suggested) The full kit includes a fill-in template, a worked example, a step-by-step setup guide for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok, plus interview and monthly-refresh prompts.