Does Grok remember your past conversations?

Yes, if you're signed in and memory is on. xAI announced in April 2025 that "Grok now remembers your conversations," so recommendations and advice can draw on what you've told it before. Here's what that means, how to see or remove what Grok remembers, how to keep a chat out of it, and where a written context file still helps, based on xAI's own pages.

xAI hasn't published a dedicated help page for Grok memory, and labels differ between grok.com, the Grok apps and Grok inside X. The steps below come from xAI's Consumer FAQ and the official @grok launch posts. Treat setting names as signposts.

What Grok memory does

• It works across chats. Grok can use details from earlier conversations to personalize later answers, especially recommendations and advice.
• It's visible. xAI's launch post says "you can see exactly what Grok knows and choose what to forget."
• It needs an account. xAI's FAQ says people who use Grok without logging in "will not have their data retained for their use after the session." No sign-in, no memory.

Turn memory off

Memory is controlled from Settings, Data Controls in the Grok app and on grok.com. Look there for the memory or personalization switch and turn it off. If you don't see a memory switch at all, the feature may not be available for your account or region yet.

Two nearby switches do different jobs, so don't mix them up:

• Personalize Grok using X decides whether your X data and activity personalize Grok. In the mobile app it's in Settings, Data Controls; on grok.com, Settings, Data.
• Model training: the FAQ says you can choose that your data isn't used for training, which applies to new conversations from then on. That's separate from memory.

Forget one memory

When a reply draws on something Grok remembers, xAI says you can tap the book icon beneath that message to forget it. You can also delete the conversation it came from (below).

Keep one chat out of it: Private Chat

Start a Private Chat with the ghost icon in the top right corner. According to xAI's FAQ, the conversation won't be viewable in your history, isn't used for model training, and is deleted from xAI's systems within 30 days.

See or delete your chat history

• Find old chats: on iOS, tap your profile picture at the top left to open your conversation history. On grok.com, click the history icon (three lines and a magnifying glass) in the top right.
• Delete one chat: in the mobile app, tap and hold the conversation name and choose Delete Conversation. On grok.com, use the trash button next to it on the history page.
• Delete everything: in the mobile app, Settings, Data Controls, Delete All Conversations. On grok.com, go to Settings and use the delete button there.
• How long it takes: xAI says deleted data takes up to 30 days to clear from its systems.

Using Grok inside the X app? xAI's FAQ points you to X's own settings and help pages for deleting that data.

Memory vs custom instructions

Memory is picked up from your chats, so you don't decide exactly what Grok keeps or how it reads it. Custom instructions are words you write yourself, and they apply until you change them. For things Grok should always know, like your role and how you like answers, write them as custom instructions. See the Grok setup guide for where to look.

The fix that works everywhere

A personal context file is a short document about you that you write once and control. Put the short version in Grok's custom instructions and reuse the same file in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It keeps working even with memory off or in a Private Chat. 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: xAI Consumer FAQs; official @grok launch posts, "Grok now remembers your conversations" and "Memories are transparent" (April 2025).