The ChatGPT privacy checklist

From our reel "ChatGPT may be quietly building a profile on you". Two prompts to see what ChatGPT remembers about you, then how to delete it and switch off training, plus six more settings worth checking. Steps checked against OpenAI's help pages on 2026-10-25 ("Memory in ChatGPT" and "Data controls in ChatGPT"). Menu names can differ a little by plan, app and region; if you don't see a setting, it may not be on your account yet.

Part 1: see what it remembers

Open a new chat and paste:

List every single thing you've stored about me as one complete list. Don't summarize anything.

Then, in the same chat, paste:

Now tell me everything you figured out about me that I never told you, and what tipped you off.

The first shows what it has saved. The second shows what it has guessed from your chats. Some answers may be wrong guesses; that's normal, and you can delete or correct them below.

Part 2: delete it

Saved memories

1. Click your profile in the bottom left (on the phone app: open the sidebar and tap your profile).
2. Settings > Personalization > Memory.
3. Open Manage (on some accounts it's Saved memories, or a Memory summary) and delete what you want gone.
   • With a memory summary you can also type a correction, choose Don't mention this again, or use the ••• menu > Delete and turn off memory (this deletes what's in the summary and turns Memory off; your chats stay).

The chats it came from 4. Deleting a memory doesn't delete the chat you first said it in, and deleting a chat doesn't always delete the memory. To fully remove something, delete both: the memory, and the old chat (archived chats too).

Training 5. Settings > Data controls > Improve the model for everyone > turn it off (on the web, then select Done). Your new chats won't be used to train OpenAI's models. Your chat history stays.

Part 3: six more settings worth checking

1. Reference chat history (Settings > Personalization > Memory). When it's on, ChatGPT uses your past chats to personalise answers. Turn it off and what it remembered from past chats is scheduled for deletion within 30 days. Your chats themselves stay unless you delete them.
2. Temporary chat for anything private. Temporary chats don't appear in your history, don't create or update memories, and aren't used for training. Pick Unpersonalized before you start if you don't want it to use your memories either. (OpenAI may keep them up to 30 days for safety.)
3. Shared links (Settings > Data controls > Shared links > Manage). Every chat you've ever shared by link is listed here. Delete the ones you don't need, or use More actions > Delete all shared links.
4. Thumbs up / down. Even with training off, rating an answer can let OpenAI use that whole conversation for training. Skip the thumbs on private chats.
5. Files and connected apps. Memory can also draw on files in your Library and connected apps such as Gmail. Delete files you don't need there, and disconnect apps you no longer want ChatGPT to read.
6. Export your data (Settings > Data controls). Ask for a copy of everything in your account, so you can see what's there before you delete anything.

Good to know

• Turning off training doesn't delete anything. Turning off Memory doesn't delete your chats. They are separate switches, so check each one.
• OpenAI says it may keep logs of deleted saved memories for up to 30 days for safety and debugging.
• Voice mode has its own training setting. Check it too if you use voice.
• Work accounts (ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu) aren't used for training by default, and your admin may control some of these settings.

Sources: help.openai.com "Memory in ChatGPT", "Data controls in ChatGPT", "Sharing conversations and scheduled tasks in ChatGPT".