Does Perplexity Remember Previous Conversations?

Yes, when its memory settings are on. Perplexity can save details about you as memories and can refer back to your previous searches, and the two have separate switches under Settings → Memory, according to Perplexity's Memory help article. Switching memory off stops new use; it does not delete what is already saved. Deleting is a separate step under Manage memories.

This article sets out what Perplexity carries between conversations, where each control lives, and what the documentation leaves open. Every vendor fact below was checked against Perplexity's own help center and changelog on 2026-09-17. The feature has been renamed since launch, so older guides may use different labels.

What Perplexity carries between conversations

Three things can shape an answer, and you manage each in a different place.

Memories. Perplexity's December 2025 product update describes memory as personalization built from your interests, preferences, and ongoing projects, working across its models and search modes. The Memory help article also lists Notes, which save simple details for future answers.

Your search history. That same article outlines a distinct Use search history setting, letting past questions guide new answers.

Custom instructions. These are directions you write yourself. They live under Personalization in account settings, next to your profile details and response preferences, as the Account Settings article notes.

If Perplexity brings up something you did not expect, work out which of the three supplied it before you start changing settings. A saved memory, an old question, and an instruction you wrote months ago are each removed in a different place.

A note on naming: when the feature launched, the May 2025 changelog called it Personal Search and Memory under Settings → Personalize. Today's help article uses Settings → Memory. If a guide points you to Personalize, it was written before that change.

How to view, delete, or turn off memory

On the web:

1. Open your avatar menu and choose All Settings (Account Settings).
2. Open Memory.
3. Select Manage memories to read what has been saved and delete individual entries.
4. Review Use search history and Notes separately, since each has its own control.

The Memory help article makes clear that switching memory off does not erase saved items. To remove something, delete it in Manage memories.

The help article gives the settings path without separate step-by-step navigation for iOS and Android, so on mobile look for the same Memory section in the app's settings.

Does deleting a thread delete its memories?

Perplexity does not say that it does. The Memory help article documents two separate actions: deleting a past session from your search history, so that session stops influencing answers, and deleting saved memories. It does not state that removing a thread also removes every memory drawn from it.

So clear both. To delete a thread, per the self-serve data deletion article:

1. Open History.
2. Use the … menu beside the thread, or inside it, and select Delete.

Then open Manage memories and remove the detail there too. A thread that has disappeared from History is not evidence that the fact is gone from memory.

Incognito mode

Perplexity's December 2025 product update notes that memories and search history turn off automatically in incognito mode. The Memory help article adds that questions asked in incognito are not retained or used in memory.

One retention detail from the same article: after you clear memories, a log may be kept for safety and debugging purposes for up to 30 days.

Free and paid plans, and what Brain is

The original May 2025 changelog announced the feature as rolling out to all users. Perplexity's help center does not publish a table of memory limits by plan.

Brain is something different. Per the What is Brain? article, it is a separate system for Perplexity Computer that builds working context about your projects, people, and files from sessions, connected tools, files, and your corrections. It excludes incognito sessions, and it has its own toggle under Settings → Memory settings → Brain; switching it off stops new memory from being written. The Perplexity Max article describes Brain as rolling out in Research Preview to Max and Enterprise Max subscribers, so having one of those plans does not by itself mean Brain is already enabled on your account.

Why Perplexity still loses track in a long thread

Memory features do not keep a long conversation lossless. Within a single thread, a model works from a limited window of recent text, and saved memories are brief summaries rather than a replay of everything you typed. A number or name from early in a long thread can drop out even if you can still scroll up to see it.

When a detail matters, restate it in the question where you need it, and check the sources Perplexity cites. Knowing which of the three layers supplied a detail is more useful than assuming every personalized answer came from the same place.

FAQ

Does Perplexity remember previous conversations? Yes, if memory and search-history settings are on. Both live under Settings → Memory, per the Memory help article.

How do I make Perplexity forget something? Delete the entry under Manage memories, and delete the thread it came from in History. Turning memory off by itself does not remove saved entries.

Does incognito mode use my memories? No. Perplexity states that memories and search history are turned off in incognito mode.

Is Brain the same as Memory? No. Brain is a separate system for Perplexity Computer with its own toggle, in Research Preview for Max and Enterprise Max subscribers.