Claude Incognito Mode: How Incognito Chats Work (2026)
To start an incognito chat in Claude, open a new chat outside a project and click the ghost icon in the upper right corner; a black border and an "Incognito chat" label confirm it is on. Anthropic says incognito chats are not saved to your chat history or to Claude's memory, are never used for training, and are still retained for 30 days by default, or longer under an Enterprise organization's custom retention setting (Anthropic Help Center, 2026). Once you close one, it cannot be reopened, saved or turned into a regular chat.
This guide explains exactly what incognito mode does and does not do as of October 2026: what Claude can still see inside an incognito chat, how long Anthropic keeps it, what changes on Team and Enterprise plans, where it is not available, and when turning memory off for a single chat is the better choice. Every fact is taken from Anthropic's Help Center and Privacy Center articles, linked in the sources at the end.
By Adi Leviim, Co-Founder at Infi Developments. 7+ years building AI productivity tools. Last reviewed October 2026.
What Is Claude Incognito Mode?
Anthropic defines incognito chats as "temporary conversations that aren't saved to your chat history or to Claude's memory." They are available to every Claude plan: Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. Anthropic introduced them on September 11, 2025, alongside memory for Team plans, as a way to keep chosen conversations out of what Claude remembers.
Compared with a regular chat, an incognito chat differs in five ways Anthropic lists:
It is not saved to your chat history. When it is closed, there is no copy in your chat list to go back to.
It is not used for training. Anthropic's Privacy Center says incognito chats are not used to improve Claude "even if you have enabled Model Improvement in your Privacy Settings."
Claude's chat search skips it. Claude will not pull information from incognito chats when searching previous conversations.
Memory stays out of it, both ways. Starting an incognito chat does not use Claude's existing memory, and the chat is not included in future memory entries.
It is left out of your monthly recap.
How to Start and End an Incognito Chat
Start a new chat in Claude, outside any project.
Click the ghost icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
Check for the black border and the "Incognito chat" label in the upper left corner. That means incognito mode is on.
Chat as usual.
When you are done, click the "x" in the upper right corner to close the incognito chat.
Anthropic's memory article adds a useful detail: close your current incognito chat when you are ready for Claude to start remembering your conversations again.
Incognito Chat vs Turning Memory Off vs a Regular Chat
If you only want Claude to ignore memory for one conversation but still keep the chat, Anthropic recommends turning off "Memory" in the "+" menu before you send the first message, instead of going incognito.
What happens
Incognito chat
Chat with memory turned off
Regular chat
Saved to your chat history
No
Yes
Yes
Uses your existing memory
No
No
Yes, if memory is on
Adds to memory
No
No
Yes, if memory is on
Found by Claude's search of past chats
No
Yes, from your other chats
Yes
Used for model training
Never
Follows your Model Improvement setting
Follows your Model Improvement setting
Available inside projects
No
Yes
Yes
Can be reopened after closing
No
Yes
Yes
Turning memory off for a single chat is available on the web, Claude Desktop and the latest version of Claude Mobile. It has to be set before the first message; once the chat starts, it cannot be changed. Anthropic notes that the "Memory" option does not appear in the "+" menu if memory is already off for your account or organization, if your plan does not include it, or inside an incognito chat.
What Claude Can Still See in an Incognito Chat
Incognito is not a blank slate. Anthropic says Claude can still access your profile information, such as custom styles and personal preferences, inside an incognito chat. If those settings mention your job, your name or how you like answers formatted, Claude will still apply them. Only memory and past-chat search are switched off.
It also does not hide the conversation from Anthropic. While incognito chats are not saved to your history, Anthropic says they "are retained for either 30 days (default), or longer in accordance with your organization's custom data retention setting (available for Enterprise plans)." Its consumer retention page adds that, in all cases, it may retain chats as required by law, to resolve disputes or to combat Usage Policy violations, and that inputs and outputs flagged by its automated trust and safety systems are kept for up to 2 years. That page does not carve incognito chats out of those rules.
Finally, Claude's incognito mode is not the same as your browser's private window. A private window only changes what your browser keeps on your device; a regular chat you start in it while signed in to claude.ai is still saved to your Claude account. To keep a conversation out of your Claude history, use the ghost icon.
Incognito Chats on Team and Enterprise Plans
On a work plan, incognito keeps a chat out of your own history and memory, but not out of your organization's records. Anthropic lists three differences for Team and Enterprise:
Data exports: incognito chats are included in organizational data exports, which are available to account Owners.
Retention: they are retained for 30 days for safety, or longer under your organization's data retention policy.
Compliance API: on Enterprise plans, incognito chats are included in the Compliance API.
Treat an incognito chat at work as private from your own sidebar and from Claude's memory, not from your employer.
Where Incognito Mode Is Not Available
Inside projects. The ghost icon does not appear when you start a chat within a project. Anthropic's alternative is turning off "Memory" in the "+" menu before the first message, which in a project skips both your memory and the project's memory.
In the new Claude experience, with file creation and code. Anthropic says that if you have the new Claude experience, incognito chats open in the previous chat experience, so Claude cannot create files or run code in them.
After the fact. Anthropic says an incognito chat cannot be converted to a regular chat or saved to your history. Incognito is chosen when the chat starts; if you want a past regular chat gone, delete it instead.
Can You Recover a Closed Incognito Chat?
No. Anthropic says "once closed, incognito chats cannot be reopened," and advises saving any important information before you end the session. It never reaches your chat history, so there is nothing to search for later. Before you click the "x", copy the answers you need into a document or a regular chat. If you are hunting for a conversation that went missing from your history, our guide to recovering deleted or missing Claude chats covers what can and cannot come back.
For the chats you do want to keep: AI Toolbox (formerly Claude Toolbox) adds folders, full-text search and one-click export to your saved Claude conversations, and stays out of incognito chats by design. 40,000+ users, 4.7/5 on the Chrome Web Store. Add AI Toolbox to Chrome →
How AI Toolbox Treats Incognito Chats
AI Toolbox removes its own interface when you open a Claude incognito chat, and it never reads, stores or syncs one. Every feature it adds to Claude is about keeping conversations: folders, pins, full-text search and export. Offering those on a chat you asked Claude not to keep would be pointless at best, and at worst would look like the extension retains what you meant to discard. So the launcher, the sidebar folder tree, the context meter and the usage badge come down as soon as the incognito chat opens, the in-chat export and move-to-folder buttons are not added, and incognito chats never enter the conversation list the extension indexes, which also means AI Toolbox search will not find them.
For your regular Claude chats, the free plan exports any single conversation as TXT, searches the full text of your history (5 results per query) and gives you 2 folders. Premium adds unlimited search results, bulk export as TXT, Markdown, JSON or PDF, and unlimited folders. See bulk export and delete for Claude for the walkthrough.
Who Uses Incognito Chats, and When
One-off sensitive questions are the obvious case: a health worry, a legal question, a draft you do not want shaping future answers. Anthropic's 30-day retention still applies, so incognito is about your history and memory, not about Anthropic never seeing it.
Testing prompts is the other common use. Because incognito ignores memory and past chats, it shows you how Claude answers without what it has learned from your conversations (your profile preferences and styles still apply), which is useful when you are writing instructions for colleagues or checking whether memory is skewing results.
Consultants with several clients usually do better with projects, which keep each client's memory separate, plus a memory-off chat for anything that should stay out of memory but still be kept. Our Claude memory guide explains how project memory works.
Limitations and What Claude's Own Controls Do Well
Claude's incognito mode is a clear, built-in control, and it does not need any extension. Its limits are the ones Anthropic documents: retention of 30 days or more, inclusion in organizational exports on work plans, no projects, no file creation or code in the new Claude experience, and no way to reopen. What Anthropic's incognito article does not specify is a platform list for the ghost icon; it describes the button on a new chat screen, so if you do not see it in an app, start the chat on claude.ai in a browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I turn on incognito mode in Claude?
Start a new chat outside a project and click the ghost icon in the upper right corner. A black border and an "Incognito chat" label in the upper left confirm that incognito mode is on. Click the "x" in the upper right to close it when you are done.
Does Claude save incognito chats?
Not to your chat history or memory. Anthropic still retains incognito chats for 30 days by default, or longer under an Enterprise organization's custom retention setting, and on Team and Enterprise plans they are included in organizational data exports available to account Owners.
Are Claude incognito chats used for training?
No. Anthropic says incognito chats are not used for training, and its Privacy Center adds that this holds even if you have enabled Model Improvement in your privacy settings.
Does Claude incognito mode use memory?
No. Starting an incognito chat does not use Claude's existing memory, and nothing from it is added to future memory entries. Claude can still use your profile information, such as custom styles and personal preferences.
Can I recover a Claude incognito chat after closing it?
No. Anthropic says closed incognito chats cannot be reopened, and an incognito chat cannot be converted to a regular chat or saved to your history. Copy anything important before you close it.
Can I use incognito mode in a Claude project?
No. Incognito mode is only available for chats outside projects, so the ghost icon does not appear inside one. In a project, turn off "Memory" in the "+" menu before your first message instead; that chat skips your memory and the project's memory but stays in your history.
Can my company see my Claude incognito chats?
On Team and Enterprise plans, incognito chats are included in organizational data exports available to account Owners, follow the organization's data retention policy, and on Enterprise are included in the Compliance API. Incognito keeps the chat out of your own history and memory, not out of your organization's records.
Bottom Line
Claude's incognito mode, behind the ghost icon on a new chat, keeps a conversation out of your history, your memory, Claude's chat search and model training. It does not make the chat vanish from Anthropic, which keeps it for at least 30 days, or from your employer on a work plan, and once you close it there is no way back. When you want memory off but the chat kept, use the "+" menu instead. For the conversations you do keep, AI Toolbox makes them searchable, organized and exportable, and leaves your incognito chats alone.
A Full Stack Developer with 7+ years of experience building AI productivity tools. Leads product development and frontend architecture for AI Toolbox, the Chrome extension suite (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Claude modules) that helps users search, organize, and export their AI conversations.
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