Claude Chat Search and Incognito Mode — Resume Past Conversations, Exclude Chats, and Turn It Off

Have you ever started a new chat with Claude and wished you could say, "Can you pick up where we left off last time?" Now you can. Claude's chat search feature lets it look through your previous conversations to find relevant information and continue from there. And if you ever want a conversation kept private — off the record and out of reach of that search — that's exactly what incognito chat is for. This guide walks you through both features step by step, starting from scratch.

What is chat search?

Chat search lets Claude look through your past conversations — outside the current chat window — and pull in relevant context to help answer your question. Think of it like a small personal library: every conversation you've had with Claude sits on the shelf, and when you ask it to look something up, it goes and finds the relevant pages.

Under the hood, this works through something called RAG — Retrieval-Augmented Generation, a technique where the AI first searches through stored text (your past chats) before forming its response. You don't need to understand the technical details to use it; just know that when Claude searches, you'll see a brief tool call — a note in the chat indicating that a search is happening — before the answer appears.

What can Claude search?

• All of your general (non-project) chats.
• Chats inside a project — but only within that specific project. A search from Project A will not reach into Project B's conversations.
• Incognito chats are always excluded from search, no matter what.

Which plan do you need?

According to the official help documentation, chat search is available on paid plans only: Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise. It works on the web, the Claude desktop app, and the Claude mobile app. If you are on the Free plan, this feature is not available.

How to use chat search — step by step

Once chat search is rolled out to your account, it is on by default. There is no button to press; just open a new chat and ask naturally. Here are some examples of how to phrase it:

"What did we discuss about the marketing plan last week?"
"Can you find our conversation about the Python script?"
"Let's continue where we left off on the blog draft."

When Claude runs a search, you will see a tool call appear briefly in the chat. That is your confirmation that the search is working. A moment later, Claude will respond with context drawn from your past conversations.

What to do if Claude can't find the conversation: This usually happens when the past chat was very short, or when the topic you describe doesn't closely match the words used in that conversation. Try being more specific. For example, instead of "that coding thing we did," try: "the Python web scraper code we worked on last month." Adding a rough timeframe often helps.

Incognito chat — how to keep a conversation out of search

Incognito chat works much like a private browsing tab in a web browser: the conversation exists while you're in it, but nothing is saved to your chat history when it ends. Claude won't draw on it for future searches, and it won't feed into Claude's memory summaries either.

According to the official documentation, incognito chat is available to all users, including those on the Free plan.

How to start an incognito chat

1. Go to claude.ai and open a new chat. Make sure you are in a regular (non-project) chat, not inside one of your projects.
2. Look for the ghost icon in the top-right corner of the screen and click it.
3. An incognito chat window will open. Anything you type here stays temporary.

How to confirm it worked: When incognito mode is active, the chat interface will show a visual indicator. Check the on-screen cue to confirm you are in the right mode before you start typing.

Important note for Enterprise and Team plan users: Even in incognito mode, your chats are included in standard data exports — file downloads of conversation data your organization may run — and are subject to your organization's data retention policy. Additionally, if your organization uses customer-managed encryption keys on an Enterprise plan, conversation content is encrypted in a way that prevents Claude from searching past chats at all. If you are handling sensitive information, check with your IT administrator to understand exactly what applies to your account.

How to turn off chat search

Chat search is on by default, but you can disable it at any time through settings. Here is how:

1. Log in to claude.ai and open Settings.
2. Navigate to the Capabilities tab.
3. Find the Preferences section and look for "Search and reference chats".
4. Click the toggle — the on/off switch next to that option to turn it off.

How to confirm it worked: The toggle should shift to its off (grey) state. After this, even if you ask Claude to search your past chats, it will not run a search.

If you cannot find the toggle: Chat search is only available on paid plans. If you are on the Free plan, this setting will not appear. If you are on a paid plan and still cannot see it, the feature may not have been rolled out to your account yet — it is being made available gradually. Wait a little while and check again, or contact Claude support at support.claude.com.

Common points of confusion — and how to handle them

• Claude says it couldn't find the past conversation
  This typically happens when the prior chat was brief, or when the phrasing of your question doesn't match what was in that earlier chat. Try giving Claude a more specific description — mention the topic, a rough date, or a key phrase you remember from the original conversation.
• Searching from one project doesn't find conversations from another project
  This is by design. Each project's search is confined to that project. To search within a specific project, navigate into that project first and start your chat from there.
• The ghost icon isn't visible
  The incognito icon only appears in regular chats, not inside projects. If you're in a project, exit to the main chat area and try again.

Quick summary — which feature for which situation?

• You want to pick up a past topic or continue earlier work → use chat search
• You want this conversation to stay private and off the record → use incognito chat
• You don't want Claude referencing any of your past chats → turn off chat search in Settings

One final note: chat search and Claude's Memory feature are related but separate. Memory is about Claude building a long-term summary of your preferences and working style over time. Chat search is about actively looking up what was said in a specific past conversation. Both can be managed independently under Settings → Capabilities. For a full walkthrough of the Memory feature, see the dedicated Memory guide on this site.

Related articles

• Claude web search & Research — using live search and deep research well
• Claude Projects, Artifacts & Memory: What They Are and How to Use Them
• How to Write Prompts for Claude: 6 Core Principles from the Official Docs
• How to Use Claude Projects: Knowledge & Instructions to Cut Repetition
• Claude Artifacts: How to Create, Edit, Publish & Share (2026)