Claude incognito chats have a default retention period of 30 days, according to Anthropic's help page. They do not appear in your chat history or become part of Claude's memory. An Enterprise organisation can have a longer retention setting. The practical distinction is that a conversation disappearing from your visible history does not mean it was immediately deleted from the service.
For a student or job applicant, incognito can be useful for a one off practice conversation that should not influence later sessions. Decide first whether you need to return to the exchange. A temporary discussion is a poor place to keep the only copy of a revision plan, a carefully improved paragraph or feedback that you intend to use next week.
| Question | Official position |
|---|---|
| Default retention | 30 days |
| Chat history and memory | Not saved there |
| Start inside a project | Not supported |
| Reopen after closing | Not possible |
| Workplace account | Organisation export and retention rules matter |
How to start an incognito chat in Claude
The official incognito instructions say to start a new chat outside a project and select the ghost icon in the upper right. Look for the black border and Incognito chat label before typing. Close the session with the x when finished. Once closed, it cannot be reopened or converted into a regular saved conversation.
Before starting, write the purpose of the session in a separate note. For interview practice, that might be “give a clearer example of teamwork”. For revision, it might be “explain why I made this reasoning error”. Keeping the goal outside the conversation gives you a way to judge the session afterwards without preserving every exchange.
Use invented details for practice when real details are unnecessary. An interview question about handling a missed deadline does not need a colleague's name, a client's unpublished project or an internal document. Replace those with neutral descriptions that preserve the problem you want to work on. This is an editorial precaution about the material you choose to enter, rather than a special incognito setting.
Incognito, training and memory are separate questions
Anthropic's consumer model training policy says incognito chats are not used to improve Claude even when Model Improvement is enabled. The same policy separately describes feedback submissions: using the thumbs up or down control can store the related conversation for up to five years, and feedback may be used for training. Read those terms before submitting a conversation as feedback.
The memory help page explains another option: turn Memory off in the plus menu before sending the first message of a new regular chat. That conversation stays in history. It can therefore suit a task you want to revisit without using or adding memory during the session. Incognito and memory controls answer different record keeping needs.
For example, a practice introduction you expect to refine over several evenings needs a retrievable working copy. A short exercise that tests whether you understand one definition may not. Decide based on the material you need afterwards. Avoid selecting a mode only because its name sounds more private; look at history, retention and future context as separate decisions.
Three original prompts for temporary practice
Interview rehearsal: “Act as an interviewer for an entry level role in [field]. Ask one question about teamwork. Wait for my answer, then identify one vague claim and ask me for a concrete example. Use no invented achievements.” This lets you practise specificity without pasting a complete resume or confidential work history.
Concept check: “Ask me to explain [concept] in three sentences. After I respond, identify the first point that needs clarification and ask one follow up question. Let me attempt the correction before giving an explanation.” Use a topic from your own reading, then compare the result with that reading outside the chat.
Writing practice: “I will paste a fictional paragraph. Point out one ambiguous sentence, explain the ambiguity and ask me to rewrite it. Evaluate my revision for clarity without adding facts.” Invent a short practice passage rather than using someone else's private correspondence. Save only the revised wording you actually need before closing the session.
What Team and Enterprise users should check
Incognito chats can be included in organisation data exports, and Enterprise Compliance API access also applies. Anthropic also says profile information, such as custom styles and preferences, remains accessible in incognito. Treat workplace account rules as part of the decision before entering work material. A conversation being absent from your sidebar does not establish that an account owner cannot access it.
If your task needs an ongoing workspace, our Claude Projects guide explains a different workflow. See the Artifacts interview document example for a reusable practice document, or the Gemini temporary chat guide for that service's separately documented rules. Check each service's own policy before assuming similarly named modes behave alike.
