Google Gemini learns to remember and go incognito: Here's what it means

Google's Gemini AI introduces features to remember past chats or forget instantly and go incognito, letting users choose between personalised help and complete privacy

Google is upgrading its Gemini AI assistant to be both more personalised and more privacy-conscious. According to Google, Gemini will now offer two new features: a memory-enabled “Personal Context” mode, which remembers your past conversations to deliver more tailored responses, and an optional “Temporary Chat” mode, which allows one-off interactions that leave no lasting data trace. 

Personalised memory: No need to chat from scratch

Google Gemini personal context mode

  With Personal Context enabled, which is also the default setting, Gemini learns from your previous chats, adapting suggestions or responses based on what you’ve already shared. For instance, if you once asked Gemini about ideas related to Japanese culture or your favourite comic-book character, it might now proactively tailor future suggestions around these interests. Google says this makes conversations feel more like working with a collaborative assistant that’s already up to speed.

 

 

Users still retain control: toggles in Settings – Personal Context – Your past chats with Gemini let you disable this memory or delete past conversations via the Gemini Apps Activity menu. The feature is rolling out now in select countries on the Gemini 2.5 Pro tier, with expansion to Gemini 2.5 Flash and more regions expected in the coming weeks. 

Temporary chats: Private, short-lived conversation

Google Gemini temporary chats

  To complement memory, Google is introducing Temporary Chats, an incognito-like mode for private or one-off queries. These chats don’t appear in your history, won’t influence future responses, and are not used to improve Google’s AI models. Instead, they are held for up to 72 hours solely to deliver a reply and process optional feedback (press release).

 

This provides a useful balance: long-term personalisation for ongoing conversations, plus a privacy shield when you want no trace of a specific interaction.

Privacy controls and data use

Google is also improving its privacy settings to make data usage more transparent:

 

The existing “Gemini Apps Activity” toggle will be renamed “Keep Activity.” When on, a sample of future uploads (such as files or photos you send to Gemini) may be used to improve Google services — but the default off-state remains if previously disabled.

 

A new control allows users to choose separately whether audio, video, or screen data shared through mic or Gemini Live may help improve services. This setting is off by default