Anthropic announced it's merging the memory system used by chat and Claude Cowork, meaning Claude will now remember what it learned in one area even when you're engaging with it in another. Users can also read, edit, or delete any information Claude has retained. The update allows seamless movement between the research phase and taking action, solving the previous frustration where users had to re-explain details when moving from chat to Cowork.
Claude now adds topics to its memory as you chat, rather than summarizing conversations when they end, making new memories quickly updated and shared between the two experiences even during ongoing chats. Anthropic provides examples like drafting conference agendas or manager updates where Cowork would already know context like headcount, city, and speakers without re-inputting.
By default, Claude won't store sensitive information like health data, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, politics, or gender identity, though users can enable "include sensitive topics in memory" to override this. The app notifies users whenever sensitive topics are saved. Certain data like government-issued IDs, Social Security numbers, criminal history, and immigration status are never stored. Memory is enabled by default on Free, Pro, and Max plans across web, desktop, and mobile, with iOS and Android users needing to update to the latest version.