Why does Claude forget your business, and how do you fix it?

Every new chat starts blank. What Claude remembers, what it does not, and the one setup that fixes it.

Why Claude seems to forget you

You want Claude to know your business without you explaining it every time. Every new chat starts blank. Claude does not carry your last chat into this one unless something carries it across. So you explain your business again, or you skip the explanation and get a generic answer.

Three things people mix up

A chat is one conversation. Claude knows only what is inside it.
Memory is what Claude keeps about you between chats. It is on by default for Free, Pro, Max and Ultra plans, and you can pause or reset it.
A project is a self-contained workspace with its own chats, files and instructions. Each project also has its own memory, separate from your other projects.

Why a long chat gets worse

As a chat fills up, Claude recalls less of what is in it. Independent researchers found the same pattern. The longer the input, the less evenly a model uses it. Details in the middle of a long input are the most likely to be missed. We think the fix is not one endless chat. Use a short chat for each job, inside a project that holds what never changes.

Set one up

We suggest this setup.

Make one project for one area of your business, such as customers or bookkeeping.
Write the instructions the way you would brief a new employee. Say who you are, what you sell, how you talk to customers and what must never be said. Project instructions tailor Claude's answers.
Upload the files you paste most often. A project holds files that Claude uses as background for each chat.
Start every new job as a new chat inside the project.

What to keep out

Claude never saves some details, such as government ID numbers and financial account numbers. We would keep those out of your instructions and files anyway.

Check

Open a brand new chat in the project and ask for a customer reply. If it sounds like your business without being told, the project is working.
Ask for the same reply in a chat outside the project. If the project is doing the work, that reply should sound more generic.
Review what Claude has saved about you, and delete anything wrong.

Learn it step by step: How Claude remembers