How to Move Your ChatGPT History to Claude or Gemini

What actually moves

What	Into Claude	Into Gemini	Into ChatGPT
Memory (preferences and facts about you)	Yes, as pasted text. Anthropic calls it experimental	Yes, by a copied prompt	No import documented
Full conversation history	No	Yes, from a ChatGPT or Claude export ZIP, with limits	No
Chosen conversations, as files	Yes, as attachments or project knowledge	Yes, as attachments or notebook sources	Yes, as attachments or project files

Checked against each company's help pages on 6 October 2026. These features change quickly.

To Gemini: memory and full chat history

Gemini is the only one of the three with an official import of whole conversations (Google: import from other AI platforms).

Request your data export from ChatGPT (Settings → Data controls → Export) or Claude (Settings → Privacy → Export data) and download the ZIP when it arrives.
In Gemini, open Settings & help and choose Import memory to Gemini.
Under Import chats, select Add and choose the ZIP.

Memory is separate: Gemini gives you a prompt to paste into your old assistant, and you paste the answer back.

To Claude: memory only

Claude imports memory, not conversations. Go to Settings → Memory, select Start import, paste the text you exported from the other assistant and select Add to memory (Anthropic: importing memory). It is available on Free, Pro, Max and Team plans on the web and desktop apps, and Anthropic describes it as experimental and not always successful.

Headlines that say Claude can import your chat history are describing this memory import. There is no way to load a ChatGPT export into Claude as conversations.

Carrying chosen conversations as files

You rarely need all of your old chats in the new assistant. You need the dozen that hold a project's decisions, a long piece of research, or a style you spent weeks refining. Those travel well as files.

Get each conversation as its own file. ChatGPT's export puts every chat in one JSON file, which is often too large to attach and hard for an assistant to use. With Backup My AI Chat, export the chats you want one by one or, once Auto-save has run, tick them in Bulk Export, as PDF, Word, Markdown or text.
Attach them where the work continues. A project keeps the files available to every chat in it.
Check that it was read. Ask for a summary of one file before you rely on it.

Destination	Per file	How many	Source
Claude project	30 MB	No fixed number; the total must fit Claude's context window	Anthropic
Claude chat	500 MB	Up to 20 files per chat	Anthropic
Gemini chat	Up to 100 MB	Up to 10 files in one prompt	Google
Gemini Notebook	Up to 200 MB or 500,000 words	Up to 50 sources on the free plan	Google
ChatGPT project	512 MB	5 files on Free, 25 on Go and Plus, 40 on Pro and business plans	OpenAI

On format: Anthropic's list of supported types names PDF, DOCX, TXT and JSON among others, and Google's notebook list names Markdown. If one destination refuses a Markdown file, export the same chat as PDF or text.

What does not move

Your sidebar. OpenAI says an uploaded export is only reference material for one conversation: it does not recreate past chats or restore the chat list (OpenAI).
Claude to another Claude account. Anthropic says exported data cannot be imported into another personal Claude account (Anthropic).
Custom GPTs, Gems and projects as working objects. None of the documented imports covers them; their instructions can be copied by hand.
Anything into ChatGPT beyond files you attach yourself. No import of another assistant's memory or chats is documented.

Limits to know

What Backup My AI Chat does not do

It runs in desktop Chrome and Microsoft Edge. There is no phone, Firefox or Safari version. In Brave and other Chromium browsers, Auto-save has not been tested yet.
It reads the chats in the account you are signed in to. It cannot bring back a chat that is already deleted.
Auto-save runs while the browser is open. A run that fell due while the browser was closed is caught up when it starts.
Gemini, Grok and DeepSeek are read through one of their own tabs: Sync now opens one in the background and closes it; scheduled runs save those services only while such a tab is already open.
Each AI service's terms restrict automated access to some degree, and none of them has approved this tool. Check the terms of the services you use.
It moves nothing by itself. It gives you each conversation as a clean file; attaching the files to the new assistant is done by you.

Questions

Can I transfer my ChatGPT history to Claude?

Not as conversations. Claude can import memory as pasted text, and you can attach exported chats to a Claude project as files. There is no import that turns a ChatGPT export into Claude chats.

Can I transfer my ChatGPT history to Gemini?

Yes, if you have a personal Google Account, are 18 or older and are outside the EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Gemini imports the ChatGPT export ZIP, up to 5 GB per file.

Does moving my history delete it from ChatGPT?

No. Exporting copies your data; it does not remove anything. Your chats stay in ChatGPT until you delete them or close the account.

Which format is best for giving old chats to a new assistant?

One file per conversation, in PDF or plain text for the widest acceptance, or Markdown where the destination lists it. Avoid the single large JSON file from the account export.

Should I back up before switching?

Yes, before you cancel anything. See how to back up all your ChatGPT chats.