If you use Claude every day, clean up its memory of you once a month. I ran a cleanup this week. It took about five minutes, and I'd recommend it to anyone whose memory has been piling up for a while.
The idea came from a newsletter item arguing that memory bloat drags down Claude's answers and that a short prompt fixes it. Ruben Hassid shared a simple version of the prompt with his audience, and the newsletter added a longer one for heavy users. Both work the same way. Claude lists everything it has saved about you, labels each item to keep, fix or delete, asks you about anything it isn't sure of, and shows you a short cleaned-up version before anything changes.
Why it matters
Memory grows on its own. Projects, one-off tasks and passing details all end up in there, and an entry doesn't expire when it stops being true. Claude carries that memory into every chat, so stale entries mean it starts each conversation with an outdated picture of you.
I agree with the newsletter that this is one of the cheapest ways to get better output. Your prompts and workflow stay the same. You fix what Claude knows going in.
What happened when I ran it
It didn't miss anything. Claude went through everything it had saved and asked me about entries I had forgotten were in there.
The questions do the real work. Claude doesn't decide on its own which entries are outdated. It asks, and you decide.
The prompt I use
Both original prompts work. I made a few changes to the longer one:
- A sharper test for keeping something. An entry stays only if it would change how Claude answers you. True but useless facts are still clutter.
- A gaps step. Cleanup only removes things. This asks Claude what it's missing, so the memory gets more useful as well as shorter.
- Dates on projects. Each current project gets the month you last confirmed it, so next month's cleanup knows what to question first.
- A read-back. After Claude applies the changes, it reads the memory back so you can see they actually saved.
Paste this into a new chat:
Clean up your memory of me. I want it short, accurate and useful in future chats.
Rules for this whole task:
- Use only your saved memory and preferences. Don't search my past chats.
- Don't change anything until I approve it at the end.
STEP 1: INVENTORY
List every saved memory and preference as a numbered line.
STEP 2: AUDIT
Give each line one label and a reason in a few words.
KEEP true, and it would change how you answer me
FIX probably outdated or wrong (write the corrected line)
MERGE overlaps another line (name its number)
DELETE a one-off task, a finished project, or something that won't
matter a month from now
ASK you can't tell whether it's still true
Also mark PRIVATE on anything sensitive I might not want saved.
STEP 3: QUESTIONS
Ask me about every FIX, ASK and PRIVATE line, three at a time.
Use clickable options if you can (Keep, Update, Delete). If you
can't, number the options so I can answer with numbers. Wait for
my answers before moving on.
STEP 4: GAPS
Ask me up to three questions about things you'd need to know to
help me better that aren't in memory now. Skip any I don't answer.
STEP 5: CLEAN VERSION
Show my final memory in 30 lines or fewer, grouped under:
1. Who I am
2. My work and current projects (add the month I last confirmed
each project is active)
3. How I want you to respond
Below it, list every change: removed, edited, merged and added.
STEP 6: APPLY
Ask me "Apply these changes?" If I say yes, update your memory
yourself if you can do that in this chat, then read it back to
confirm the changes saved. If you can't, list each change with the
exact text I should paste. Don't guess at menu names or button
locations. If you're not sure, say so.Set a monthly reminder and run it.