How to Move from ChatGPT to Claude Without Losing Your History

Moving from ChatGPT to Claude is kind of like moving from one doctor to another.

… except those doctors hate each other and refuse to actually connect.

So you have to be the go between to collect your medical history and give it to the new doctor.

Most people are moving to the new doctor and just forgetting about their medical history. They’re starting fresh with whatever they remember.

That’s dumb!

Even if your old doctor was shit (or making deals with the Department of Defense), you still want your data. Cause that could be how they find out that mole on your shoulder doubled in size in 2 months!

The most basic way to migrate your data is to use Claude’s “Import your memory from other providers” setting. But I recommend going deeper and exporting your full chat history from ChatGPT. You can go through it manually or upload it to Claude to go through. Don’t forget your Custom GPTs, though! Make sure you migrate them (unfortunately, it’s manual) to Claude’s “Projects” for personal use or to a custom AI agent using the Claude API.

Once you migrate, don’t forget to cancel your ChatGPT subscription (and delete your account if you want them to remove your data from their system).

Option 1: Migrating Your Memory Using Claude’s Import Setting

Claude got a massive influx of new users after OpenAI took the deal they’d turned down with the Department of Defense.

And they’re a lil sassy, so they created an import setting the next day.

The issue: it only pulls from ChatGPT’s memory area.

And that is … questionable.

Sometimes it stores the most random stuff that has no actual relevance to your overall business.

But for basic users, this can be plenty.

For business owners, I’d jump to Option #2.

Here’s how it works:

1. Open Claude and ChatGPT in 2 separate windows/tabs.
2. In Claude, click on the icon in the bottom lefthand corner of the screen. It should either be your initials or an icon, if you changed it.
3. This will open a lil pop up. Select on “Settings.”
4. On the “Settings” page, select “Capabilities.”
5. At the top of the screen it says “Memories”. The 2nd option says “Import memory from other AI providers.” Click that.
6. The pop up will have a prompt at the top. Copy that.
7. In ChatGPT, paste the prompt into a new chat.
8. ChatGPT will run the prompt to gather information. Wait till it’s done. Then copy it’s answer.
9. In Claude, paste the output from ChatGPT into the bottom, white box in the Memories pop up we were in before.
10. Go make a coffee or grab some cashews. It’ll take a minute to run
11. Check the output before you let Claude run with it.

Claude will turn the weird lines of almost-code from ChatGPT into a summary of it’s memory.

… but I spotted some weirdness immediately. Make sure you “edit” the memory before you approve it!

We don’t want your new doctor thinking your mole was shaped like a star if it’s actually shaped like a guitar (which, either way, you should 100% get checked out!).

Option 2: Export Your Entire ChatGPT History

ChatGPT let’s you download all of your past chats and your whole history in one go.

I don’t really know why Anthropic isn’t suggesting people do this instead of using their prompt/migration setting, cause this is way more thorough.

First of all, you actually get to keep a copy of all of your data.

Second, it gives Claude way more context and information.

This is a bit more complex, but I’ll break down each step as thoroughly as I can into basic parts. Do not be scared off by the files! I promise, it’s easy if you go slow.

Step 1: Export Your Entire ChatGPT History

• Open ChatGPT.
• Click on your profile in the bottom lefthand corner of the screen.
• Select “Settings.”
• A pop up will open. Select “Data Controls” from the options.
• The very last option will be “Export data”. Click on the “Export” button.
• A pop up will ask you if you are sure (it takes a moment to load so give it some time. I think their system is overloaded right now). Click that you want it to export the data.
• ChatGPT will email it to your account email in a few hours.

Step 2: Find the Chat File

• Open the “Your ChatGPT Data export is ready email” and download the link.
• This will download a ZIP file to your computer.
• Go to your downloads folder and right click on the file.
• Select “extract” or “unzip”. This will open the file so we can see what’s inside.
• Look for the “chat.html” file. You don’t need to open it. Just find it. This is the history of every chat you’ve had with ChatGPT.

Step 3: Upload Your Chats to Claude (As a Project)

• Open a Claude “Project” (not a chat!)
• Name the Project “ChatGPT History [Date]”
• Click the “+” in the “Files” area to the right of the chat.
• Upload the “chat.html” file (Note: you could technically try to upload the whole .zip but it’s more likely to have extraneous stuff or to be too big)
• Wait for the upload to finish
• Make sure it worked before you move on! Inside the Project, start a new chat.
• Ask Claude “What do you know me based on my ChatGPT history?”
• Review it’s answers and correct any misconceptions.

[Updated – Preferred Way] Step 3.1: Upload Your Chats to Claude (As a Skill)

• Open Claude.
• Select “Customize”. This will open a new area with two options: “Skills” and “Connectors”.
• Select “Skills”.
• Click the little “+” at the top. This will let you create a Skill. You can either:
  • Create with Claude (by chatting with it the chatbot)
  • Write skill instructions (by filling in boxes)
  • Upload a skill (upload a file – but it has to be properly formatted with a .md file).
• I recommend selecting “Create with Claude”.
• In the chat, share your .zip from ChatGPT. It should be able to handle the whole thing. If it can’t, then upload just the chat.html file.
• Work with Claude to adjust your chat into a Skill.
• Once it has created the Skill, to use it you will need to go back to the “Skills” area.
• Click on the name of the skill, like the “skill-creator” example.
• There is a toggle in the upper right corner. If it’s blue, that means it’s turned on. If it’s grey, then it’s off. Turn it on.

Option 3: Moving Your Custom GPTs Over

This unfortunately has to be manual.

Custom GPTs are pre-trained AI bots that live inside of ChatGPT. There’s no way to automatically move them to Claude.

Hopefully you were organized with the files you used to train your AI! If not, you’re gonna have some digging to do.

• Open ChatGPT and Claude in separate windows.
• In ChatGPT, click “Explore GPTs”. From the GPT Store select “My GPTs” for the list of every GPT you’ve made.
• You will need to go 1 by 1 for the following steps.
• Click to “edit” the GPT.

Now we have 2 options for set up: as a Project or as a Skill.

As a Project

• In Claude, open a Project.
• Name if the same name as the GPT.
• Inside the Project, the righthand sidebar has all of the same names as the GPT areas.
• Copy your GPT instructions from ChatGPT and paste them into the “Instructions” for the Project. Save it.
• Find all of the files you used for your GPT (you can ask it to list the full file names for you so you can go hunt them down if you didn’t organize them before)
• Once you find them, put them into a folder on your computer. Name the folder the name of the GPT. Inside, put a text file of the “Instructions”. And create a subfolder. In the subfolder, put all of the files you’ll upload to the Project. This will help future you!
• Upload each file you used for the GPT to the Project.
• Start a chat to test it.
• You will likely need to tweak some things. Claude and ChatGPT work a bit differently so you’ll need to find your rhythm and maybe adjust the Instructions over time.
• Anytime Claude gives you an answer you don’t like/that isn’t helpful, ask it “Why did you give me this output? What in your training made you give me this answer?” That should help you find the thing you need to fix.

As a Skill

• Open Claude.
• Select “Customize”. This will open a new area with two options: “Skills” and “Connectors”.
• Select “Skills”.
• Click the little “+” at the top. This will let you create a Skill. You can either:
  • Create with Claude (by chatting with it the chatbot)
  • Write skill instructions (by filling in boxes)
  • Upload a skill (upload a file – but it has to be properly formatted with a .md file).
• I recommend selecting “Create with Claude”.
• In the chat, upload your documents from your knowledge base and paste your custom GPT’s instructions.
• Once it has created the Skill, to use it you will need to go back to the “Skills” area.
• Click on the name of the skill, like the “skill-creator” example.
• There is a toggle in the upper right corner. If it’s blue, that means it’s turned on. If it’s grey, then it’s off. Turn it on.
• Now it’ll run across your account in any new chat or if you continue other chats in or out of a Project.
• If you DON’T want it to run for some reason, either:
  • Toggle off the skill in the “Skills” area.
  • Tell your chat / build it into your Project’s instructions: “Do not use [skill name] skill for this [project/chat].”

What to Do If You Need to Share Your GPTs with Students/Other Users

If you need to share Custom GPTs with students or sell them, like I do, this won’t work.

Projects and Skills are currently locked to the account you build them on. Only you can use them.

You can use the Claude API to create a custom AI bot that’s basically the same as a Custom GPT.

I include an in depth training on this in my GPT Sales System program.

My favourite systems for this:

• RadGenius (*I believe they’re still only running Open AI’s API though)
• Pickaxe – 10% off when you use my link!

You will have to pay the API usage for students/clients using the bot.

So if they’re writing novels, this could get pricey!

I have a lot of GPTs like that that I sell solo or that I offer inside my courses. So I’ve decided to leave them with ChatGPT for now.

Option 4: Use my AI Brand Brain!

My AI Brand Brain is basically your AI onboarding tool. I actually used it to onboard my IRL assistant, too!

It’s a Google Doc-workbook that covers your:

• Business basics
• Brand vibes and looks
• Tone
• Structure and rules
• Values
• Frameworks and strategies
• Goals
• Projects, offers, and existing content
• Preferences
• etc.

Basically it’s a full on business branding workbook!

You can easily upload your AI Brand Brain to a “Project” in Claude. Then any chat you have inside that project will be a perfectly trained assistant, instead of that newbie who can’t work their swipe badge.

This is kinda my equivalent of the girl on Tiktok with the medical binder (have you seen that?? Or am I just way too chronically online??!). She basically collects all of the information from her doctors and medical tests so she always has a copy she can bring with her to new doctors.

You can use my AI Brand Brain the same way!

You can even ask ChatGPT to fill it in based on what it knows about you already (yep, I built in a GPT for us lazy girls!). Then fill in the gaps.

Am I Moving?

Nope! Cause I already use all of them.

Much like in real life, I need multiple doctors with different specialties.

They don’t fully talk to each other, so I use my AI Brand Brain to train them on the same basics (aka. my medical binder), but then I let them do their specialty thing.

If it’s something major or a test that reveals something big about my business (i.e. I create a new course or change my branding), I’ll update the other doctors.

If it’s just a quick chat or something the other doctors don’t need to know about, I don’t update the core memory.

I’m gonna keep using ChatGPT for my Custom GPTs and the creativity I enjoy from it.

I use Claude more for coding and deep thinking.

And I love Gemini for integrating with all of my Google Workspace stuff.

I like having a team of doctors, but not everyone needs that.

That’s why my AI Cowriter System course is built to work with any AI writer! As long as it’s a chat bot, you’re good to go.

I teach you how to train your AI to work with it, not against it. So you’ll have a happy and well trained intern that can do any task you need.

… and it probably won’t eat you when the robots rise up. Jk jk!

If you’re ready to whip your AI into shape, check out my AI Cowriter System here.

Like this post? Share it with others!