Every app has one setting that quietly matters more than the rest.
In Claude, this is that setting.
It decides whether your conversations are used to train the model.
And it is sitting in your account right now with an answer already selected.
Where do I find it?
On the consumer plans, which are Free, Pro and Max, it is a single setting.
Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Model Improvement.
You may see it labelled "Help improve Claude" instead, depending on where you are looking.
Same switch, different wording.
What does each choice actually do?
The two sides are easy to hold in your head.
- OFF means your chats are NOT used for training, and are kept about 30 days
- ON means your chats help improve Claude, and are kept up to 5 years
OFF is the privacy default, and it is the one to pick if you are unsure.
ON is a genuine contribution, and there is nothing careless about choosing it knowingly.
What you should not do is leave it unexamined.
Thirty days or five years is not a small difference to discover by accident.
What stays out of training no matter what?
Two categories, and both are useful to know.
Deleted chats are never used for training.
Incognito chats are never used for training either.
That holds whichever way your toggle is pointing.
So for a one-off sensitive question, an Incognito chat is the cleaner route.
You do not have to remember to change a setting first.
Am I stuck with my choice?
No, you can change it anytime.
This is not a decision you sign once and live with forever.
Turn it off before a stretch of client work and turn it back on later if you like.
The only thing you cannot do is reach backwards.
Anything already inside a training run that has started cannot be pulled out.
Which is why sooner beats later.
One toggle, two very different answers about your data.
Go and check which one yours is set to.
Things to Remember
- Find it at Settings -> Privacy -> Model Improvement, sometimes shown as "Help improve Claude".
- Choose OFF for the privacy default: no training, about 30 days.
- Choose ON only knowingly: chats help improve Claude and last up to 5 years.
- Use Incognito chats for one-off sensitive questions; they are never used for training.
- Change your choice whenever you want, but do it before the sensitive conversation, not after.