The Temporary Chat feature in Google's Gemini assistant allows conversations to take place without being used for personalization and model training. According to the company's statement, chats in this mode do not appear in history, but they may be stored with your account for up to 72 hours for security and service processes.
Google's artificial intelligence assistant Gemini offers a Temporary Chat feature for situations where users do not want their conversations to be used to personalize future responses or train models. According to the company's statement, conversations in this mode do not appear in Gemini Apps Activity, are not used for personalization, and are not evaluated in the training of artificial intelligence models. However, the term "temporary" does not mean that the conversation is immediately and completely deleted.
How to start Temporary Chat in Gemini?
To use the feature, you need to be signed in to Gemini with a personal Google account. Currently, users who sign in with a work or school account cannot benefit from this feature. Temporary chat can be started from the web version of Gemini or from its mobile app.
The steps to follow on a computer are listed as follows: open Gemini in a web browser, sign in with your personal Google account, click the Temporary Chat icon next to the new chat option, type the question or command into the chat box, and start the conversation by sending the message. In the mobile app, after opening the menu at the top, you tap the Temporary Chat icon next to the New chat option. While in temporary mode, the relevant icon appearing at the top of the screen makes it easier to understand that you are not in a normal conversation.
When you exit Temporary Chat, the conversation cannot be accessed again. Since the chat is not added to the recent conversations list, it is recommended to use normal chat for long-term work that you intend to continue. Temporary Chat is not supported in Gemini's experience within Chrome or when used through Google Messages.
What is Gemini Temporary Chat for?
In normal use, Gemini can prepare more personalized responses by drawing on past conversations. Temporary Chat, on the other hand, is designed for one-off uses where a conversation is not intended to be associated with future responses.
For example, if a person who normally uses Gemini for work-related topics is going to conduct lengthy research on a different topic just once and does not want this conversation to affect subsequent suggestions, they can switch to temporary mode. Conversations in this mode are not used to personalize the Gemini experience, and information provided during the chat is not saved for future personalization. Therefore, the same experience should not be expected as in situations where a normal conversation can draw on past chats or saved personal context.
According to the company's statement, Temporary Chats are also not used to train artificial intelligence models. In this respect, the feature has a broader function than a setting that only changes the visibility of chat history. During Temporary Chat, some Gemini features are disabled; Gems cannot be used, and Connected Apps, which require the Keep Activity setting to be on, along with some integrated services, cannot be used.
Do temporary chats appear in Gemini history?
Conversations started temporarily do not appear in the recent chats section in Gemini and are not listed in Gemini Apps Activity. When you leave the chat, it is also not possible to reopen it from the left menu as with normal conversations.
However, this does not mean that messages are completely removed from Google systems the moment they are sent. According to the company's statement, Google may retain Temporary Chats with your account for 72 hours. This period is used so that Gemini can respond and the security of the service can be maintained. The last 24 hours of chat context can be used to generate responses in the ongoing conversation; retaining temporary conversations with your account for 72 hours is implemented for reasons such as possible system issues and security processes.
This distinction is important for privacy. A conversation not appearing in the recent chats list is not the same as data being retained in technical systems for a certain period. Therefore, Temporary Chat should not be thought of as a private browsing mode that operates completely without leaving a trace. When it comes to very sensitive information, passwords, banking information, or personal data that you do not want to share with others, rather than relying only on Temporary Chat, it is considered a safer approach not to write such information into artificial intelligence chats at all.
Does Gemini Temporary Chat give personalized responses?
One of the points where Temporary Chat differs from normal Gemini conversations is personalization. Gemini does not provide personalized responses in this mode and does not save information shared during the conversation for future personalization.
In normal use, when Gemini is allowed to draw on past chats, previous conversations can influence new responses. A preference mentioned earlier or a topic being worked on can be used as context in subsequent chats. In temporary mode, however, this personalization based on past chats is disabled. As a practical result, if a response based on Gemini knowing the user is expected, Temporary Chat may give a more general result, and the needed information may have to be specified separately within that conversation.
Similarly, new information given to Gemini during Temporary Chat is not stored for personalization in later chats. This working style is also cited as one of the reasons why Gems cannot be used in temporary conversations; while Gems create customized experiences with predefined instructions and additional resources, Temporary Chat proceeds with a more limited, one-off session logic.
What is the difference between Gemini Temporary Chat and normal chat?
The difference between normal Gemini chats and Temporary Chat is not only whether the conversation appears in the left menu. The two modes also differ in terms of personalization and access to some Gemini features.
Normal chats can be kept in Gemini Apps Activity depending on account settings, and past conversations can be used to create personalized responses. It is also possible to reopen such a chat later and continue where you left off. Temporary Chat, however, does not appear among recent conversations and cannot be reopened by the user after leaving the chat. Its content is not used to personalize future Gemini responses or to train artificial intelligence models; the company may still retain the conversation with your account for up to 72 hours for the service to function and for security purposes.
There is also a difference in the tools available. In temporary mode, Gems cannot be opened, and Connected Apps, which require the Keep Activity setting, along with some integrated services, cannot be used. The option to send feedback on responses is also not available in Temporary Chat. Which mode to choose depends on whether the conversation needs to be continued. In situations where a project will be carried on for several days or Gemini is expected to remember previous context, normal chat is considered more suitable; if a one-off question will be asked and this conversation is not intended to shape the subsequent Gemini experience, Temporary Chat creates a separate space for that.
