AI that doesn't save your data: where each chat app keeps your history
The Morse teamPublished 7 min read
An AI that doesn't save your data, in the strict sense, barely exists: as of October 2026, almost every AI chat app keeps a copy of your conversation somewhere, and the useful question is where it lives, who holds the key, and how long it stays after you delete it. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini hide temporary chats from your history but keep them on their servers for 72 hours to 30 days. Duck.ai saves recent chats on your device. Proton's Lumo keeps history on its servers under encryption it says it can't open. Local apps like LM Studio save chats to your own disk. Morse keeps history only in your browser, encrypted, and its servers don't keep your messages.
We read each company's own help pages, privacy terms, and documentation on October 19, 2026, and every claim below links to the page it came from. "Doesn't save" has two halves that most apps treat separately: the history you see in the sidebar, and the copies the provider keeps behind it. A tool can clear the first and still hold the second.
What does "doesn't save your data" mean for an AI chat?
It means two different things, and you need both. The first is the visible history: whether the chat shows up in your sidebar, syncs to your other devices, or feeds the app's memory. The second is the provider's copy: whether the company, or the model provider it relays your prompt to, writes the conversation to storage, and for how long.
Temporary and incognito modes deal with the first half. Zero data retention deals with the second, as a contract between a business and the model's host; we explain how that works in what is zero data retention. Training is a separate question. A chat can be kept out of training and still be stored, which our comparison of whether AI chats are private covers app by app.
Where does your AI chat history live?
Read on October 19, 2026, from each company's own pages. "Who holds the key" means who can open the stored history.
| Tool | Where history is stored | Who holds the key | What deleting does | How long copies stay | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT, Temporary Chat | Not in your history; a copy on OpenAI's servers | OpenAI | You can't reopen it after you leave unless you saved it | "Up to 30 days for safety purposes" | OpenAI |
| ChatGPT, regular chat | Your account, on OpenAI's servers | OpenAI | Gone from view at once; permanent deletion scheduled "within 30 days" | Longer if de-identified or kept "for security or legal obligations"; Library files stay until you delete them | OpenAI |
| Claude, incognito chat | Not in your history or memory; a copy on Anthropic's servers | Anthropic | Can't be reopened once closed | 30 days by default | Anthropic |
| Claude, regular chat | Your account, on Anthropic's servers | Anthropic | Removed from history at once, from back-end storage within 30 days | Up to 2 years if flagged; up to 5 years, de-identified, if training is on | Anthropic |
| Gemini, Keep Activity off or temporary chat | With your Google Account | Expires after 72 hours; reviewed chats aren't deleted with your activity | 72 hours; reviewed chats up to 3 years | ||
| Duck.ai | On your device, by default | You (your device); Sync & Backup key "only stored on your devices" | Fire Button inside Duck.ai deletes chats; pinned chats survive | Model providers delete "at most within 30 days"; synced chats deleted after 18 months unused | DuckDuckGo, terms |
| Proton Lumo | On your device, synced to Proton's servers with zero-access encryption; guests' chats erased each session | You, through your Proton keys | Proton's support page doesn't describe it | Proton says it keeps "no logs" and erases data after each reply | Proton, security model |
| LM Studio | JSON files in ~/.lmstudio/conversations on your computer | Whoever can open your computer; encryption not mentioned | Delete the file or chat | No provider copy: "Nothing you enter… leaves your device" | LM Studio, offline docs |
| Ollama, local models | On your computer | You | Not described in its FAQ | No provider copy: "We don't see your prompts or data when you run locally" | Ollama |
| Morse | In your browser (IndexedDB), encrypted | Two keys: one that never leaves your device, one our server gives you at sign-in | Clearing the browser or deleting the account deletes it for good | Our servers keep no messages; temporary chats live in memory only; in Anonymous mode the model provider may keep a message for a limited time, under its own policy | Morse privacy policy |
Deleting doesn't always reach everything. Deleting a ChatGPT chat doesn't delete a file from it that was saved to Library: OpenAI says to "delete the file from Library when you also want to remove the saved Library copy" (OpenAI, read October 19, 2026). In the DuckDuckGo browser, the Fire Button that clears your browsing "will not delete Duck.ai chats by default" (DuckDuckGo). Gemini's human-reviewed chats outlast deletion too, which we cover in are AI chats private.
Do ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini have a chat that isn't saved?
Only to your history. ChatGPT's Temporary Chat, Claude's incognito chats, and Gemini's temporary chats stay out of your sidebar, but each company keeps a server copy for 30 days, 30 days, and 72 hours respectively, as the table shows; we compare their deletion rules in are AI chats private and cover Temporary Chat step by step in how to use ChatGPT anonymously.
Is there an AI chat with no account and no history?
Duck.ai needs no account and keeps recent chats in your browser, while the model providers it relays to may keep prompts for up to 30 days under DuckDuckGo's terms. If you use the DuckDuckGo browser, clear them with the Fire Button inside Duck.ai, which deletes everything but pinned chats (DuckDuckGo).
Does encrypted chat history count as not saved?
It counts as saved where the company can't read it. Proton's Lumo keeps history on its servers under a chain of keys that ends at your own Proton keypair, so Proton says it can't open the files, though the model still reads each message in the clear (Proton). We compare Duck.ai's relay and Lumo's encryption in detail in Duck.ai vs Lumo vs Brave Leo.
Is a local AI app the only one that saves nothing?
A local app removes the provider's copy, and keeps yours on disk. Ollama's FAQ says "we don't see your prompts or data when you run locally," and you can switch off its cloud features with OLLAMA_NO_CLOUD=1 (Ollama). LM Studio says "nothing you enter into LM Studio when chatting with LLMs leaves your device," and it runs offline once a model is downloaded (LM Studio).
Your history still exists. LM Studio stores conversations "in JSON format" in ~/.lmstudio/conversations on Mac and Linux, and its page doesn't say they're encrypted (LM Studio). Anyone who opens your computer can read them. Local models are also smaller than GPT, Claude, or Gemini, which don't run locally at all; our guide to using AI privately covers the hardware.
How Morse keeps your chats off its servers
Each tool in the table closes one half and leaves the other open. The big apps hide a chat from your sidebar and keep it on a server under their own key. Duck.ai and local apps keep history on your device, but the provider may still hold the prompt, or the file sits on your disk unencrypted. Morse closes the history half by design. Your chats are stored in your browser (IndexedDB), encrypted, and locked when you sign out. Opening them takes two keys, one that never leaves your device and one our server gives you when you sign in, so a copy of your browser data alone can't be read. Our servers don't keep your messages or log what you write, and a temporary chat lives in memory only, never stored, not even on your device.
Deleting means deleted. Clearing your browser or deleting your account removes your chats for good, with no 30-day server copy, and we can't recover them either, so keep anything you need. We don't train AI on your content, sell your data, or show ads, and because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities (privacy policy).
The provider half depends on the mode you pick for each chat:
- Private, so the host keeps nothing. The default. Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers, covering open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM, plus xAI's Grok. Where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it and refuses a reply that doesn't.
- E2EE, so no server can read the message. Your browser verifies the enclave's hardware attestation, then seals the message for that enclave alone, and our servers pass along ciphertext. Third-party providers run the enclaves, and the guarantee rests on the hardware and attestation working as designed.
- Anonymous, for GPT, Claude, and Gemini. Our proxy strips your account, email, and IP address, so the provider gets the message without knowing it's you. It may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy.
Which kind of "doesn't save" do you need?
- Nothing in your sidebar: ChatGPT's Temporary Chat, Claude's incognito chats, or Gemini's temporary chats, knowing the server copy lasts 72 hours to 30 days. On Morse, a temporary chat is kept in memory only.
- No account tied to it: Duck.ai, or a Morse chat from the home page as a guest, which stays in the tab's memory and is never saved.
- No provider copy: a local app, or Morse's Private mode, where hosts have agreed to keep nothing.
- History you keep, encrypted: Lumo's zero-access history, or Morse's history, encrypted in your browser and never sent to our servers.
Start free: your next chat opens in Private mode, and E2EE chats come with Pro, at $19 a month.
Common questions
Does turning off chat history stop an AI company from keeping my chats?
No. In ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, the history setting or temporary mode hides the chat from your sidebar, but each company still keeps a copy on its servers for 72 hours to 30 days, and longer for chats flagged or reviewed.
Can I get a deleted AI chat back?
Usually not from the app. OpenAI says a deleted chat can't be restored in ChatGPT or through its support team, even though a copy may sit on its servers for up to 30 days. Tools that keep history only on your device can't restore it either once you clear it.
Is an AI chat with no account the same as one that saves nothing?
No. Duck.ai needs no account, but it saves recent chats in your browser by default, and the model providers it relays to may keep prompts for up to 30 days under DuckDuckGo's terms. No account means the chat isn't tied to your name; it doesn't mean no copy exists.
Do local AI apps encrypt the chats they save?
LM Studio's documentation says conversations are saved as JSON files in a folder on your computer and doesn't mention encrypting them. If others use your computer, delete chats you don't want kept, or encrypt the disk.