I’ve been using ChatGPT since it launched in 2022. Three+ years. That’s longer than some of my side projects have lasted and I’ve had a lot of those.
It was the first AI I ever used. At some point it became part of how I work: writing, brainstorming, editing, research. I had memories stored, a Pro subscription running, and a rhythm that actually worked. I wasn’t looking to switch.
Then I started paying more attention to Claude. And the more I used it, the more I found myself reaching for it instead. Especially for writing. It feels more considered. It doesn’t just tell you what you want to hear, which sounds like a minor thing until you realize how much ChatGPT does exactly that.
The switch made sense. The only complication was three years of context I didn’t want to lose.
After doing some research and tried it out myself, turns out you don’t have to start from zero. Here’s exactly how I did it.
Step 1: Export Your Data Before Anything Else
The first thing to do is get your data out of ChatGPT. Don’t skip this.
- Go to Settings → Data Controls and click Export data.
- Confirm via email, wait a few minutes, or hours, depend on how big your archive file is, then download the ZIP file.
- Inside you’ll find your full conversation history as a JSON file. The JSON isn’t readable on its own, so use a tool like ChatGPT Exporter (a browser extension) to convert it to HTML or Markdown.
- Then, and this part is separate, go to Settings → Personalization → Manage Memory. ChatGPT does not include your stored memories in the export. You have to copy them manually. Read through everything, take note of what matters such as preferences, ongoing projects, names, habits, etc and paste it into a text document. I called mine “My Context.” It took about ten minutes.
- Keep your ChatGPT account active for now. You’ll want it as a reference while you’re getting settled.
Step 2: Set Up Claude, if you haven’t
Go to claude.ai and sign up. Claude Pro is $20/month, the same price as ChatGPT Pro. It gives you the most capable models, higher usage limits, and everything you’ll need to replace your existing workflow.
You’d find the interface is clean and minimal. No plugin store, no feature overload. Just the conversation. You’ll get used to it in about five minutes. If you use AI on your phone, download the Claude app as well.
Now let’s get to the important part.
Step 3: Rebuild Your Context in Claude
This is where most people get frustrated when switching AI tools. Claude doesn’t know you yet. ChatGPT spent three+ years learning how you work. You’re starting fresh.
The quick solution is Projects.
Projects are Claude’s way of keeping persistent context across conversations. Think of it as a combination of ChatGPT’s Custom Instructions and Memory, but more organized.
Here’s how to set it up:
- Click New Project in Claude’s left sidebar.
- Give it a name — something like “About Me” or “My Work.”
- In the Project Instructions field, paste the context document you made in Step 1.4. Your background, how you work, ongoing projects, writing preferences, everything relevant.
- Upload any documents that matter to your work: a writing style guide, project notes, reference files.
This way, every new chat you open inside that Project starts with Claude already knowing the basics. No more re-explaining yourself every single time.
Note that Claude will remember this context if you work in Projects interface.
In regular interface chat, if you prefer Claude to pick things up automatically over time, same as the way ChatGPT’s memory worked. Go to Settings → Memory and enable it. You can also add entries manually to get it started faster.
Step 4: Move Your Active Work Over
For writing and creative projects, Claude will feel familiar but different. The context window is much larger, which means you can paste in an entire long document without Claude losing the thread halfway through. That changes how you work with longer projects.
For existing drafts and ongoing work: paste them into Claude and tell it what you need. It picks up context quickly.
A word of warning for image generation: Claude doesn’t have a built-in image tool. If you used DALL·E inside ChatGPT, you’ll need a separate tool such as Midjourney. Claude can write the image prompts for you, you just have to paste them somewhere else. Annoying, I know. But I am pretty sure you’ll get over it.
Step 5: Get Used to How Claude Thinks
A few things worth knowing before you go in.
Claude will disagree with you. Not rudely, but it won’t just go along with something that doesn’t work. That took some adjustment on my end after years of a tool that had a tendency to be agreeable.
When Claude generates something self-contained such as a document, a code file, an HTML page, it opens in a separate panel called an Artifact (I really like this part). You can preview it, edit it, and export it directly. Very clean and useful for technical and creative work.
There’s also an extended thinking mode on the more capable models. Worth using when you need Claude to actually work through something complex, like research, not just respond quickly.
Step 6: Run Both for a Few Weeks
This might be the best advice after the effort to switch: Don’t make the switch dramatic. Keep ChatGPT available, at least until your Plus subscription expired, and just start using Claude as your default for new work.
When you catch yourself thinking “I’d normally ask ChatGPT this”, try to ask Claude first. After a few weeks, you’ll know exactly where you prefer each one. Or you’ll stop needing both.
For me, Claude is where most of my work happens now. I still open ChatGPT occasionally, mostly out of habit. That’s slowly gone.
That’s really all there is to it. In short: export your data, save your memories manually, rebuild your context in Claude Projects, and give it a few weeks of real use.
The workflow transfers faster than you’d expect.
The only thing that doesn’t transfer is the image generation as I explain previously. That one you’ll have to sort out separately.