What is the difference between Custom Instructions and Memory in AI?
Custom instructions hold your stable preferences, such as language, tone and role, and are sent with every message. Memory holds things that change over time. If the two contradict each other, the newest memory usually wins, but a memory is never created without you, so you stay in control.
- Memory space is almost unlimited, but the AI's context is not, so keep most things in custom instructions.
- Review your memories now and then, and tidy the custom instructions so the two never contradict.
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Is there a limit on how many Memories AI can save?
It depends on the tool. In paid Copilot you are unlikely to hit a limit on memories, while tools like Claude and Mistral do cap them. Custom instructions are limited to about 8,000 characters because they are sent in full with every message. Memories are separate items, and only the relevant ones are pulled in.
Why can I not see a Memory I just saved?
Sometimes it is a sync delay and the list has not caught up yet, so close it and open it again. Sometimes it is a genuine glitch and the memory was never saved, so create it again. To test it, save a second, different memory and see whether that one appears.
Does Copilot remember my Previous chats?
Only if you set it up. You can turn on chat history in Personalisation, but it rarely pulls anything useful out of old chats, so do not rely on it. What reliably carries over is what you save yourself as a memory or in custom instructions. If you use none of these, each chat starts fresh.