Google is preparing a feature that could remove one of the biggest frictions in the AI assistant world: the inability to bring years of ChatGPT conversations into a new chatbot. Instead of starting from scratch, Gemini users are poised to gain a way to import past chats and memories so the model can pick up on existing projects, preferences, and research trails. If it ships as described in early tests, this move will turn switching AI assistants from a painful reset into a more familiar kind of data migration.
The new capability centers on an “Import AI chats” option that appears designed to ingest exported histories from ChatGPT and other services. For power users who treat AI tools as long term collaborators, not disposable utilities, that shift is significant: it promises continuity of context, better personalization, and a more realistic path to trying Gemini without abandoning what is already stored elsewhere.
Gemini’s ‘Import AI chats’ tool and how it works
The core of the change is a beta feature labeled “Import AI chats,” which testers have spotted inside Gemini’s interface as a dedicated option for bringing in conversations from other assistants. Early descriptions indicate that the flow starts with a prompt explaining that users must first export their history from another AI platform, then upload that archive so Gemini can process it, a pattern that mirrors how people already move data between services like email or cloud storage. A pop up page explicitly notes that users will need to download their chat history from another AI platform before they can proceed, according to one report that details the pop up and its instructions.
Once the archive is ready, Gemini appears to offer a way to upload the file so the assistant can ingest previous conversations and use them to learn a person’s preferences, projects, and style. One description notes that the new option may let users import previous conversations into Gemini specifically to help it learn their preferences, with the behavior demonstrated in an example from TestingCatalog that shows the feature when activated in a test build, a flow that is described in detail in coverage of the new option.
From clunky workarounds to a one click migration
Until now, moving from ChatGPT to Gemini has meant either abandoning old chats or relying on awkward manual exports that do not integrate cleanly with a new assistant. One report notes that there is currently no way to easily import existing chats and memories from one AI platform to another, highlighting how Even after all these years it is still difficult to migrate data between ecosystems like Android and iOS, and that the same problem has persisted in AI tools, a limitation that is spelled out in an analysis that points out there is no way to do this today.
Users have been improvising. In one Reddit thread, a Gemini fan walks through a multi step process that starts with Exporting Data from ChatGPT, instructing people to use the Official Data Export by signing in, clicking on the profile icon, and waiting for a zip file before manually feeding pieces of that archive into Gemini, a workaround detailed in a guide that explains how to transfer data. Another example comes from a creator who describes how they “Just quietly transferred all my data from Chat GPT to Claude and in just 2 minutes” by requesting an export and then uploading the zip file, a process they frame as a game changer in a short video about moving data from Chat GPT to Claude and. Gemini’s planned import feature effectively bakes these DIY patterns into the product itself, turning a clunky and time consuming series of steps into a guided migration.
Why Google is targeting ChatGPT loyalists
Gemini is not just adding a convenience feature, it is going after one of the main reasons some users have stayed with ChatGPT despite being curious about alternatives. One commentator notes that Gemini is working on a way to import ChatGPT conversations and that it looks like Google may finally address this limitation so people can bring over their existing threads and continue working from there, a motivation spelled out in coverage that explains why Gemini has struggled to win over some holdouts. Another report frames the current process of moving chats as clunky and time consuming, arguing that a native import option might finally fix one of the reasons people have not switched yet, a point made explicitly in a piece that says Gemini might solve this barrier.
Google’s own testing strategy underlines how central this is to its Gemini roadmap. One analysis notes that Google is quietly testing a feature that could remove one of the biggest barriers to switching AI assistants, describing how the company is experimenting with easy chat imports as part of a broader push to make Gemini a hub for planning and personal knowledge management, a direction captured in a report that says Google is quietly trialing this. Another source notes that out of the features Google is currently testing in Gemini, the most compelling appears to be the ability to import chats from other chatbots, underscoring that this migration tool is not a side experiment but a headline capability among the options Google is prioritizing.
What the import experience could look like inside Gemini
Early glimpses suggest that the import feature will surface as a clearly labeled control inside Gemini’s settings or onboarding flow. In one leak, the “Import AI chats” option is marked as beta and is set to appear in the interface for some users, with a Reddit Comments Section highlighting how the toggle is expected to show up and noting that a Top 1% Commenter flagged its presence in a preview build, details that come from a discussion about how Comments Section users spotted the change. Another report explains that when users click the import option, they will likely be guided through selecting a file that contains exported chats from services like ChatGPT or Claude, then see those conversations appear inside Gemini as part of their history, a flow described in coverage that says Google is testing the option to import chats from other AI chatbots and then bring them into Gemini using the option.
Under the hood, Gemini already has some of the plumbing needed to handle large external files. One workflow template for developers shows how a system can upload and import a file into the Search Store, accepting a file upload via a form, then uploading the file to Gemini using a specific endpoint so it becomes searchable in the Search Store, a pattern documented in a guide that walks through STEP 2, titled Upload and import a file into the Search Store Accepts. Repurposing that kind of file ingestion pipeline for chat archives is a logical extension, and it would allow Gemini to treat imported histories as long term memory that can be searched, summarized, or referenced in new conversations.
Privacy, personalization, and the broader AI memory race
Importing years of conversations into a new AI assistant raises obvious questions about privacy and control, and Google appears to be anticipating that scrutiny. The same pop up that explains the need to download history from another AI platform also emphasizes that the tool will not verify a user’s identity without permission, a detail included in the description of how None of the major platforms currently offer such seamless imports and why the new Gemini feature is framed with explicit language about identity and consent, as outlined in the report that notes None of the existing tools work this way. Another source points out that Even after all these years it is still difficult to migrate data between platforms like Android and iOS, and that unfortunately the same fragmentation has applied to AI assistants, a comparison drawn in an analysis that laments how Even basic data portability has lagged.
