Both settings keep your Gemini chats out of AI training, and both still hold the chat for 72 hours. Keep Activity off is an account-wide switch. Temporary Chat is a per-conversation choice. Neither stops Google processing the chat to answer you and to protect its users.
Keep Activity
Google's help page says that with Keep Activity on, your chats and what you share with Gemini, such as files, videos, screens and photos, are saved in your Activity. Audio, Gemini Live videos and screenshares, feedback and product usage are also stored, along with location info.
Activity is auto-deleted after 18 months by default. You can change that to 3 or 36 months, or choose not to auto-delete. You can also delete chats by hand at any time, at myactivity.google.com/product/gemini.
Keep Activity off
Future chats do not appear in your Activity and are not used to train Google's AI models, unless you submit feedback. They are still saved for 72 hours so Gemini can respond and Google can process feedback and protect users.
There is a cost. With Keep Activity off, some Connected Apps, such as Google Workspace, become unavailable.
Temporary Chats
Temporary chats are kept with your account for 72 hours, and responses use the last 24 hours of the chat as context. Google says they are not used to train its AI models and are excluded from human review used to improve its AI.
Side by side
- Scope: Keep Activity off covers all future chats. Temporary Chat covers one conversation.
- Held for 72 hours: both.
- Used for training: not with Keep Activity off, unless you send feedback. Not with Temporary Chat.
- Connected Apps such as Workspace: some are unavailable with Keep Activity off. The page does not say the same for Temporary Chat.
What neither one is
Google is direct about this. Even with Keep Activity off or when using Temporary Chats, Google still processes your chats to respond to you and to protect Google, its users and the public, including with help from human reviewers. Think of both modes as limits on training and history, not as a promise that nobody can ever look.
Which to pick
Use Temporary Chat for a one-off sensitive question. Turn Keep Activity off if you rarely want a history at all. If you want Gemini to work with your Workspace apps, expect to leave activity on, and manage it with a shorter auto-delete period instead.
Quick check
Does Keep Activity off mean Google deletes chats immediately?
No. Google says the chats are still saved for 72 hours.
Does sending feedback change anything?
Yes. Google says chats are not used for training with Keep Activity off unless you submit feedback.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
