If you can't find project-only memory in ChatGPT Projects, it's often not because your account hasn't been updated, but because the project you opened is an old project, or your personal memory/workspace memory conditions are not met.
The most misleading part of this feature is that it is not a switch that can be changed at any time afterwards. OpenAI's current rule is that project-only memory can only be selected when creating a new project. Existing old projects will continue to maintain the default memory and cannot be changed directly to project-only. Many people go back and forth in the project settings, but in fact, they have found the wrong place from the beginning.
So the first step is to determine which situation you have:
1. If this is a previously built project and you want to use project-only memory, the safest way is to create a new project and move the required chat over.
2. If you are a Business or Enterprise user, make sure that the workspace's memory has not been turned off by the administrator, and that your own personal memory is also open.
3. If you are a regular subscriber, you usually need to turn on Reference saved memories and Reference chat history at the same time, otherwise the project memory will be incomplete, and you will not even be able to see the corresponding options.
Many people may wonder: since project-only is a "more closed" mode, why do you still need to leave the Memory setting on? The reason is that it does not remember at all, but shrinks the boundaries of memory into the project. The system still needs to have memory ability itself to reference and continue between chats in the project.
Another easy pitfall is to confuse shared projects with ordinary projects. Once the project enters the shared scene, the memory boundary will be stricter, and the system will automatically limit the context to the project to avoid bringing personal external memories into the shared space. The behavior changes you see are not necessarily bugs, but are often caused by product design.
If your current goal is just "don't let this project quote my chats elsewhere", the most time-saving approach is usually not to continue tossing around with old projects, but to select project-only when creating a new project and move the current task over. This is much less troublesome than repeatedly testing in the original project.
Summary: If you can't see project-only memory, you should prioritize suspecting project creation time and memory preconditions, rather than suspecting account anomalies first. This problem can be solved 90% by creating a new project and checking the memory settings.
