In 15 minutes Claude will know your name, your business, who you serve and how you like answers. You set it once and it carries into every chat, so you stop explaining yourself every time you open it.
What you’ll need.
Get these set up first. Everything below uses them.
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Pick your plan
Start free. Upgrade the day you hit a limit you care about.
Claude has a free plan and paid plans. Everything in this guide works on the free plan, so you can set it all up today and decide later.
When I checked in October 2026, the pricing page listed Free at $0, Pro at $20 a month (or $17 a month paid yearly), and Max from $100 a month. Prices are in US dollars and they do change, so check the page before you pay.
- Free: right for trying it out and for a few chats a week.
- Pro: right for most solo business owners who use it every day. You get more usage, and extras like scheduled tasks.
- Max: for people who use it all day and keep running out on Pro.
See the current plans here: claude.com/pricing ↗
Tell this page about you
Your answers write your instructions for Claude in the next step. They stay in your browser and nobody else sees them.
Paste in your instructions
This is the big one. Whatever you put here goes into every chat, so Claude starts each one already knowing you.
- Go to claude.ai and sign in.
- Click your initials in the lower left corner, then click Settings.
- Find the box called Instructions for Claude. On some accounts it sits under Profile and asks what personal preferences Claude should consider.
- Copy your instructions below, paste them into that box and save.
ABOUT ME - My name is [YOUR FIRST NAME]. - My business: [YOUR BUSINESS IN ONE LINE] - Who I serve: [WHO YOU SERVE] HOW TO ANSWER ME - Keep answers short. Give me the answer first, then only the detail I need. - I’m not technical. Explain any tech step like I’ve never done it, and tell me exactly where to click. - Write in British English (colour, organise, favourite). - Use plain words and short sentences. No jargon unless I use it first. - When you write anything my customers will read, make it sound like a real person, not a brochure. - If my question is unclear, ask me one short question before you answer. - If you're not sure something is true, say so. Never make up facts, numbers or quotes.
Choose what Claude remembers
Memory lets Claude pick up details from your chats, so it keeps getting better at helping you without you repeating yourself.
- Go to Settings, then Memory.
- Generate memory from chats: turn this on if you want Claude to remember useful details from your chats. It’s on by default on the Free, Pro and Max plans.
- Search and reference chats: turn this on so Claude can look back through past chats when you ask about them. This one is on paid plans.
- Read what Claude has saved about you. Use the edit icon to fix anything wrong, or delete it.
Switch on the features that matter
Three settings decide what Claude can actually do for you. Check them once and forget about them.
Let Claude make real files
- Go to Settings, then Capabilities.
- Make sure Code execution and file creation is on. It’s on by default for most people.
- Now Claude can hand you Word documents, spreadsheets, slide decks and PDFs to download.
Decide if your chats help train Claude
- Go to Settings, then Privacy.
- Look for Help improve Claude. On means your chats can be used to train future models. Off means they can’t.
- Pick whichever you’re happy with. If you talk about clients in Claude, most people turn it off.
Connect the apps you live in
Go to Customize, then Connectors. This is where you connect Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive and others, so Claude can read your inbox or find a file for you. I’ve got a separate guide for that one.
Put Claude where you work
If it’s one tap away you’ll use it. If it’s buried in a browser tab you won’t.
- On your computer: download Claude Desktop for Mac or Windows from claude.com/download.
- On your phone: get the Claude app from the App Store or Google Play and sign in with the same account.
- Your instructions, memory and chats follow you everywhere you sign in.
Look at what you know about me and my business. Then suggest 5 jobs I do every week that you could help me with, starting with the one that would save me the most time. Keep each one to two lines.
Take your downloads
Tick what you want. Each file is written from your answers in step 2.
Your tools, one more time.
If something goes wrong.
I can’t find Instructions for Claude
Claude is moving accounts to a new layout in stages, so the box sits in different places. Open Settings and look under General or Profile. On the older layout it’s the box asking what personal preferences Claude should consider.
Claude ignores my instructions
Start a new chat. Instructions apply from the start of a chat, so old chats don’t pick them up. If it still misses one, make that line shorter and clearer.
I don’t see Search and reference chats
That setting is on the paid plans (Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise). On the free plan you’ll see the other memory settings.
Claude remembered something wrong about me
Go to Settings, then Memory, read what it saved and use the edit icon to fix it. You can also just tell Claude in a chat: "Forget that I sell courses. I sell 1:1 coaching."
I’m on a Team plan and some settings are missing
On Team and Enterprise plans, the account owner switches some features on for everyone. Ask whoever set up the account.