# What goes into NoteOwl's memory > NoteOwl's memory is built from your meetings, imported recordings and notes you take in NoteOwl. Dictations into other apps stay out unless you turn them on. Source: https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/memory/what-feeds-memory · Last updated 2026-09-27 · Checked against NoteOwl 1.0.0 NoteOwl's memory is built from your meetings, the recordings you import in **Transcripts**, and the voice notes and dictations you make inside NoteOwl. Dictations into other apps, such as a quick email, stay out of it unless you turn on **Dictations into other apps feed memory** in **Settings → Memory**. NoteOwl builds its memory on your Mac, and **Chat**, **People**, **Commitments** and **Review** read from it. Those are part of NoteOwl Pro, which you can try free for 7 days: see [start the 7-day NoteOwl Pro trial](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/pro/free-trial). ## What feeds NoteOwl's memory? Everything you record or import in NoteOwl, and the notes you take inside it. Only dictations you make into other apps with **fn** are left out, unless you choose otherwise in **Settings → Memory**. | What you capture | In memory? | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Meetings you record in **Meeting Scribe** or with **⌥ Space** | Always | | Recordings you import in **Transcripts** | Always | | Voice notes you record with **New Dictation** | Always | | Dictations into NoteOwl itself | Always | | Dictations into other apps with **fn** | Only with **Dictations into other apps feed memory** on. It's off to start with | ## What does NoteOwl take from a recording? When a recording joins its memory, NoteOwl reads the transcript on your Mac and notes three kinds of thing: * **People**: the people who are mentioned or who speak. * **Commitments**: what someone said they'd do, who owes it to whom, and when it's due. * **Facts**: decisions and other things worth remembering, such as a budget figure. Each one keeps a link to the lines of the transcript it came from. The transcript and summary are also added to the search index, so **Chat** and **Search everything** can find the passages themselves. ## What does NoteOwl's memory power? Five parts of NoteOwl read from it, all part of NoteOwl Pro: | Where | What it uses memory for | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Chat** | Answers your questions from your recordings and shows the passages it used | | **Search everything** | Finds passages across all your recordings: see [search everything with ⌘K](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/chat/search-everything) | | **People** | A profile for each person NoteOwl notes | | **Commitments** | The **I owe** and **Owed to me** board | | **Review** | What needs your attention, and what you captured in the last day | ## Keep dictations into other apps in or out 1. Open NoteOwl and click **Settings** in the sidebar. 2. Click the **Memory** tab. 3. Under **What feeds memory**, turn **Dictations into other apps feed memory** on or off. It's off to start with. The setting applies to dictations you make after you change it. Turning it on doesn't add older dictations to memory. ![NoteOwl Settings, Memory tab: Dictations into other apps feed memory switched off under What feeds memory, and Automatically identify speakers switched on under Speakers](https://www.noteowl.ai/product/p2-what-feeds-memory.webp) ## Are dictations into other apps still saved when it's off? Yes. NoteOwl saves every dictation in **Dictations**, with your raw words and the polished version, and **Search everything** can still find it. With the setting off, NoteOwl just doesn't take people, commitments or facts from dictations into other apps. **Chat** searches your meetings and imported recordings to start with. Click **Meetings & transcripts** under the question box to include your dictations too: see [ask questions about your meetings in Chat](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/chat/ask-your-meetings). ## What happens when something changes later? NoteOwl keeps the newer statement. When a later recording updates a fact it noted earlier, such as a new budget figure, NoteOwl treats the later one as current and keeps the earlier one as history. "Later" means when it was said, not when NoteOwl processed it. Processing an old recording again doesn't override what a newer one said. ## Tell NoteOwl who you are NoteOwl uses your name to tell what you owe from what's owed to you. In **Settings → Memory**, under **Who you are**, type your name in **Your name** and click **Save**. ## How do I erase NoteOwl's memory? Use **Delete all my data** in **Settings → Memory**. It erases every recording, transcript and memory on your Mac and can't be undone, so export anything you want to keep first. See [delete a recording or all your data](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/data/delete-all-data). ## Common questions ### Does NoteOwl's memory leave my Mac? No. NoteOwl builds its memory on your Mac with on-device AI models, and keeps it in NoteOwl's own files there. Nothing in your memory is uploaded to NoteOwl or anyone else. ### Why are dictations into other apps left out of NoteOwl's memory? Most dictations into other apps are quick messages and emails, and they would fill NoteOwl's memory with people and to-dos that don't matter later. That's why Dictations into other apps feed memory is off to start with. Notes you take inside NoteOwl always count. ### Can I still find a dictation that isn't in NoteOwl's memory? Yes. With the setting off, NoteOwl still saves every dictation in Dictations, and Search everything can still find it. NoteOwl just doesn't take people, commitments or facts from it. ## Related - [Ask questions about your meetings in Chat](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/chat/ask-your-meetings): Ask NoteOwl Chat about your meetings in plain words. It answers on your Mac from your own recordings, shows the passages it used, and says when nothing matches. - [Search everything with ⌘K](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/chat/search-everything): Press ⌘K in NoteOwl to search every meeting, note and person on your Mac. Each match opens at its passage, and a question gets a short answer too. - [Find, play and export your dictations](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/dictation/voice-notes): NoteOwl saves every dictation in Dictations. Record voice notes with New Dictation, then filter, rename, compare raw and polished text, play and export them. - [Delete a recording or all your data](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/data/delete-all-data): Delete one meeting, dictation or transcript in NoteOwl, or erase your whole library with Delete all my data in Settings → Memory, and see what stays. Learn more: [Chat and memory, on the NoteOwl Features page](https://www.noteowl.ai/features#memory)