5 Things to Set Up in Claude Before Your First Conversation

Most people open Claude, type a question, and never touch the settings. That is a mistake. There are five things you can configure in about five minutes that quietly change every answer you get afterwards. I set these up on every new account and every device I sign into — and I do them before the first real conversation, because the rest of the experience compounds on top of them.

1. Turn on Memory

This is the setting that lets Claude actually know who you are. Open Settings, go to Capabilities, and toggle on Memory. Without it, every chat starts from zero and you re-explain yourself constantly. With it on, Claude carries your name, your work, your preferences, and the useful context from past conversations forward. Turn this on first, because the four settings below all build on it.

2. Write your instructions for Claude

One short paragraph here changes every reply Claude gives you. Under Settings, General, find Instructions for Claude (sometimes called custom instructions). Tell it who you are, what you do, and how you want it to respond. Mine reads roughly: I am a full-stack developer, I prefer short direct answers, skip the corporate filler, and tell me when I am wrong. Claude then applies those rules in every conversation, so you stop re-stating them each time.

3. Set your writing style

If Claude sounds too formal, too long, or too robotic, this is usually why. In Settings, General, find Writing Style and either pick a preset or create a custom one. This is separate from your instructions: instructions tell Claude what to do, style tells it how to sound. Set it once and the tone matches yours across every chat going forward.

4. Import your ChatGPT memory

If you have spent months building up context in ChatGPT, you do not have to start from scratch. In Settings, Capabilities, look for the import option that pulls your saved ChatGPT memories into Claude. It is one of the least-known features, and it means everything the other assistant learned about you can transfer over in a single step. Availability depends on your plan and region, so check whether the option is present on your account before you count on it.

5. Create your first Project

This is the feature most people scroll straight past, and it is the most powerful one here. Open Projects in the sidebar and choose New Project — name it something like My Business or Job Search. Upload your relevant files, paste in your background, and add project instructions. Every chat you start inside that project now loads that full context automatically, so you never re-explain the basics again. It is also the exact mechanism behind the Council setup I wrote about separately.

Five minutes, every conversation after

Run through them in order and the whole thing takes about five minutes:

• Memory (Settings, Capabilities) — lets Claude remember you between chats
• Instructions for Claude (Settings, General) — one paragraph that shapes every answer
• Writing Style (Settings, General) — fixes the tone so Claude sounds the way you want
• Import from ChatGPT (Settings, Capabilities) — brings your existing context across
• Your first Project (sidebar) — a workspace that loads your full background automatically

The difference between people who find Claude mediocre and people who find it indispensable is rarely the prompts. It is usually these five settings.Md Raihan Hasan

None of this is hidden or advanced — it is just skipped. Spend the five minutes once, and every conversation after starts with Claude already knowing who you are, how you want to be spoken to, and what you are working on.