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How to migrate from ChatGPT or Copilot to Claude

What moves, what has to be rebuilt and in which order, when a company switches its assistant from ChatGPT Enterprise or Microsoft 365 Copilot to Claude.

Written and reviewed by Solorai

In short

Almost nothing moves automatically. Instructions, reference files and prompts are copied by hand, custom GPTs and agents are rebuilt as Claude projects or skills, integrations are reconnected through connectors, and chat history stays behind as an archive. A migration is a rollout with an inventory in front of it.

For ChatGPT there is a date. OpenAI plans to retire custom GPTs on 11 December 2026, or on 11 February 2027 for workspaces with an approved deferral. Whether they move to OpenAI’s plugins or to Claude, they have to be rebuilt and tested before then.

What moves and what does not

What you have	How it leaves	What it becomes in Claude
Custom instructions and saved prompts	Copied by hand	Project instructions and skills
Custom GPTs and Copilot agents	Instructions and files copied by hand; custom actions are rebuilt	Projects for standing knowledge, skills for repeatable procedures
Reference files	Downloaded and uploaded again, or left where they are	Project knowledge, or a connector to Google Drive or Microsoft 365
Integrations	Rebuilt	Connectors, and custom connectors through remote MCP servers
Memory	Exported by each user with a prompt	Memory import
Chat history	Kept in the old system for the retention period	Not imported

The date for custom GPTs

OpenAI is retiring custom GPTs on every ChatGPT plan and replacing them with plugins. For Enterprise workspaces it has published these dates, which it says can change:

Date	What happens
26 October 2026	Creation of new custom GPTs ended in affected Enterprise workspaces
11 December 2026	Scheduled retirement: custom GPTs stop running
11 February 2027	Retirement for workspaces with an approved deferral

OpenAI’s own migration turns the instructions of a GPT into a skill inside a plugin. Custom actions do not transfer and have to be rebuilt, and a migrated plugin may respond differently. The work of listing, rebuilding and testing each GPT is the same whichever platform it moves to.

Step 1: Take an inventory

List every custom GPT and agentWith its owner, what it is for and how much it is used. In ChatGPT Enterprise, admins can export GPT usage as a CSV from the Admin Console.
Save the instructions and the filesFor each one, copy the instructions and download the reference files while the original still runs.
List the integrationsCustom actions, connected apps and the systems each one reads or writes.
Collect the prompts teams reuseAsk each department for the five to ten prompts it could not work without.
Pick what to rebuildRebuild what is used. Retire the rest.

Step 2: Set up Claude

Before anything is rebuilt, the organisation has to exist in Claude: the plan and the seats, single sign-on, how accounts are created, data retention, audit logs and the approved connectors. The Claude Enterprise rollout checklist covers each of these steps.

Step 3: Rebuild the assistants

A custom GPT or a Copilot agent becomes one of two things in Claude:

A project: instructions and reference material for one team or one subject, shared across the organisation.
A skill: a procedure that Claude loads when a task calls for it, available in every chat.

Rewrite the instructionsDo not paste them unchanged. Models read instructions differently, so state the goal, the audience and the format again.
Reconnect the dataUpload the reference files to the project, or turn on the connector to the system where they already live.
Rebuild the integrationsWith an approved connector, or a custom connector through a remote MCP server, each reviewed before it is turned on.
Test against the originalRun a few familiar prompts and at least one hard case, and compare the answers with the old assistant.
Name an ownerOne person keeps each project or skill current.

Step 4: Move personal context

Claude has a memory import. Each user copies a prompt from Claude into the old assistant, copies the answer, and pastes it back into Claude, which stores what it finds as memory entries. It is listed for all plans on the web and desktop apps; check that memory is enabled for your organisation.

The import carries preferences and context, not conversations.

Step 5: Decide what happens to chat history

Chat history is not imported into Claude. Treat it as a record to keep, not as data to move.

ChatGPT Business and Enterprise: self-service export is not available to members. On Enterprise, workspace owners reach conversations through the Compliance API.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: prompts and responses stay in your Microsoft 365 tenant and can be searched and exported with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery.

Agree with legal and compliance how long the old records are kept and who can reach them after the licences end.

Step 6: Run both, then switch

Start with a pilot groupThe people who used the old assistant most, in one or two departments.
Run both for a fixed periodLong enough to compare the rebuilt assistants on real work.
Train by roleOn each department’s own workflows, with the new projects and skills.
Set a switch dateAnd tell people where their old assistants went.
End the old licences at renewalAfter the records from step 5 are secured.

You do not have to leave Microsoft 365 to use Claude: it connects to Microsoft 365 through a connector that an Owner enables.

Sources

FAQ

Questions about moving to Claude

Can we import our ChatGPT chat history into Claude?

No. Claude’s memory import carries preferences and context, not conversations. Keep the old history as a record for as long as your retention rules require.

Do custom GPTs convert to Claude automatically?

No. The instructions and files are copied by hand into a Claude project or a skill, and custom actions are rebuilt as connectors. Test each one against the original before people switch.

When do custom GPTs stop working?

OpenAI has scheduled the retirement for 11 December 2026, and for 11 February 2027 in workspaces with an approved deferral. OpenAI says the dates can change.

Can we keep Microsoft 365 Copilot and add Claude?

Yes. The two are licensed separately, and Claude connects to Microsoft 365 through a connector.

Move to Claude without losing work. Start with a 30-minute briefing.

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