How to search all your AI chats in one place (2026)

Each AI chat site only searches its own history. If you use Perplexity for research, ChatGPT for drafting and Grok or Copilot for quick questions, a good answer can be in any of four places. The simple fix is to keep a copy of all of them as plain Markdown files in one folder on your computer, then search that folder with a tool you already have.

ThreadVault 1.2.4 exports chats from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Microsoft Copilot (all tested) into one ZIP of Markdown and JSON. It does not have a search feature of its own; the files are made to be searched by other tools.

Step 1: export each AI into the same folder

Open each site in Chrome and sign in: perplexity.ai, chatgpt.com, grok.com, copilot.com.
Click the ThreadVault icon and choose Bulk export, select the chats you want, and save the ZIP.
Unzip every ZIP into one folder, for example AI chats. Chats are already sorted by site into perplexity/, chatgpt/, grok/ and copilot/ folders, with file names like grok/2026-11-10 Your Chat Title.md.

Every Markdown file starts with a small header (YAML frontmatter) that holds the chat's title, date, source (perplexity, chatgpt, grok or copilot) and url. Each message sits under a "You" heading or a heading with the AI's name. That structure is what makes the searches below work. Site-by-site steps: export Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Copilot chats in one place.

Option 1: Obsidian (free, best for browsing)

In Obsidian, choose Open folder as vault and pick your AI chats folder. Open Search with Ctrl+Shift+F (Cmd+Shift+F on a Mac). Useful searches, all from Obsidian's search help:

Search for	Type this
An exact phrase	`"vector database"`
Only Grok chats	`[source:grok] pricing`
Grok or Copilot chats	`[source:grok OR copilot] pricing`
Only one folder	`path:chatgpt pricing`
Chats from one month	`file:2026-11 pricing` (file names start with the date)
A word but not another	`pricing -enterprise`

Obsidian reads each file's frontmatter as properties, which is why [source:grok] works. More on setting up the vault: keep Perplexity and ChatGPT chats in one Obsidian vault (the same steps work with Grok and Copilot folders added).

Option 2: VS Code or another code editor

Open the folder in Visual Studio Code with File, Open Folder, then press Ctrl+Shift+F (Cmd+Shift+F on a Mac) to search across every file (VS Code's search help). Put grok/** in "files to include" to search one AI only. This is fast on thousands of files and shows each match in context.

Option 3: one command, no app

Mac or Linux, in a terminal opened in your AI chats folder:

# every chat that mentions a word (case-insensitive)
grep -ril "pricing" --include="*.md" .

# show the matching lines with line numbers
grep -rin "pricing" --include="*.md" .

# only Copilot chats, using the source field
grep -rl --include="*.md" "^source: copilot" .

# only the grok folder
grep -ril "pricing" grok/

We ran these on ThreadVault Markdown exports on 12 November 2026, including file names with spaces. If you have ripgrep installed, rg -il "pricing" -g "*.md" does the same thing faster.

Windows (PowerShell), per Microsoft's Select-String docs:

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.md | Select-String -Pattern "pricing" -List | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Path

Keep it up to date

Run a fresh export now and then, for example monthly, and unzip it over the same folder. File names start with the chat's date and title, so new chats sort in by date.
The manifest in each ZIP lists every chat that was exported and any that could not be read, so you can tell if something is missing.
For Copilot, if the chat list does not load through the usual page requests, ThreadVault lists the chats visible in the open sidebar and warns you. Scroll the sidebar to load older chats, then refresh.
ThreadVault also exports Claude and Gemini chats; see the guides for Claude and Gemini.

Pricing

ThreadVault is free for 25 threads on this browser. Unlimited is $9 for the first 50 buyers, then $19, one-time, inside the extension. No subscription.

One searchable folder for all your AI chats. ThreadVault (disclosure: we make it) exports Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Copilot chats from tabs you are already signed into, as Markdown plus JSON, built in your browser so your chats never touch our servers. Free for 25 threads.
Add ThreadVault to Chrome Learn more

Related guides

Not affiliated with Perplexity AI, OpenAI, xAI, Microsoft or Obsidian. Last checked November 12, 2026 against Obsidian Help, VS Code docs and Microsoft Learn; app menus change, so verify names in the app. Questions or corrections: hello@loomwise.app.