DeepSeek vs. TotalRecalls
DeepSeek is unusually valuable to back up, because the reasoning is the artifact. A lot of what you’d want later isn’t the answer — it’s how the model got there.
What “download” usually means
DeepSeek does not provide a built-in data download for chat history. The only manual path is to open each conversation, select the text, and paste it into a local file. That costs you the formatting, and — more importantly — the thinking block, which is gone within a few page refreshes.
Why the chain-of-thought matters
DeepSeek-R1 streams a thinking_content block before its final answer. That reasoning is often more useful than the answer itself: the worked solution, the self-correction, the trade-off analysis. If you back up by hand, it’s gone. If you back up with TotalRecalls, it’s stored next to the final answer, with the timestamp and model name.
What TotalRecalls does
TotalRecalls runs on your PC, connects to your DeepSeek session locally, and writes conversations into folders as Markdown + JSON. Chain-of-thought blocks are kept as collapsible sections so the reasoning stays readable but doesn’t drown the answer.
| Manual copy/paste | TotalRecalls | |
|---|---|---|
| Official export available | No | — |
| Reasoning / thinking blocks | Lost | Preserved |
| Formatting | Flattened | Markdown + JSON |
| Scales past a handful of chats | No | Full history |
| Works on the free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Sits with your other AI tools | No | Same library, all 8 providers |
Which should you use?
Use manual copy/paste for one or two conversations you need right now. Use TotalRecalls when you want a complete, searchable archive with the reasoning intact — especially if you also use ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral or Qwen and want one archive location.
Good to know: TotalRecalls reads your browser session — it does not call the DeepSeek API. It works on the free tier, the pro tier, and any plan that uses the chat.deepseek.com web app. Run the download while your session is still active; DeepSeek sessions expire on inactivity. DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1 share the same download path and both download cleanly.
FAQ
- Does DeepSeek let me export my chats?
- No. DeepSeek does not provide a built-in data download — the only manual path is pasting each conversation into a file yourself.
- Will I lose the R1 thinking blocks?
- With copy/paste, yes — they disappear after a few refreshes. TotalRecalls keeps the reasoning alongside the final answer.
- Does it use the DeepSeek API or an API key?
- Neither. TotalRecalls reads your browser session, so it works on the free tier without any developer credentials.
Next: step-by-step DeepSeek guide · Download for Windows · Pricing