Chats that have been taken off the record aren't stored in your Gmail chat history, or in the Gmail chat history of your contact. You and the person you're talking to can both see when a chat is taken off the record, and you'll be notified if off the record mode is disabled. Your off the record settings will apply whenever you chat with this person, until one of you makes a change. Additionally, chats sent through orkut are never saved in chat history.
To take a chat off the record in Gmail and iGoogle:
- Click the Options link in the bottom of the chat window.
- Select Go off the record.
To see a demonstration of going off the record, or turning off your chat history, click the video below.
When you take a chat off the record, a message will appear confirming that future chats with this particular contact won't be saved, unless one of you changes the setting. If you decide at any time that your chats no longer need to be off the record, click Cancel at the top of the chat window, or Stop chatting off the record in the chat window's Options menu.
Keep in mind that if you're talking to someone who is connected to the network with a desktop chat client, it's possible that his or her software is keeping a separate copy of the chat history.