OpenAI has introduced a feature that allows ChatGPT users to lock individual conversations, adding a layer of privacy for people who want to keep sensitive discussions out of their regular chat history.
According to OpenAI’s Help Centre, locked chats can be protected with a four-digit account PIN or, on supported devices, Face ID, Touch ID or device authentication.
The feature is designed for situations where users share their devices or screens with friends and family and want to prevent personal conversations from appearing alongside their regular chats.
Unlike Temporary Chats, which are designed for conversations that do not appear in regular chat history, locked chats allow users to save and revisit conversations while keeping them separate from their usual chat list and search results.
How ChatGPT’s locked chats work
Once a conversation is locked, it moves to a dedicated Locked Chats section under Projects. Its title and contents are removed from regular chat history and standard conversation search.
Users can reopen a locked conversation by entering their PIN or using supported device authentication. The feature also protects files uploaded or created within the locked conversation.
OpenAI says the feature is gradually rolling out across ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. It is not available on ChatGPT for Healthcare, and users may not see the option until it reaches their accounts.
Certain conversations cannot be locked, including Temporary Chats, archived chats, group conversations, chats created from shared links, conversations with scheduled tasks and chats containing meeting recordings.
Locked chats do not provide end-to-end encryption
OpenAI has clarified that locking a conversation does not create end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault. It also does not change how long the company retains a conversation or alter the user’s existing model-improvement settings.
The feature does not remove information ChatGPT remembered before a conversation was locked.
When Memory is enabled, locked chats can use relevant information from regular Memory. However, information remembered exclusively within locked chats does not carry over into regular conversations.
New messages in locked chats can contribute to a separate memory shared among conversations within that section.
These distinctions mean the feature primarily controls access to conversations within the ChatGPT interface rather than changing how the underlying data is stored or retained.
Forgetting a PIN can permanently delete locked chats
OpenAI has also warned users about the consequences of resetting a forgotten account PIN.
Resetting the PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, information remembered exclusively within those chats, and files or other content protected only by the previous PIN. The deletion cannot be undone, and OpenAI Support cannot recover the deleted content.
Users who still know their existing PIN can change it without deleting their locked conversations.
Locked chats and Temporary Chats serve different
purposes
Although both features offer privacy-related benefits, they are designed for different needs.
Locked Chats allow users to retain conversations while restricting access through authentication. Temporary Chats, meanwhile, are intended for conversations that stay out of regular chat history and are not used to improve OpenAI’s models while they remain temporary, subject to the feature’s applicable settings and policies.
