ChatGPT Locked Chats
ChatGPT Locked Chats is a conversation-access feature in ChatGPT. It saves selected conversations behind an account PIN or supported mobile-device authentication and removes them from regular history, pinned chats, and regular conversation search. OpenAI began its gradual rollout on October 20, 2026.[1][2]
Locking is an access and visibility control, not a separate encrypted vault. It does not create end-to-end encryption, change retention, or turn off the account's model-improvement setting.[3]
Availability
| Item | Documented availability |
|---|---|
| Personal plans | Free, Go, Plus, and Pro, with a gradual rollout.[1] |
| Organizational plans | Business, Enterprise, and Edu, also rolling out gradually.[2][4] |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, and the new ChatGPT desktop app for macOS and Windows.[1][2] |
| Conversation scope | Eligible cloud conversations in Chat or ChatGPT Work. Local Work conversations and all Codex conversations, including cloud Codex, are excluded.[3] |
| Healthcare | Not available on ChatGPT for Healthcare.[3] |
| Voice | Supported in locked chats on web, iOS, and Android where Voice is available to the account, but not in the desktop app.[3] |
Rollout eligibility and conversation eligibility are separate. An account may not yet have the feature, and an otherwise eligible account can still have conversations that cannot be locked.[3]
Opening and managing conversations
For an eligible existing conversation, the chat's more-options menu contains Lock chat. The confirmation flow creates or requests a four-digit account PIN. Saved locked conversations are found under Projects > Locked chats. After the initial setup, new conversations can also be started from that area.[3]
Opening a locked chat is temporary access, not permanent unlocking. The conversation remains outside ordinary history and search. There is no search across all locked conversations; users browse the locked-chat area instead. The Unlock chat action permanently returns a conversation to regular history, although search results can take time to refresh.[3][5]
Access on web and desktop applies to the authenticated tab or app window. Other tabs or windows require authentication separately. Lock now ends access immediately; leaving the tab or window also triggers automatic relocking, and refreshing or closing a web tab ends its access. Opening an ordinary chat in the same tab does not itself end access to locked chats.[3]
On iOS and Android, access ends after one minute away from the locked chat or locked-chat area, or one minute in the background. Optional Face ID or Touch ID on iOS and device unlock on Android apply only to the device where they are enabled. They do not replace the account PIN.[3]
Conversation lists on other open devices may need to refresh before the title disappears. Previously loaded content on iOS may also remain visible until the app refreshes. Locking should therefore not be treated as an immediate screen-clearing action across every device.[3]
Account PIN and recovery
The PIN belongs to the OpenAI account rather than an individual workspace and works across supported devices signed into that account. PIN management is under Settings > Security and login > Account PIN.[3]
| Action | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Change a known PIN | Requires the current PIN and preserves the locked conversations. Device authentication does not remove that requirement.[3] |
| Forget the PIN | Forgetting it does not itself delete content.[3] |
| Reset a forgotten PIN | Permanently deletes all locked chats, memories stored only within them, and files or other content protected only by the previous PIN. The reset requires identity verification and confirmation.[3] |
OpenAI Support cannot recover content deleted by a PIN reset. Workspace administrators cannot unlock a member's locked chats or reset the member's PIN.[3]
Memory and files
When Memory is enabled, locked chats can use relevant information from regular Memory. New messages sent while a chat is locked do not personalize regular chats, but information from them can be remembered for use in other locked chats. Locking does not remove information remembered before the lock was applied. Workspace Memory restrictions still apply.[3][6]
After permanent unlocking, the full conversation may again contribute to regular Memory if settings and workspace policies permit it. Memories created in the locked-chat area are not automatically transferred into regular Memory. This is different from a mode that never creates memories.[3][6]
Files uploaded or created in a locked conversation are hidden from Library while it is locked. They can be opened only inside that originating chat, not in other conversations, including other locked chats. Files brought in from elsewhere in Library or connected services keep their existing access rules; locking the conversation does not protect those separate copies. Permanently unlocking the chat makes its protected files visible in Library again if they were saved there.[7]
Privacy, sharing, and workspace limits
Existing shared links are not revoked by locking. Content previously shared through such a link remains accessible, although new messages sent while the conversation is locked are not added. Stopping access to the previously shared content requires deleting the shared link separately. A locked conversation cannot itself be shared, pinned, archived, or moved until it is permanently unlocked. Anyone able to open it can still copy its contents.[3]
Enterprise and Edu retention and compliance rules continue to apply. Locked chats remain included in conversation message logs available through the OpenAI Compliance Platform. The feature does not prevent authorized organizational access to eligible workspace data.[2]
Locking does not change the Improve the model for everyone setting. For personal accounts, chats and remembered information may be used for model improvement when that setting is on. Business, Enterprise, and Edu content is not used for training by default.[3][6]
The ordinary retention rules also remain in effect. Saved chats normally remain until deletion or removal under an applicable workspace policy. Deleting a chat removes it from the account view immediately and schedules permanent deletion from OpenAI systems within 30 days, subject to de-identification, security, and legal exceptions. Deleting a chat does not necessarily delete a separate Library file.[8]
Comparison with archiving and Temporary Chat
| Control | Saved conversation and search | Memory and model improvement |
|---|---|---|
| Locked chat | Saved behind additional authentication; absent from regular conversation search.[3][5] | Can use Memory with the locked-chat boundaries above. Existing model-improvement settings remain in force.[3][6] |
| Archived chat | Saved outside the regular sidebar but still searchable.[5][9] | Archiving does not change retention.[8][9] |
| Temporary Chat | Outside history unless saved as a regular conversation; OpenAI may retain a copy for up to 30 days for safety.[10] | Does not create or update memories and is not used for model improvement while temporary. Existing memories can be used if personalization is selected before starting.[10] |
Temporary chats cannot be locked while they remain temporary. Other exclusions include archived chats, group chats, chats created from a shared link, and chats with scheduled tasks, meeting recordings, background tasks, or responses saved as project sources. Project-chat eligibility varies by platform. Locking an eligible project conversation removes it from that project and its instructions, files, and memory.[3]
References
- ^1 ^2 ^3OpenAI. "ChatGPT release notes," October 20, 2026, "Introducing locked chats." OpenAI Help Center.
- ^1 ^2 ^3 ^4OpenAI. "ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu release notes," October 20, 2026, "Introducing locked chats." OpenAI Help Center.
- ^1 ^2 ^3 ^4 ^5 ^6 ^7 ^8 ^9 ^10 ^11 ^12 ^13 ^14 ^15 ^16 ^17 ^18 ^19 ^20 ^21 ^22OpenAI. "Using locked chats in ChatGPT." OpenAI Help Center. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- ^OpenAI. "ChatGPT Business release notes," October 20, 2026, "Introducing locked chats." OpenAI Help Center.
- ^1 ^2 ^3OpenAI. "Finding your chats, projects, and files in ChatGPT." OpenAI Help Center. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- ^1 ^2 ^3 ^4OpenAI. "Memory in ChatGPT." OpenAI Help Center. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- ^OpenAI. "Using Library to manage files in ChatGPT." OpenAI Help Center. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- ^1 ^2OpenAI. "Chat and file retention in ChatGPT." OpenAI Help Center. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- ^1 ^2OpenAI. "Deleting and archiving chats in ChatGPT." OpenAI Help Center. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- ^1 ^2OpenAI. "Temporary chat in ChatGPT." OpenAI Help Center. Accessed October 21, 2026.
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Cite this page: AI Wiki. "ChatGPT Locked Chats." aiwiki.ai, updated 21 Oct 2026. CC BY 4.0. https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/chatgpt_locked_chats