ChatGPT Gets Locked Chats To Keep Private Conversations Away From Prying Eyes
Locked Chats are becoming available across all ChatGPT plans. They protect selected conversations with a PIN or biometric checks on supported phones. They also have separate memory settings, and not every conversation can be locked.
ChatGPT users now have a way to hide conversations they do not want other people to see. OpenAI has launched Locked Chats, a feature that protects selected conversations with a PIN or biometric checks. The feature began reaching users on Tuesday and is being rolled out to all plans, including Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu.
How It Works
When users lock a conversation, it disappears from the normal chat list, search results and pinned chats. Instead, it moves to a separate protected area under Projects, called Locked chats.
Users must enter a four-digit PIN to open this section. ChatGPT asks them to create the PIN the first time they lock a chat or open the section. On the web and desktop apps, the PIN is the only way to get in. On supported phones, users can also use Face ID, Touch ID or their device's usual unlock method instead of entering the PIN.
Memory Stays Separate
OpenAI has made sure that locked chats do not affect ChatGPT's memory of regular conversations. Messages added to a locked chat will not change the memory used in other chats. If Memory is turned on, locked chats have their own memory, which stays inside the locked section.
Don't Forget Your PIN
Users should take care not to forget their PIN. Resetting it permanently deletes all locked chats, along with anything ChatGPT remembered only from those chats and any files protected by the old PIN. Simply changing to a new PIN does not affect the locked chats.
What Locking Doesn't Do
This feature is designed to protect privacy when people share a screen or device. It does not change how OpenAI handles data. Locking a chat does not provide end-to-end encryption. It also does not change how long conversations are stored or the setting that controls whether chats can be used to improve OpenAI's models. In Enterprise and Edu workspaces, locked chats still appear in conversation logs that organisations can access through OpenAI's Compliance Platform.
Not every conversation can be locked. Chats containing meeting recordings or scheduled tasks, group chats, chats opened through a shared link, and archived or temporary chats are not eligible.
Not the Same as Temporary Chats
Locked Chats and Temporary Chats work differently. Temporary Chats do not appear in chat history, while locked chats are saved and can be opened again later.
OpenAI is releasing the feature in stages, so it may take some time before everyone can use it.