OpenAI has added a Locked Chats feature to ChatGPT. It lets users protect private conversations in situations where other people might see their screen or use their device.
Locked Chats can be protected with a four-digit PIN, or with Face ID or Touch ID on devices that support them. OpenAI said the feature differs from Temporary Chats, which run as a separate session and leave no trace in chat history, because users can come back to a locked conversation whenever they like.
According to the company, Locked Chats is meant for moments when a user is talking about something personal or planning a surprise and then hands their device to a friend or family member to show them something in a different chat.
Locked Chats adds another layer of privacy to ChatGPT, which more people are now using for personal conversations. The company also cautioned that locking a chat restricts who can open it but does nothing to address how sensitive information is stored or handled.
OpenAI was explicit about the limits. A locked chat gets no end-to-end encryption, no separate encrypted storage, and retention policies stay the same. Memory the model built before the lock remains in place, and the “Improve the model for everyone” toggle works exactly as it did before.
When a chat is locked, it moves to a dedicated “Locked Chats” section, separate from regular chat history, pinned conversations, and chat search results. With Memory enabled, Locked Chats has its own memory that is shared across conversations in that section. New messages sent after locking can update that memory but not the regular Memory, so information from locked chats does not leak into regular chats, OpenAI said.
Resetting a PIN permanently erases every locked chat, file, and other item protected by the old one. The company also listed chats that can’t be locked: temporary chats, archived chats, group chats, chats created from a shared link, and chats that include scheduled tasks or meeting recordings.
Locked Chats will be available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans. OpenAI said it is not available on ChatGPT for Healthcare. The feature began rolling out Tuesday, so it may not yet be live for all users.
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