Dubai: Want to keep certain ChatGPT conversations out of sight without deleting them? OpenAI has introduced a feature that lets users lock individual chats with a four-digit PIN or, on supported mobile devices, Face ID, Touch ID or device authentication.
The feature, announced on Tuesday, October 20, removes locked conversations from regular chat history and search results. Users can still return to them whenever they want.
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It could come in handy when sharing a screen, lending someone a phone or keeping a personal conversation private.
How to lock a ChatGPT conversation
To lock an existing chat:
Open the conversation’s three-dot menu.
Select Lock chat and confirm.
Create or enter your four-digit account PIN.
The conversation will move to Projects > Locked chats, where users must enter their PIN or use supported device authentication to open it.
Locked chats can also be returned to regular history by selecting Unlock chat from the conversation menu.
What if you forget your PIN?
There is one important warning.
If you forget your PIN and reset it, OpenAI will permanently delete all your locked chats, along with files and information stored only within those conversations.
OpenAI Support can't recover the deleted content, even if you contact them.
Users who remember their existing PIN can change it without losing their conversations.
Does locking a chat make it completely private?
Locking a conversation does not provide end-to-end encryption or change OpenAI’s data-retention policies.
It also does not change whether your conversations can be used to improve AI models. That remains governed by your existing account settings.
For Business, Enterprise and Edu users, workplace compliance and retention rules still apply.
Another detail worth checking: locking a conversation does not revoke any shared link created before it was locked. Users must delete that link separately to prevent continued access to previously shared content.
Who can use Locked Chats?
OpenAI is gradually rolling out the feature to Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu users.
It works on the web, iOS and Android, as well as the newer ChatGPT desktop apps for Windows and macOS.
Users who cannot find the Lock chat option may have to wait for the rollout to reach their account.