If you have personal conversations with ChatGPT that you don't want others to see, you can now add an extra layer of security for those specific chats. The new Locked Chats feature allows you to hide sensitive conversations behind a four-digit account PIN (or biometric authentication on mobile), meaning others with access to your device or screen can't read them.
Locked chats are retained in your chat history—unlike temporary chats, which are private conversations that aren't saved by default—so you can return to or continue them at any point. However, once locked, they are hidden from your regular chat history, pinned chats, and regular conversation search. To access them, you have to go to Projects > Locked chats and enter your PIN or device unlock method (such as Face ID or Touch ID).
How to set up Locked Chats on ChatGPT
To start a locked chat for the first time, open an existing conversation that you want to keep private and open the options menu. Select Lock chat > Lock chat and create or enter your account PIN. This moves the conversation to your locked chats project. You can repeat this with any existing conversation or start a locked chat from scratch under Projects > Locked Chats by entering your PIN or authentication method and typing a message to launch the chat. When you're done, select Lock now to end access to locked chats and hide them from the sidebar.
Note that if you don't already have an account PIN set up, you should be prompted to do so the first time you attempt to lock a chat. Select Create a PIN, enter your four-digit code, and enter it again to confirm. You can also enable biometric authentication in Account PIN settings. If you reset your account PIN at any point, all locked chats are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
Locked chats are available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans on both mobile and desktop apps. The feature is not available for ChatGPT for Healthcare. There are other limitations, too: For example, temporary, archived, and group chats can't be locked, nor can those with shared links, scheduled and background tasks, or meeting recordings. OpenAI says locked chats are rolling out gradually, so they may not be available to all users yet.
Locked chats are not encrypted
While locked chats do add a layer of privacy in terms of how conversations appear on your device, they are not suddenly encrypted or otherwise protected from being retained or used by OpenAI. As the support page notes, locked chats are not encrypted end to end or placed in a separate encrypted vault, and locking a chat does not affect other privacy settings, such as Improve the model for everyone (which can be turned off in Settings > Data controls) or remove information ChatGPT already knows about you.