On this page
- What does locking a chat actually do?
- Who can use locked chats?
- How do I lock a chat in ChatGPT?
- 1Open the chat's menu
- 2Create your PIN (first time only)
- 3Check that it's really gone
- 4Open it when you need it — then lock it again
- What a locked chat does not protect you from
- Changing your PIN vs. resetting it
- Locked chat, temporary chat, or delete it?
- Things that surprise people
- Try it once with something harmless
- Questions, answered
A locked chat is a ChatGPT conversation you keep, but tuck out of sight behind a 4-digit PIN. It disappears from your chat list, your pinned chats and the regular search, and it only opens after you type the PIN — or use Face ID, Touch ID or your phone's unlock on supported devices. OpenAI started rolling it out on October 20, 2026, on every plan, including Free.
What does locking a chat actually do?
Think of it as a drawer, not a safe. The conversation stays in your account exactly as it was — it just moves out of the places people glance at. When you lock a chat:
- It leaves your history. The title and content vanish from the sidebar, from pinned chats, and from regular conversation search. Search can take a little while to catch up.
- It moves to one place: Projects → Locked chats. Your sidebar may still show that "Locked chats" area, but the titles inside stay hidden until you unlock it.
- It needs a key to open. The key is a 4-digit PIN that belongs to your OpenAI account. On supported iPhones and Android phones you can use Face ID, Touch ID or your device unlock instead.
- Its files go with it. Anything uploaded or created inside that chat is protected too, and hidden from Space until you permanently unlock the chat.
The everyday problem this solves isn't hackers. It's sharing your screen in a meeting, handing your phone to someone to show them one thing, or a family laptop where anyone can scroll your sidebar. A health question, a salary negotiation, a gift you're planning — none of it needs to be one click away from whoever is looking.
Who can use locked chats?
- Plans: Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu. It isn't available on ChatGPT for Healthcare.
- Rollout: gradual. If Lock chat isn't in a chat's ••• menu yet, your account just hasn't received it.
- Computers: use the new ChatGPT desktop app for macOS or Windows. Codex conversations and local Work conversations can't be locked.
- Voice: works inside locked chats on the web and in the iPhone and Android apps, but not in the desktop app.
How do I lock a chat in ChatGPT?
Create your PIN (first time only)
The first time you lock a chat, ChatGPT asks you to Create a PIN. Type four digits, then type them again to confirm. It's one PIN for your whole account, and it works on every device where you're signed in to that account.
Face ID, Touch ID and device unlock are set up separately on each phone. On iPhone, turn on Use Face ID or Use Touch ID in the Account PIN settings; on Android, choose Use device unlock when it's offered. The PIN keeps working either way.
Check that it's really gone
Search for the chat the normal way. It shouldn't come up. Then look at your other devices: a phone or another computer that already had ChatGPT open can keep showing the old title until its list refreshes. Do this check before the screen share, not during it.
Open it when you need it — then lock it again
Go to Projects → Locked chats, enter your PIN (or use your face or fingerprint), and pick the conversation. When you're finished, press Lock now so the titles disappear from the sidebar straight away.
To start a brand-new private conversation, open Locked chats and type your message there — it's saved as a locked chat from the first word. (The very first time, you have to lock an existing chat to create the area.)
How long does a locked chat stay open?
- Web and desktop: access only lives in the tab or window where you typed the PIN. It relocks after you've been away from that tab for a while, and on the web it also ends when you refresh or close the tab. A new tab asks for the PIN again.
- iPhone and Android: access ends after 1 minute away from the locked chat, or 1 minute with the app in the background. Signing out or switching accounts ends it too.
- Too many wrong guesses pause access for a while. They don't delete anything — wait it out and try again.
What a locked chat does not protect you from
OpenAI is unusually direct about this, and it's worth taking literally. A lock changes where a conversation shows up and how you open it. It does not change what happens to the conversation behind the scenes:
- It isn't encryption. There's no end-to-end encryption and no separate encrypted vault.
- It doesn't change retention. OpenAI keeps the chat for the same length of time as before.
- It doesn't change training. Your Improve the model for everyone setting applies exactly as it did.
- It doesn't erase memory. Anything ChatGPT remembered about you before you locked the chat stays remembered.
- It doesn't override your employer. Workspace policies and legal or compliance obligations still apply. On Enterprise and Edu, locked chats still appear in the message logs that compliance tools can read.
- It doesn't kill shared links. If you shared the chat with a link before locking it, the link still shows what was shared. Delete the link separately. (New messages you add while it's locked don't appear there.)
- It doesn't stop copying. Anyone who gets past the PIN can copy what's inside.
Changing your PIN vs. resetting it
These two buttons sit next to each other in Settings → Security and login → Account PIN, and they do very different things.
| Change PIN | Reset PIN | |
|---|---|---|
| When you'd use it | You know your PIN and want a new one | You've forgotten your PIN |
| What you need | Your current PIN (even if you normally use Face ID) | To verify your identity |
| Your locked chats | Kept | Deleted permanently |
| Files and memories only inside them | Kept | Deleted permanently |
| Can anyone undo it? | Nothing to undo | No — not OpenAI Support, not your admin |
A workspace admin can't reset your PIN or unlock your chats for you. After a reset, deleted chats follow OpenAI's standard retention policy.
Locked chat, temporary chat, or delete it?
Locking is one of three ways to keep a conversation out of sight, and it's only the right one when you want to come back to it later.
| Locked chat | Temporary chat | Delete | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is it saved? | Yes | No — it stays out of history | No |
| Can you open it later? | Yes, with your PIN | No | No |
| Used to improve OpenAI's models? | Follows your usual setting | No, while it stays temporary | — |
| Creates memories? | Only for other locked chats | No | — |
| Best for | Ongoing private topics you'll revisit | One-off questions you don't want kept | Things you're done with |
Things that surprise people
- Locking a chat pulls it out of its project. It stops using that project's instructions, files and memory — and if you unlock it later, it returns to your regular history, not to the project.
- Locked chats have their own memory. If Memory is on, locked chats can use what ChatGPT already knows about you, and what you say in one locked chat can be remembered in other locked chats. None of it flows back into your regular chats — not even after you unlock.
- You can't search across locked chats. Open the Locked chats area and browse.
- Some actions need an unlock first. You can't archive, pin, move or share a locked chat. You can rename and delete it.
- Some chats can't be locked at all: temporary, archived and group chats; chats created from someone's shared link; chats with scheduled tasks, meeting recordings or background tasks; and chats with responses saved as project sources. Delete a chat's scheduled tasks (paused ones too) before locking it.
- Screenshots on Android come out blank. That's on purpose — the app hides protected content from screenshots.
- Ads don't change. If your account sees ads, they can show up in locked chats too.
Try it once with something harmless
The worst time to learn how a privacy feature behaves is the moment you need it. Spend five minutes on a practice run:
- Start a throwaway chat — ask for a pasta recipe — and lock it.
- Save the PIN in your password manager before you do anything else.
- Search for "pasta" and confirm nothing comes up.
- Open it from Projects → Locked chats on your phone, put the phone down for a minute, and watch it relock.
- Permanently unlock it from the ••• menu (Unlock chat) and delete it.
Now you know where everything lives — and the real private conversations can go in with no guesswork.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center, Using locked chats in ChatGPT; TechCrunch, October 20, 2026. Checked October 21, 2026. The feature is still rolling out, so menu names can shift.
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Questions, answered
How do I lock a chat in ChatGPT?
Open the chat's more options menu (the three dots), choose Lock chat, and confirm. The first time, ChatGPT asks you to create a 4-digit PIN. The chat then moves to Projects → Locked chats and disappears from your regular history and search.
Are locked chats available on the free plan?
Yes. Locked chats are available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu. They're rolling out gradually, so the Lock chat option may not appear on every account yet. They're not available on ChatGPT for Healthcare.
What happens if I forget my ChatGPT PIN?
Forgetting it doesn't delete anything. Resetting it does: a PIN reset permanently deletes all your locked chats, the files protected with them, and anything remembered only inside them, and OpenAI Support can't recover them. If you still know your PIN, use Change PIN instead — that keeps your locked chats.
Does locking a chat encrypt it or stop OpenAI from using it?
No. A lock isn't end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault. It doesn't change how long OpenAI keeps the chat, your Improve the model for everyone setting, or what ChatGPT already remembered. It hides the conversation from people who can see your screen or device.
Can my company admin see or unlock my locked chats?
An admin can't unlock your chats or reset your PIN, and can't switch the feature off. But locking doesn't override your workspace's policies: on Enterprise and Edu, locked chats are still included in the message logs available to compliance tools.
What's the difference between a locked chat and a temporary chat?
A temporary chat isn't saved to your history, doesn't create memories, and isn't used to improve OpenAI's models while it stays temporary — it's for one-off questions. A locked chat is saved so you can come back to it, follows your usual model-improvement setting, and opens only with your PIN.
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Written by Ann Alalouf. Spotted something out of date? Tell us — we keep these current. Published Oct 21, 2026.
