Every ChatGPT user knows the moment. Someone asks to borrow your phone to check something, and your chat history is two taps away from public. Planning a surprise party, asking about a medical symptom, or venting about work should not end up in front of a friend who just wanted to show you a video.
OpenAI’s answer is here. ChatGPT now lets you lock your chats. Locked conversations move into a separate area protected by a four-digit PIN, or by Face ID and Touch ID on supported devices. The feature started rolling out on Tuesday and is coming to every plan from Free to Enterprise. Here is how it works and what it does not do.
What are locked chats in ChatGPT
Locked chats let you keep selected conversations in your account while hiding them from your regular chat history, pinned chats, and regular conversation search. OpenAI says the feature is designed for situations where users might be discussing something personal or planning a surprise and want to keep those conversations private when handing their device to friends or family.
Once you lock a chat, it moves to a dedicated area under Projects > Locked chats. The sidebar may show the Locked chats project while the chat titles stay hidden. Opening the area requires your four-digit account PIN. On supported mobile devices, you can also use Face ID, Touch ID, or your device unlock method.
Unlike the app’s Temporary Chats, which give you a separate session that never appears in chat history, you can return to locked chats at any time. That makes the feature a good fit for ongoing conversations you want to keep, like a job search thread or a health discussion, rather than one-off questions.
How to lock a chat in ChatGPT
OpenAI’s help page lays out the steps. If you have never used the feature before, you lock an existing conversation first, then you can start new ones from inside the locked area.
- Open the more options menu (the three dots) for the chat you want to hide.
- Select Lock chat, then select Lock chat again to confirm.
- Create your account PIN when prompted, or enter it if you already have one. The PIN is four digits and is tied to your OpenAI account, so the same PIN works on every device where you are signed in.
- The chat moves into Locked chats. Its title and content disappear from regular chat history and regular conversation search.
To start a brand new locked conversation, select Projects, then Locked chats, enter your PIN or use device authentication, and type your message as usual.
One thing to check before you relax: on other devices where ChatGPT is already open, the chat title may stay visible until the conversation list refreshes. On iOS, previously loaded chat content can also remain visible until the app refreshes. If you are about to hand your phone over, close the app on your other devices first, or tap Lock now to end access immediately.
Locked chats vs Temporary Chats: which should you use
Both features protect privacy, but they solve different problems.
- Temporary Chats are for conversations you do not want to keep at all. The session does not appear in history, and it is not saved to memory.
- Locked Chats are for conversations you want to keep but hide. They stay in your account, they are searchable from within the locked area, and they are protected by your PIN.
With Memory enabled, locked chats get their own separate memory shared across conversations inside the section. New messages sent after locking a chat can update that locked memory, but they do not touch your regular Memory. That means details from a locked conversation will not leak into answers in your normal chats.
What locking a chat does not do
This is the part most people will skip, so it is worth slowing down. As per OpenAI, locking a chat does not:
- Create end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault. The chat is hidden, not re-encrypted.
- Change how long OpenAI retains the chat.
- Change your “Improve the model for everyone” setting.
- Remove information that ChatGPT remembered before you locked the chat.
- Override workspace policies, safety requirements, or legal and compliance obligations.
In plain terms, locked chats protect you from someone looking at your screen. They do not change how OpenAI stores your data. If you want stricter data handling, that is a separate setting you need to review.
Where locked chats are not available
The feature is rolling out gradually, so it may not show up in your account yet. When it does, it works on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans. It is not available on ChatGPT for Healthcare.
On desktop, you need the new ChatGPT app for macOS or Windows. You can lock eligible cloud conversations in Chat or Work mode, but Codex conversations and local Work conversations cannot be locked. On the web, the feature works in the browser. Voice works inside locked chats on web, iOS, and Android, but not in the desktop app.
Some chat types cannot be locked at all: temporary chats, archived chats, group chats, chats created from a shared link, chats with scheduled tasks, and chats with meeting recordings. If a chat already has a shared link, locking it does not delete that link. The shared content stays available at the old link until you delete it separately, though new messages sent while locked are not added to it.
Two warnings before you rely on it
First, on Android, screenshots of locked chats may come out blank or black because the app hides protected content in screenshots. That is a feature, but it can confuse you if you are trying to save a recipe from a locked chat.
Second, and this is the big one: resetting your account PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, remembered information stored only within locked chats, and any files protected by the previous PIN. This cannot be undone, and OpenAI Support cannot recover the content. Forgetting the PIN alone does not delete anything. Pressing reset does. Choose your PIN carefully.
How do I lock a chat in ChatGPT?
Open the three-dot menu on any eligible chat, select Lock chat, and confirm. You will be asked to create a four-digit account PIN the first time. The chat then moves to Projects > Locked chats and disappears from regular history and search.
Is ChatGPT locked chats available on the free plan?
Yes. Locked chats are available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans. The only plan excluded is ChatGPT for Healthcare. The feature is rolling out gradually, so it may take time to reach every account.
Are locked chats encrypted end to end?
No. Locking a chat hides it from your chat history and search and protects it behind your PIN, but it does not create end-to-end encryption or change OpenAI’s data retention. Treat it as screen privacy, not as a vault.
What happens if I forget my ChatGPT account PIN?
Forgetting the PIN does not delete your chats. But resetting the PIN permanently deletes all locked chats and files protected by the old PIN, and support cannot recover them. You can also change the PIN without losing anything, as long as you know the current one.
