ChatGPT’s Locked Chats add a PIN, but they’re not a private vault
Handing someone your phone or computer can prompt a quick second thought: what else might they see? A ChatGPT history could include personal questions, plans for a surprise or other conversations you’d rather keep to yourself.
OpenAI’s new Locked Chats feature lets users put selected conversations behind a four-digit PIN. On compatible devices, you can also use Face ID, Touch ID or another supported device-unlock method. The feature adds a layer of protection from casual browsing, but it has some important limits.
How Locked Chats work
Locking a conversation removes it from your regular chat history, pinned chats and standard search results. It moves to a separate Locked chats area, where you need to authenticate before opening it. You can keep chatting there without moving the conversation back into your usual history.
That could be handy if you share a computer or occasionally lend someone your phone. A conversation about a personal matter—or a surprise you’re planning—won’t sit in the usual sidebar for someone to spot.
There’s a catch if the conversation is part of a ChatGPT Project. Locking it removes it from that project, so it loses access to the project’s instructions, files and memory. Unlocking it later returns the conversation to your regular history, not to its former project.
OpenAI is gradually rolling out Locked Chats to Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts. The feature is available on the web, in the iPhone and Android apps, and in the ChatGPT desktop apps for Mac and Windows. ChatGPT for Healthcare does not support it. Some conversations can’t be locked, and the option may not appear until the feature reaches your account.
PINs and device authentication
Your PIN is associated with your OpenAI account, so you can use it on supported devices where you’re signed in. On compatible iPhones, you can enable biometric authentication and use it instead of entering the PIN each time. Supported Android phones can use the device’s available authentication method, such as fingerprint recognition.
Device authentication is enabled separately on each device. Turning it on for one phone won’t automatically enable it on another.
Once you’ve opened a locked chat, you can continue the conversation as usual. You can also start a new conversation from inside the Locked chats area, and it will remain there. But locked conversations can’t be archived, pinned, moved or shared. To use those options, you’ll need to unlock the conversation. Anyone who can open it can also copy its contents.
When locked chats relock
On iPhone and Android, access closes automatically after one minute away from a locked conversation or the Locked chats area. The same timeout applies when the app is in the background.
On the web, refreshing the page or closing the tab ends access. The web and desktop versions also relock after you leave the authorized window. You can choose “Lock now” to secure the chats immediately.
One small wrinkle: a conversation may remain visible in a browser tab just after you lock it. Another device running ChatGPT may also briefly show an older conversation title until it refreshes. It’s worth checking your screen before handing your device to someone.
If you no longer need the extra protection, you can unlock a conversation and return it to your regular history. Its contents aren’t deleted, and the chat may appear in ordinary search results again.
What the feature does—and doesn’t—protect
Locked Chats can make it harder for someone casually browsing your chat history to see a conversation. They do not provide end-to-end encryption or create a separate encrypted vault. Locking a chat also doesn’t change OpenAI’s data-retention periods or your existing “Improve the model for everyone” setting.
Memory has its own rules. Information ChatGPT remembered before you locked a conversation may still be available in regular Memory. New information remembered from messages in a locked chat stays within the Locked Chats memory area. Other locked conversations may use it, but regular chats don’t automatically receive those new memories. If regular Memory is enabled, a locked chat may also draw on it.
Previously shared conversation links are another thing to check. Locking a chat does not revoke a link that was shared earlier. Anyone with that link may still be able to view the content that was shared, so you’ll need to delete the link separately.
Files uploaded or created within a locked conversation receive the same protection as the chat. Files stored elsewhere in ChatGPT’s Space, or accessed through connected services, keep their existing permissions. Locking a conversation doesn’t protect those separate files.
Workplace policies still apply, too. OpenAI says Enterprise and Edu compliance tools can include logs of locked conversations. Workspace administrators can’t unlock a user’s chats or reset their PIN, though authorized compliance systems may still access data covered by organizational policies.
For financial or deeply personal matters, it’s still wise to be careful about what you share. A PIN doesn’t make it a good idea to enter passwords, Social Security numbers or full banking credentials into a general AI chat.
Other privacy options
If you don’t want new conversations used to train OpenAI’s models, you can turn off “Improve the model for everyone” in your settings. That change doesn’t remove chats from your history, so it won’t hide them from someone using your device. Business, Enterprise and Edu workspace content is not used to train OpenAI’s models by default, according to the company.
Temporary Chat serves a different purpose. Temporary conversations don’t appear in regular history or create new memories, and they aren’t used for model training while in that mode. OpenAI may retain them for up to 30 days for safety reasons. Depending on your settings, a Temporary Chat may also use existing personalization information.
In other words, Temporary Chat may suit a one-off discussion you don’t need to keep. Locked Chats are more useful when you want to return to a conversation later while keeping it out of your normal history.
Be careful before resetting your PIN
Forgetting your PIN has serious consequences. Resetting it permanently deletes all your locked chats, along with memories and files or other content protected only by that PIN. OpenAI says the deletion can’t be undone, and its support team can’t recover the material.
If you know your current PIN and only want to change it, you can do so without deleting your conversations. If you’ve forgotten it, you can start a reset through Settings, then Security and login, and Account PIN. You’ll need to verify your identity and confirm the deletion before setting a replacement PIN.
Not every conversation is eligible for locking. Exclusions include Temporary Chats, archived chats, group chats and conversations created from shared links. Chats involving scheduled tasks, meeting recordings or background tasks can’t be locked either. The feature also excludes conversations with responses saved as project sources, and some Health, Codex and Work conversations have additional restrictions.
Locked Chats offer a useful bit of control over what appears when someone opens ChatGPT on your device. Still, it’s better to think of the feature as a convenience and access-control measure than as a promise of confidentiality. The PIN can keep curious eyes away from your history, but it doesn’t replace careful choices about what you share or how your account is configured.
