ChatGPT locked chats: a PIN and Face ID against prying eyes
ChatGPT lets you lock individual conversations with a PIN or biometrics. It isn’t encryption, and resetting the PIN deletes them.
On October 20, OpenAI began rolling out locked chats. The feature protects individual conversations from people who might see your screen or pick up your device.
What’s new
- You can lock a chat with a four-digit PIN, or with Face ID or Touch ID on supported devices.
- Locked chats move to a separate Locked Chats section, away from regular history, pinned chats and search results.
- Unlike Temporary Chats, they can be reopened at any time.
- With Memory on, this section has its own memory, so what’s in it doesn’t carry into regular chats.
It’s available on Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, but not ChatGPT for Healthcare. The rollout is gradual, so you may not see it right away.
What locking doesn’t do
- It doesn’t add end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault.
- It doesn’t change how long OpenAI retains the chat.
- It doesn’t remove what ChatGPT remembered before the chat was locked.
- It doesn’t change the “Improve the model for everyone” setting.
Limitations
Resetting the PIN permanently deletes all locked chats and files. Keep the code in a password manager. You can’t lock temporary, archived or group chats, chats from a shared link, or chats with scheduled tasks or meeting recordings.
Prepared with AI from public sources.