Key takeaways
- OpenAI began rolling out locked chats on October 20 for Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans.
- Locked chats hide conversations behind a four digit PIN or Face ID, Touch ID or device unlock, and relock quickly.
- Locking is not encryption, and resetting your PIN permanently deletes every locked chat.
OpenAI has started rolling out ChatGPT locked chats, a new way to hide sensitive conversations behind a four digit PIN or your phone's Face ID, Touch ID or device unlock. The feature began reaching users on Tuesday, October 20, according to TechCrunch, and it covers every major consumer and business plan. It is useful if you share a laptop, hand your phone to family, or present your screen at work. It is not, however, the privacy vault some people may assume it is.
Here is what the feature actually does, how to turn it on, and the limits you should understand before trusting it with anything personal.
What happened
OpenAI announced that ChatGPT users can now lock individual conversations "to keep sensitive chats private when others may have access to their screen or device," as TechCrunch reported. A locked conversation stays in your account, but it disappears from your regular chat history, your pinned chats and normal search. Instead, it moves into a protected area under Projects called Locked chats.
That makes it different from Temporary Chats. A temporary chat never shows up in your history at all, and you cannot go back to it later. A locked chat is still there whenever you want it, you just need your PIN or your device authentication to open it.
According to OpenAI's help center, the feature is available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu. It works on the web, on iOS and Android, and in the new ChatGPT desktop app for macOS and Windows. It is not offered on ChatGPT for Healthcare. The rollout is gradual, so if you do not see the option yet, it may simply not have reached your account.
How ChatGPT locked chats work
The core idea is simple. You pick a conversation, lock it, and from then on it needs a PIN to view.
Locking an existing conversation
OpenAI's instructions are short:
- Open the more options menu (the three dots) next to the chat.
- Select Lock chat, then confirm.
- Create a four digit account PIN if ChatGPT asks for one, or enter your existing PIN.
The chat then moves into Locked chats. Its title and content leave your regular history and search, though OpenAI notes that search results can take a little time to update.
To start a brand new private conversation, go to Projects, open Locked chats, unlock it with your PIN or device authentication, and type your message.
PIN, Face ID and device unlock
The PIN belongs to your OpenAI account, not to a single device or workspace, so the same code works everywhere you are signed in. On iPhone you can turn on Face ID or Touch ID in the Account PIN settings. On Android you can choose to use your device unlock. These shortcuts are optional, set up separately on each device, and they do not replace the PIN.
If you type the wrong PIN too many times, access is temporarily blocked until a waiting period ends.
How long a locked chat stays open
Access does not linger. On the web and desktop, unlocking applies only to the tab or window where you entered the PIN, and it relocks when you leave, refresh or close it. On phones, access ends after one minute away from the locked area or one minute with the app in the background. There is also a Lock now button that shuts it immediately.
Why it matters
Plenty of people use ChatGPT for things they would not want a roommate, coworker or child to stumble across: a medical question, a draft of a hard email, a surprise gift plan. TechCrunch noted that planning a surprise and then handing your phone to friends or family is exactly the kind of situation OpenAI had in mind.
Until now, the main options were deleting a conversation or using Temporary Chat. Both mean losing the history. Locked chats keep the conversation while hiding it from casual view, which fills a real gap. If you share devices at home, our social media privacy checkup covers similar habits for your other accounts.
The timing also fits a wider debate about how ChatGPT handles sensitive and personal use, which has drawn attention from regulators and parents. We covered that pressure in our reports on states suing OpenAI over child safety and on concerns about ChatGPT for teens.
What locked chats do not do
This is the part worth reading twice. OpenAI's own help page is clear that locking is about who can see a chat on a screen, not about how your data is stored.
According to OpenAI, locking a chat does not:
- Add end to end encryption or create a separate encrypted vault.
- Change how long OpenAI keeps the conversation.
- Change your "Improve the model for everyone" setting. Locked chats follow whatever model training choice you already made.
- Remove anything ChatGPT remembered about you before you locked the chat.
- Override workspace policies or legal and compliance obligations.
For Enterprise and Edu users, locked chats are still included in the message logs available through OpenAI's Compliance Platform. Workspace admins cannot turn the feature off, but they also cannot unlock your chats or reset your PIN. Ads can still appear in locked chats on accounts that see ads.
TechCrunch summed up the tradeoff well: locking can limit who sees a conversation, but it does not address concerns about how sensitive information is stored or handled. Also remember the obvious one. OpenAI points out that anyone who can open a locked chat can still copy what is in it.
The big warning about your PIN
Forgetting your PIN does not delete anything by itself. Resetting it does. According to OpenAI, resetting your account PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, along with files and other content protected by the old PIN. OpenAI support cannot recover them afterward.
So pick a PIN you will remember, and do not treat locked chats as the only copy of anything important. You can change your PIN under Settings, then Security and login, then Account PIN, without losing anything, as long as you know the current one.
Who is affected and what to know
Most people will see the option appear over the coming days. A few details may catch you off guard:
- Some chats cannot be locked. Temporary chats, archived chats, group chats, chats opened from a shared link, and chats tied to scheduled tasks, meeting recordings or background tasks are excluded. Codex conversations cannot be locked either.
- Projects lose the chat. Locking a conversation that sits inside a project removes it from that project, so it no longer uses the project's files or instructions.
- Locked chats have their own memory. If Memory is on, new things you say in locked chats can be remembered for other locked chats, but not carried into your regular conversations.
- Shared links stay live. If you shared a chat before locking it, the old link still works and shows what was shared. New messages are not added to it.
- Other screens may lag. Another signed in device can still show a locked chat's title until its list refreshes, so check before you share your screen.
- Voice is partial. Voice works in locked chats on the web and mobile apps, but not in the desktop app.
What to watch next
The bigger question is whether OpenAI eventually adds stronger protection, such as true encryption for sensitive conversations. For now, ChatGPT locked chats are a screen privacy tool, much like hiding photos in a locked album. It also arrives alongside other recent interface changes, including the GPT-6 intelligent UI rollout. For more on how the company is handling trust and safety issues, see our coverage of OpenAI's misalignment incident disclosures and the rest of our AI news.
Frequently asked questions
Are ChatGPT locked chats encrypted?
No. OpenAI says locking does not add end to end encryption or a separate vault. It only hides chats behind a PIN or device authentication.
What happens if I forget my ChatGPT PIN?
Nothing is deleted until you reset it. A reset permanently erases every locked chat, and OpenAI support cannot bring them back.
Is the feature available on the free plan?
Yes. OpenAI lists Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu. It is rolling out gradually and is not offered on ChatGPT for Healthcare.
Can my employer see my locked chats?
Admins cannot unlock them or reset your PIN, but on Enterprise and Edu plans locked chats still appear in compliance logs, according to OpenAI.
Sources
Share this story
Spotted an error? Tell us
