OpenAI adds PIN‑locked chats to ChatGPT, forgetting PIN erases them
OpenAI began rolling out a new “locked chats” feature on Tuesday that lets users hide selected conversations behind a four‑digit account PIN. The hidden chats move to a dedicated “Locked chats” area and can be opened on desktop, web, iOS or Android with the PIN, Face ID, Touch ID, or the device’s unlock method. If a user forgets the PIN and chooses to reset it, OpenAI says all locked chats, any…
Key points
- OpenAI rolled out PIN‑locked chats on Tuesday, requiring a four‑digit PIN to open hidden conversations.
- Forgetting the PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, memories, and files; support cannot recover them.
- Feature is available across Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans, but not for Healthcare or certain chat types.
The feature is being released gradually across Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans, but it is not available for Healthcare workspaces or for certain chat types such as temporary, archived, group, or shared‑link chats. OpenAI notes that locked chats do not create end‑to‑end encryption, do not change data‑retention policies, and still count toward the user’s model‑improvement settings. The rollout follows broader privacy concerns, including a Stanford study that found major AI developers, including OpenAI, train on user chat data by default.
OpenAI reported 1.2 billion weekly ChatGPT users at its recent DevDay, underscoring the scale at which these privacy controls will affect users.
The story so far
2 episodes →- OpenAI adds PIN‑locked chats to ChatGPT, forgetting PIN erases themthis story
ChatGPT now lets you lock private chats with a PIN—but forgetting it could erase them for good
fortune.com · 23 October 2026
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