MUMBAI: Some conversations are best kept under wraps, and OpenAI is giving ChatGPT users a new way to keep them under lock and key. The company has introduced Locked Chats, a feature that lets users move private discussions into a protected section, keeping them separate from their regular chat history and standard search results.
The feature is designed for situations where users want to keep a conversation private while letting someone else use or view their device. That could mean sharing a screen during a presentation, showing a friend or family member a particular chat, or simply keeping personal discussions out of sight when someone else is browsing the app.
The rollout began on Tuesday, 21 October, across ChatGPT’s Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. ChatGPT for Healthcare is excluded.
To lock a conversation, users can set a four-digit PIN on the web and desktop versions of ChatGPT. On supported mobile devices, they can also use authentication methods such as Face ID, Touch ID or the device’s usual unlocking mechanism.
Once locked, a conversation moves into a dedicated Locked Chats section instead of appearing in the regular chat history. It is also excluded from pinned chats and standard search results, making it less likely to surface during everyday use. Users can still access the conversation, but only after unlocking the protected section.
That distinction matters because Locked Chats is not the same as Temporary Chats. Temporary conversations do not appear in the regular chat history, while locked conversations remain available to users who unlock them. The new feature is therefore aimed at restricting casual access to selected discussions rather than making those conversations disappear altogether.
There is also a memory-related distinction. When ChatGPT’s Memory feature is enabled, conversations in Locked Chats use a separate memory space. Details shared after a conversation is locked can contribute to this separate memory, but will not update the memory used in regular conversations. This is intended to stop new information from a private discussion from automatically carrying over into ordinary chats.
However, there is an important catch. Locking a conversation does not erase information ChatGPT may already have remembered before the chat was moved into the protected section. Users who want to keep their conversations separate should therefore understand that locking a chat does not automatically undo any memory-related effects from earlier interactions.
And while the feature adds another layer of privacy, it is not a new encryption system. OpenAI has clarified that Locked Chats is an access-control feature: it does not introduce end-to-end encryption, change how long conversations are retained, or alter the existing “Improve the model for everyone” setting.
In other words, a PIN can restrict who opens a conversation on a device, but it does not change the underlying data-retention arrangements or the user’s existing model-improvement preferences. Users should not mistake a locked chat for a conversation stored under an entirely separate encryption regime.
There is another point to remember before setting a PIN. OpenAI says resetting it permanently deletes all locked chats, files and other content protected by the previous PIN. That makes the PIN more than a simple access convenience: losing it and choosing to reset it can mean losing the protected material as well.
Not every conversation can be locked, either. The option is unavailable for Temporary Chats, archived chats, group chats, conversations created through shared links, chats with scheduled tasks and conversations containing meeting recordings.
The feature’s usefulness will ultimately depend on what users expect privacy to mean. For someone who wants to prevent a personal conversation from appearing in the normal chat list while sharing a device or screen, Locked Chats offers a practical additional safeguard. But it should not be confused with a guarantee that the conversation is encrypted end to end, excluded from existing retention policies or detached from every setting governing how ChatGPT handles data.
For ChatGPT users, the new feature puts selected conversations behind a digital door. What it does not do is rewrite the rules governing what happens to the information behind it.
