ChatGPT can now lock chats behind a four-digit PIN, but resetting a forgotten PIN deletes them
OpenAI started rolling out locked chats on October 20, 2026. A locked conversation disappears from regular history and search and opens only with an account PIN or a phone's biometric unlock. OpenAI's help page says plainly that this is not encryption, and that resetting a forgotten PIN permanently deletes every locked chat.
OpenAI has started rolling out locked chats in ChatGPT, a way to hide selected conversations from regular history, pinned chats, and search. Opening them takes a four-digit account PIN or, on supported phones, Face ID, Touch ID, or the device unlock. OpenAI announced the feature on October 20, 2026. Locking protects a chat from someone looking at the screen, not from OpenAI or an employer.
How locking works
A locked chat moves to Projects > Locked chats. That project can stay visible in the sidebar, but the titles of the chats inside it stay hidden until the PIN is entered. Files uploaded or created in the chat are locked with it and are hidden in Space as well, until the chat is permanently unlocked.
Access ends on its own. On phones, the chats lock again after one minute away from them or one minute in the background. On the web, refreshing or closing the tab ends access, and every new tab asks for the PIN again.
Memory gets its own compartment. Locked chats can use what ChatGPT already remembers, but anything they add is remembered only for other locked chats. Locking a conversation does not remove what ChatGPT had already remembered from it.
What locking does not do
OpenAI's help page states the limits directly. Locking does not create end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault. It does not change how long OpenAI retains the chat, or the setting that lets conversations be used to improve its models.
Workspace rules stay in place too. Administrators cannot turn the feature off, unlock a chat, or reset a PIN. In ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu, locked chats are still included in the message logs that companies get through the OpenAI Compliance Platform.
A shared link survives locking. Content shared earlier still opens through the link, and only new messages are left out, so the link has to be deleted separately. Some chats cannot be locked at all:
- temporary, archived, and group chats
- chats created from a shared link
- chats with scheduled tasks, meeting recordings, or background tasks
- Codex conversations
The PIN is the only key
Changing a known PIN keeps every locked chat. Resetting a forgotten one permanently deletes all locked chats, the memories stored only in them, and the files they protected. OpenAI says its support team cannot recover that content.
The rollout is gradual. The release notes name Free, Go, Plus, and Pro users on the web, in the iOS and Android apps, and in the new desktop app for macOS and Windows. The help page also lists Business, Enterprise, and Edu, and excludes ChatGPT for Healthcare.
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