OpenAI has now introduced a feature that gives users far more control over who can see those exchanges, and it works in a way that most smartphone users will already be familiar with.

AI chatbots have become deeply personal tools for millions of people, and the conversations stored inside them often reflect that.

OpenAI Adds Locked Chat Feature to ChatGPT

OpenAI has begun rolling out a new feature for ChatGPT called locked chats, which allows users to move selected conversations out of their regular chat history and into a protected area accessible only through a four-digit account PIN. The feature is designed primarily for situations where someone might share their screen, hand their phone to another person, or use a shared device, keeping sensitive or personal conversations away from unintended viewers.

Locked chats are available across ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts, making it one of the more universally available privacy features the company has introduced to the platform. The rollout is gradual, and users who do not yet see a Lock chat option in a conversation's more options menu may need to wait a few days before it appears.

Once a conversation is locked, its title and content are removed from the regular chat list, pinned chats, and the standard conversation search. All locked conversations are grouped under a dedicated section found by navigating to Projects and then Locked chats, and accessing them requires entering the four-digit PIN or, on supported mobile devices, using Face ID, Touch ID, or the device's native unlock method.

Hide Sensitive Chats Behind a PIN Code

Setting up a PIN is straightforward. The first time a user attempts to lock a chat, ChatGPT prompts them to create a four-digit account PIN, which they confirm by entering it twice. That same PIN then works across all supported devices where the user is signed into the same OpenAI account, and biometric authentication can be enabled separately on each device as an optional convenience.

Locking an existing chat is done through the more options menu for that conversation, where the user selects Lock chat and then confirms the action, as per Engadget. New locked chats can also be started from scratch directly within the Locked chats project area, giving users the option to begin a conversation inside the protected space rather than moving one into it after the fact.

Files uploaded or created within a chat are also protected when that chat is locked. While locked, those files can only be accessed from within the locked chat itself and are hidden from the broader file storage area. Files brought in from outside the locked chat retain their original access rules and are not automatically protected by the lock.

Locked Chats Prevent Access

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

Access to locked chats is temporary by design. After entering a PIN on the web or desktop app, access is tied to the specific browser tab or desktop window where authentication was completed. On mobile, access ends automatically after one minute away from the locked chat area or after the app is backgrounded.

Users can also end access immediately at any time using the Lock now button.

The feature comes with some important limitations that OpenAI states plainly in its support documentation. Locked chats do not create end-to-end encryption, do not change how long OpenAI retains conversations, and do not affect whether a chat is used for model training based on the user's existing settings.

In workplace environments, locked chats in ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu plans are still included in conversation message logs available through the OpenAI Compliance Platform, meaning administrators with compliance tool access can still see them through that channel even though they cannot unlock them directly.

Perhaps the most significant caveat is what happens when a PIN is forgotten. Resetting an account PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, along with any memories stored only within those conversations and any files protected exclusively by that PIN. "This cannot be undone, and OpenAI Support cannot recover the deleted content," the company states. Users who know their current PIN can change it without any data loss, but a full reset is irreversible.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a conversational AI assistant developed by OpenAI and launched publicly in November 2022. It is built on OpenAI's large language models, including the GPT series, and allows users to have natural back-and-forth conversations, ask questions, write content, analyze documents, generate code, and work through a wide range of tasks using text or voice.

The platform is accessible through a web browser, a dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android, and a desktop app for macOS and Windows. ChatGPT offers several subscription tiers including Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu, each providing different levels of access to OpenAI's most advanced models and features. As of 2026, ChatGPT has grown into one of the most widely used AI tools in the world, with hundreds of millions of users across consumer and enterprise contexts.

How Secure Is Locked Chat?

Locked chats provide a meaningful layer of visual privacy, but they are not a security feature in the technical cryptographic sense. The feature prevents locked conversations from appearing in the standard chat history, pinned chats, and regular search results, which protects them from casual viewing on a shared or unlocked device.

However, OpenAI explicitly states that locking a chat does not create end-to-end encryption, does not remove the conversation from OpenAI's own data infrastructure, and does not change how long the company retains the chat. In enterprise and educational workspace environments, locked chats remain accessible through OpenAI's Compliance Platform, meaning that authorized compliance tools can still access the underlying message logs.

The feature is best understood as a privacy tool for managing who can see your conversations on a shared screen or device, rather than a system for encrypting or fully concealing data from OpenAI itself or from authorized administrators.

What Are the Features of Locked Chat?

From the perspective of other people who have physical access to your device or account, locked chats offer solid protection as long as a strong and memorable PIN is used. The four-digit PIN is tied to the OpenAI account rather than to any specific device, and biometric authentication can be enabled as an additional layer on mobile.

On Android, screenshots of locked chats are blocked at the system level, appearing blank or black in the screenshot gallery. The most significant risk to losing locked chats comes from within: forgetting the PIN and being forced to reset it will permanently delete all locked conversations and their associated files, with no recovery option.

It is also worth noting that anyone who can open a locked chat, meaning anyone who knows the PIN, can still copy the contents of those conversations. The feature does not prevent copying or forwarding what is inside; it only prevents the conversations from being seen without the PIN.