OpenAI has launched a Locked Chats feature that lets you hide ChatGPT conversations behind a four-digit PIN or biometric authentication on mobile devices.
To lock a chat, open an existing conversation, select the options menu, and choose Lock chat. You will need to create or enter your account PIN. Locked chats move to a separate Projects section and remain in your history, but they are hidden from your regular chat list and search results. You access them by going to Projects > Locked chats and entering your PIN or device unlock method like Face ID or Touch ID.
You can also start a new locked chat from scratch under Projects > Locked Chats by entering your authentication and typing a message. When finished, select Lock now to hide the chats from your sidebar.
The feature is available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans on both mobile and desktop apps. It does not work with temporary, archived, or group chats, nor with chats that have shared links, scheduled tasks, background tasks, or meeting recordings. ChatGPT for Healthcare does not support locked chats. OpenAI says the feature is rolling out gradually to users.
Locked chats are not encrypted end to end or stored in a separate encrypted vault. OpenAI retains and may use locked conversations in the same way as regular chats. Locking a chat does not change other privacy settings like Improve the model for everyone, which you can turn off in Settings > Data controls.
If you reset your account PIN, all locked chats are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.