What happened
- OpenAI announced on October 20, 2026 locked chats in ChatGPT, a feature to keep conversations private when other people can see the screen or the device.
- They are enabled with a four-digit PIN or with Face ID or Touch ID on compatible devices. Locked chats move to their own section, separate from history, pinned chats and search.
- With memory turned on, locked chats have their own memory: new messages do not update the general memory.
- It is available on the Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans, not on ChatGPT for healthcare. The rollout is gradual.
Why it matters
- The risk it covers is domestic and office-sized: the shared computer, the borrowed phone, the screen projected in a meeting. It is a door lock, not a vault.
- Resetting the PIN permanently deletes the chats, files and content protected by the previous one. Whoever forgets it loses the history: the feature protects from others and also from oneself.
- The consequence the feature’s headline hides: locking does not add end-to-end encryption, does not change retention and does not alter the “Improve the model for everyone” setting. For a small business that uses ChatGPT with third-party data, a locked chat does not solve the data policy.
The number
4 digits. Length of the PIN. That code separates a chat from the history, but information ChatGPT already remembered is not removed.
Context
Temporary chats already existed, but they cannot be resumed. Locked ones can. The feature is not available for archived, group, shared-link or scheduled-task chats, or for meeting recordings. The underlying issue has appeared in Mamífero before: AI conversations that ended up leaked.
What’s next
- Gradual rollout: some users still do not see it.
- No date for end-to-end encryption or for widening the supported chat types.
- No announced dates for ChatGPT for healthcare.
Bottom line
ChatGPT adds on-screen privacy while it tests advertising inside answers. They are two decisions about who sees what: the first protects from the neighbor, the second does not.
Sources
- OpenAI Help Center — Using locked chats in ChatGPT (the article did not open from our access; details are taken from TechCrunch, which links it)
- TechCrunch — ChatGPT now lets you lock your chats (October 20, 2026, 11:36 AM PDT)
Edited by Rodrigo Cornejo. How we select and verify: who writes these notes.
