OpenAI announced on Tuesday that ChatGPT users can now lock specific conversations to keep sensitive chats private when others may have access to their screen or device. Locked Chats can be protected with a four-digit PIN, or with Face ID or Touch ID on supported devices.
Purpose of the feature
The company framed the feature for situations where users discuss personal matters, plan surprises, or otherwise want to prevent certain conversations from being seen when handing their device to friends or family. As ChatGPT is increasingly used for personal conversations, Locked Chats introduces an extra privacy layer.
How Locked Chats differ from Temporary Chats
Temporary Chats provide a separate session that does not appear in main chat history. Locked Chats, by contrast, remain accessible to the user at any time but are moved into a dedicated "Locked Chats" section that is kept separate from regular chat history, pinned conversations, and chat search results.
Memory and data handling
OpenAI clarifies that locking a chat does not create end-to-end encryption, does not create a separate encrypted vault, and does not change how long chats are retained. Locking a chat also does not remove information that ChatGPT remembered before the chat was locked, nor does it change the "Improve the model for everyone" setting.
If Memory is enabled, Locked Chats uses its own separate memory shared across conversations within that section. New messages sent after a chat is locked can update this Locked Chats memory, but they do not update the regular Memory. That separation means information added in locked conversations will not propagate into normal chat memory.
PIN reset and restrictions
When a chat is locked it is moved to the Locked Chats section. OpenAI states that resetting a PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, files, and other content that were protected by the previous PIN.
Locked Chats cannot be used for Temporary Chats, archived chats, group chats, chats created from a shared link, chats containing scheduled tasks, or chats with meeting recordings.
Availability
The Locked Chats feature will be available to users on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans. OpenAI notes the feature is not available on ChatGPT for Healthcare. The rollout began Tuesday, so the option may not yet appear for all users.
Conclusion
Locked Chats add an optional, device-level protection for specific conversations in ChatGPT, intended to reduce accidental access by others. The feature does not, however, change underlying storage, retention, or model‑improvement practices, nor does it provide end-to-end encryption.
