Guide

How to pin chats in ChatGPT

Your most important ChatGPT conversations keep sinking under new ones. Pinning holds them at the top of the sidebar. This guide shows how to pin on web and mobile, and how to use pins together with names, projects and the archive so the list stays useful.

Updated 20 October 2026

Quick answer: on the web, hover over the chat in the left sidebar, click the ⋯ menu and choose Pin chat. In the iOS or Android app, long-press the chat and tap Pin chat. The chat moves to the Pinned section at the top of your sidebar, where it stays until you unpin it.

The steps below were checked against OpenAI's help pages and release notes on 20 October 2026. Menu labels can differ a little between the web, desktop and mobile apps.

Pin a chat on the web

Open ChatGPT in your browser and make sure the sidebar is visible.
Hover over the conversation you want to keep at the top.
Click the ⋯ (more options) button that appears next to it.
Select Pin chat.

The chat now shows in the Pinned section above your recent chats, no matter how many new conversations you start after it.

Pin a chat in the iOS or Android app

Open the ChatGPT app and bring up your list of chats. On iPhone, that's the two-line menu icon at the top left.
Press and hold the conversation you want to pin.
Tap Pin chat in the menu that appears.

Your chat history itself syncs to every device signed in to the same account. OpenAI's help pages don't promise that the pinned list matches everywhere, so if a pin is missing on another device, pin the chat there too.

Pin a project

As of October 2026, the web version lets you pin projects as well as chats, directly from the sidebar. Pinned projects and pinned chats share one Pinned section. This is handy when the thing you return to every day is a whole piece of work, such as a client, a course or a side project, rather than one conversation. If you haven't set up projects yet, our guide to setting up ChatGPT Projects walks through it.

Unpin a chat

When a chat no longer needs a top spot, open the same menu you used to pin it (the ⋯ button on the web, or a long-press in the app) and look for the option to unpin it. The conversation goes back to its normal place in your recent chats. Unpinning doesn't delete or archive anything.

A simple system: pin, name, group, archive

Pinning works best when only a few chats are pinned. If everything is pinned, nothing stands out. These four habits, used together, keep a busy sidebar manageable:

Pin what you use this week. Keep pins for conversations you're actively returning to: a plan you're refining, a running draft, a reference you check daily. Unpin them when the work is done.
Give chats names you'd search for. Search looks at both a chat's title and its messages, so a clear title makes a chat easier to find again. Look in a chat's ⋯ menu for the option to rename it, and use a word you'd type later, like the client or topic.
Group long-running work in projects. Drag a chat onto a project, or choose Move to project in its menu. This also works for a pinned chat, as long as its menu shows that option. On the web you can also show your recent chats as one combined list or grouped by project.
Archive what's finished. Choose Archive in the chat's ⋯ menu. The chat leaves the sidebar but stays searchable and can be restored from Settings → Data controls. Our guide to archiving ChatGPT chats covers this step in detail.

Put simply: pins are for now, projects are for ongoing work, the archive is for later, and Search finds the rest. For a broader cleanup of your whole history, see how to organize your ChatGPT conversations.

Good to know

Where it works. OpenAI added pinned chats on iOS, Android and the web in December 2025. In the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS and Windows, chats are listed under Recents, where you can sort, filter and pin them.
Pinning isn't privacy. A pinned chat follows the same retention and model-training settings as every other saved chat. Pinning only changes where it appears.
Locked chats are separate. Locking a chat (rolling out gradually as of October 2026) takes it out of regular history, the Pinned section and Search; you open it with your 4-digit account PIN, or Face ID, Touch ID or device unlock on supported phones. A locked chat can't be pinned.
Deleting is final. Once a pinned chat is deleted, neither you nor OpenAI Support can bring it back. If you might need it again, archive it instead.
Each account and workspace is separate. If you switch between a personal account and a work workspace, each one has its own chats, so its own pins.

If it doesn't work

There's no Pin chat option. Update the app or refresh the page, and check that the chat isn't locked. Some chat types, such as locked chats, don't offer every menu action.
A pinned chat disappeared from the top. Check whether it was locked, archived or deleted. Locked chats live under Projects → Locked chats, and archived ones are under Settings → Data controls. You can also use Search (Cmd+K on a Mac or Ctrl+K on Windows, on the web).
Your pins look different on another device. First check that both devices use the same account and workspace. Then refresh the page or app, or sign out and in again. If the chat is there but not pinned, pin it on that device.
You can't find an older chat to pin. Chats that scroll out of the sidebar are usually still in your account. Search for something you remember writing in it, open the result and pin it from there. Our article on finding old ChatGPT conversations has more tips.

When pinned chats are really a to-do list

Many people pin a chat because it still holds something they need to act on. If that's you, Workbranch may fit better. It's a separate AI workspace with answers from Google Gemini, where you can pin chats, but also give a chat a flag and a due date, file it in a color-coded project folder, and tick off each point of an answer in a checklist that shows your progress. You can try it free for 3 days. To see what an existing ChatGPT chat still asks of you, paste its share link into the free chat organizer, which lists its tasks, decisions and open questions.

Sources

ChatGPT release notes (OpenAI Help Center, checked 20 October 2026): pinned chats (December 2025), pinning projects and grouping Recents (June 2026), desktop Recents (July 2026), locked chats (October 2026)
Projects in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 20 October 2026)
Deleting and archiving chats in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 20 October 2026)
Finding your chats, projects, and files in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 20 October 2026)
Using locked chats in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 20 October 2026)
How can I view my conversation history in the iOS app? (OpenAI Help Center, checked 20 October 2026)

Frequently asked questions

Does pinning a chat change what ChatGPT remembers?

No. OpenAI describes pinning as a way to reach a conversation quickly. It only changes where the chat sits in your sidebar; how long it's kept and whether it can be used for training depend on your data settings, as with any other chat.

Can I pin a locked chat?

No. Locked chats are hidden from regular history and from pinned chats, and OpenAI says a locked chat can't be pinned, archived, moved or shared. Unlock it permanently first if you want to pin it.

Can I pin a whole project instead of single chats?

On the web, yes. Since June 2026 you can pin projects straight from the sidebar, and they appear in the same Pinned section as your pinned chats.