Guide

How to use temporary chat in ChatGPT

Temporary chat is ChatGPT's way of having a conversation that doesn't land in your history or shape its memory. Here's how to start one, what OpenAI still keeps, and when it's the right tool.

Updated 18 October 2026

Quick answer: open a new chat, select Temporary, choose Personalized or Unpersonalized, then type your message. The chat stays out of your history, doesn't create memories and isn't used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes.

Checked against OpenAI's help pages on 18 October 2026. The exact position of the Temporary button can vary between the web, desktop and mobile apps.

Start a temporary chat

Open a new chat. Temporary mode has to be chosen at the start, before you send anything.
Select Temporary.
Pick Personalized or Unpersonalized (explained below).
Type your message and send it as usual.

Personalization is on by default for temporary chats, and ChatGPT remembers whichever option you pick for your account or workspace, so you won't need to choose every time. Temporary mode also works when you chat with a GPT.

Personalized or Unpersonalized?

	Personalized	Unpersonalized
Uses your existing memories	Yes	No
Uses custom instructions and plugins	Yes	No
Creates or updates memories	No	No
Used to train models	No	No

Choose Personalized when you want ChatGPT to answer the way it normally does for you, just without leaving a trace in your history. Choose Unpersonalized for a clean-slate answer that isn't influenced by anything ChatGPT knows about you, for example to see how it responds to a question without your background shaping it. Either way, you can't switch once the conversation has started; open a new temporary chat instead. Your account or workspace restrictions override this choice.

What's kept, and for how long

Your history: nothing. An unsaved temporary chat never shows up in your chat history, so once you leave it there's no way back to it from there.
Memory: nothing new. The chat may read existing memories if personalized, but never adds to them.
Model training: not used, whatever your Improve the model for everyone setting says, for as long as the chat stays temporary.
OpenAI's copy: may be kept for up to 30 days for safety purposes.
Enterprise compliance: on eligible Enterprise workspaces, temporary chats are available to the organization's Compliance API for 30 days, even if the workspace uses a different retention period.
GPT actions: if a GPT sends data to an outside service through an action, that service's privacy policy applies, and it may keep the data for longer than 30 days.

OpenAI also notes that limited safety-related context from earlier conversations may still be used in rare, high-risk situations, even when memory and personalization are off.

Save a temporary chat you want to keep

If a temporary conversation turns out to be useful, you can save it to your chat history. It then becomes an ordinary chat, whether or not you began it as Unpersonalized. From that moment it follows your normal settings: it can be used for training if your setting allows it, it may feed into memory if Memory is on, and it's kept like any other saved chat until you delete it or a workspace retention policy removes it. If the chat included uploaded files, eligible files may also be saved to Library.

Once saved, you manage it like any other conversation, for example by archiving it or deleting it.

When to use it

One-off questions you don't want cluttering your sidebar.
Sensitive topics you'd rather not have in your history or remembered later. Keep in mind the 30-day safety copy.
Testing prompts without your memory or custom instructions colouring the answer (use Unpersonalized).
A shared or borrowed device, where you don't want the conversation left in the history.

It's the wrong choice when you'll need the answer again next week. Use a regular chat, or save the temporary one before leaving. And if what you really want is to keep all your conversations out of training, change the account setting instead; see how to stop ChatGPT training on your chats.

If it doesn't work

You can't find the Temporary option. It appears on a new, empty chat. Start a fresh chat rather than looking inside an existing one.
Answers still reflect your memories. The chat was started as Personalized. Open a new temporary chat and choose Unpersonalized before your first message.
A temporary chat disappeared. That's expected if you didn't save it; it can't be recovered from your history.
The options look different at work. Workspace restrictions can limit personalization and apply their own policies.

Keeping the chats that matter

Temporary chat is for throwaway conversations. For the ones you want to act on, Workbranch, a separate AI workspace with answers from Google Gemini, turns each answer into a point-by-point checklist with flags, due dates and reminders. There's a 3-day free trial.

Sources

Temporary chat in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 18 October 2026)
Chat and file retention in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 18 October 2026)
Data controls in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 18 October 2026)
Projects in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, checked 18 October 2026)
How your data is used to improve model performance (OpenAI Help Center, checked 18 October 2026)

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a temporary chat back after closing it?

Not unless you saved it. An unsaved temporary chat doesn't appear in your history, so once you leave it there's no way to reopen it from there. Save it before you navigate away if there's any chance you'll need it.

Can I put a temporary chat in a project?

Not while it's temporary. Save it first; it then becomes a regular chat, which you can handle like any other conversation.

Does a temporary chat still use my custom instructions?

Only if you start it as Personalized. An Unpersonalized temporary chat ignores your memories, custom instructions and plugins.