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ChatGPT Privacy Settings: 5 Checks to Make Now

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Last checked: 8 November 2026

ChatGPT privacy settings decide whether your chats can be used to train OpenAI’s models, which chats are saved, and what you can export or delete. On personal Free, Plus and Pro accounts, sharing chats for model improvement is switched on by default, so it is worth five minutes to check.

Based on OpenAI’s help pages, checked 8 November 2026. Menus and names change, so look for the nearest matching option. We have not tested these steps ourselves.

What the main ChatGPT privacy settings do

  • Improve the model for everyone. This setting controls whether your conversations can help train OpenAI models. OpenAI says turning it off keeps your chat history.
  • Temporary chat. According to OpenAI, these chats do not appear in your history, do not create or update memories, and are not used to improve its models. They may be kept for up to 30 days for safety reasons.
  • Memory. Memory controls how ChatGPT personalises its answers. OpenAI describes it as separate from the model training setting, so turning one off does not turn off the other.
  • Export and delete. Signed-in Free, Go, Plus and Pro users can ask for a copy of their data, or delete their account, from the settings. Deleting an account is permanent.

5 ChatGPT privacy settings checks to make now

  1. Open the data controls. On the web, open your account menu, choose Settings, then Data controls. On iPhone or Android, open the sidebar, tap your profile icon, then Settings and Data controls.
  2. Decide on “Improve the model for everyone”. If you do not want your chats used for training, turn it off and select Done. OpenAI says this does not delete or hide your saved chats.
  3. Check Memory. Look at what ChatGPT has saved about you, and remove anything you would not want kept. Memory has its own settings page.
  4. Use a temporary chat for sensitive questions. Choose it before the conversation begins. If you later save a temporary chat, OpenAI says it becomes a regular chat and follows your usual settings.
  5. Remember the thumbs. OpenAI says that if you give feedback with a thumbs up or thumbs down, the whole conversation linked to that feedback may be used to train its models, even when you have opted out.

What to do this week

  1. Open Data controls on every device where you use ChatGPT and check the setting.
  2. Read your saved memories and delete any that include names, addresses, or customer details.
  3. Before pasting a contract, invoice, or customer message, ask whether you need to include the private parts. The guide on summarising a long report safely shows how.
  4. Read every answer carefully before relying on it. See the six checks for an AI answer.

What can go wrong with ChatGPT privacy settings

  • A different account or device. Your ChatGPT privacy settings follow your signed-in account. If you use ChatGPT without signing in, OpenAI says the choice is saved only in that browser.
  • Work or school accounts. Managed workspaces such as Business, Enterprise and Edu have their own rules. By default OpenAI does not use content from Business, Enterprise, Edu or Healthcare workspaces to train its models, and the organisation’s own policies still apply.
  • Believing “off” means “gone”. Turning off model training does not delete anything. Delete chats or your account separately if you want them removed.
  • Trusting a message that says it is from the company. Privacy emails and pop-ups are a common scam lure. Go to the settings yourself. See how to spot an AI scam message.

New to a term here? The glossary and the Start Here page explain the basics. For rules that change on a set date, see the Anthropic usage policy checks.

Sources: OpenAI Help Center, “Data controls in ChatGPT” (supports the settings, steps, temporary chat, feedback, export, deletion and workspace statements). OpenAI Help Center, “Temporary chat in ChatGPT” and “Memory in ChatGPT” are linked from the data controls page for more detail. Last checked 8 November 2026.

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