OpenAI has added a ChatGPT chat lock, so users can now lock individual conversations. The company said on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, that a locked chat opens only with a four-digit PIN or, on supported devices, with Face ID or Touch ID. The feature is aimed at moments when someone else may see the screen, such as when a user hands a phone to a friend or family member to show them something in another chat. The rollout started on Tuesday, so the lock may not yet be visible on every account.
How the lock works
Once a chat is locked, it moves into a dedicated Locked Chats section. That section is kept apart from regular chat history, pinned conversations and chat search results, so a locked conversation does not appear in those places. OpenAI distinguishes this from Temporary Chats, which run in a separate session that does not appear in chat history. Locked chats, by contrast, can be reopened at any time.
Locked Chats also has its own memory when Memory is switched on. That memory is shared across conversations inside the section, and new messages sent after a chat is locked can update it. Regular Memory is not updated by those messages, so the company says new information from locked chats will not carry over into regular chats.
What the lock does not change
OpenAI is explicit that the ChatGPT chat lock limits access and nothing more. It does not add end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault, and it does not change how long the chat is retained. Information ChatGPT remembered before a chat was locked is not removed, and the "Improve the model for everyone" setting stays as it was. A lock can limit who sees a screen, but it does not address concerns about how sensitive information is stored or handled.
Resetting a PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, files and other content protected by the old PIN, so users should keep that in mind before changing it. Some chat types cannot be locked at all. These include temporary chats, archived chats, group chats, chats opened from a shared link, chats with scheduled tasks and chats with meeting recordings.
Who gets it and when
The ChatGPT chat lock, through Locked Chats, will be available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. OpenAI says the feature is not offered on ChatGPT for Healthcare. It began rolling out on Tuesday, so it may not be live for all users yet.
Aasan alfaaz mein
ChatGPT mein ab chats ko lock kiya ja sakta hai, jo PIN ya Face ID aur Touch ID se khulti hain. Locked chats alag section mein chali jati hain aur history ya search mein nahi dikhti. Ye sirf access rokti hai, data ki storage ya encryption ko is se koi tabdeeli nahi aati. Agar aapke account par ye feature abhi nahi dikh raha, to thora intezar karein.
