Can OpenAI employees see my temporary chats?

Yes, but only in very rare cases. OpenAI keeps a copy of your temporary chat for 30 days on its secure servers. If your chat is flagged as dangerous, a human employee might review it. If it is safe, it is deleted automatically after 30 days.

Does Temporary Chat use the Pro or the free model?

It uses whichever model you currently have access to. If you are a free user, you will use the standard model. If you have ChatGPT Plus, you can use the powerful model in Temporary Chat. The "smarts" of the AI are the same; only the memory is turned off.

Can I recover a closed Temporary Chat?

No, you cannot. Once you close the browser tab, refresh the page, or close the app, the link to that conversation is broken permanently. There is no "Trash Can" or "Restore" button. This is why it is important to copy any important information before you close the window.

ChatGPT Temporary Chat: Everything You Need to Know

Introduction:

In this guide, we will explain exactly what ChatGPT Temporary Chat is. You will know whether this function is truly private. We will also show you how to turn it on, save your work if you change your mind, and make a temporary chat permanent.

What is the ChatGPT Temporary Chat Feature?

The ChatGPT Temporary Chat feature is a privacy setting that lets you have a conversation with the AI that "disappears" after you are done.

When you turn this mode on, three important things happen:

✅ No History: The conversation will not appear in your history sidebar on the left side of the screen. Once you close the window, it is gone from your view.

✅ No Memory: It won't remember your past chats, and it won't remember anything from this temporary chat for the next time. For example, if you ask ChatGPT to extract data from a PDF, it will only perform the extraction and not retain the extracted content.

✅ No Training: This is the most important part for privacy. When you use Temporary Chat, they promise not to use that conversation for training.

Is ChatGPT Temporary Chat Safe?

This is the most common question users ask. Is ChatGPT really private? Does ChatGPT save your chat? If chat disappears, does that mean it is completely secret? Well, the answer is Yes.

✅ It is Safe from "Prying Eyes."

If you are worried about your boss, your spouse, or a friend seeing your chat history on your computer, Temporary Chat is very safe. Because the chat does not show up in the sidebar, no one looking at your screen will know you had that conversation.

✅ It is Safe from AI Training.

If you are worried about your data being used to teach the robot, Temporary Chat is safe. OpenAI disconnects this chat from their learning system.

However, the chat is not immediately invisible to OpenAI. Even after you close it, you cannot see the chat, but OpenAI keeps a copy on its private servers for up to 30 days.

Why do they do this? They do it for safety reasons. They need to monitor for "abuse." This means they want to make sure people aren't using the temporary mode to do illegal things, create harmful content, or break their rules.

How to Use Temporary Chat in ChatGPT

So, how to access Temporary Chat in ChatGPT? Luckily, turning on this feature is very simple. You can do it on your computer or on your phone app.

Access Temporary Chat on a Computer

Go to ChatGPT and log in to your account.
Look at the top right corner of the screen. Find an icon that says Turn on temporary chat and click it.
Then, a new window will appear, and click Continue.
Now, you can ask anything freely.

How to Exit: When you want to return to normal, simply click the "New Chat" button or the “Turn off temporary chat” button in the top right corner.

Access Temporary Chat on a Phone

Open the ChatGPT app on your phone.
Tap the three-dots icon at the top right corner.
Select the Temporary Chat option
Tap Continue to confirm.

How to Exit: To stop, just open a new chat or toggle the switch off again.

How to Save ChatGPT Temporary Chat

You start a Temporary Chat to ask a quick question. But then, the AI gives you an amazing answer! You realize, "Wait, I actually want to keep this!" In this case, how to save your chats? There are 3 methods you can try.

Option 1: Copy and Paste

This is the easiest way. Use your mouse to highlight the text you want to keep. Right-click and select Copy. Then open a document (such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or your Notes app) and paste the text into it.

Option 2: Take a Screenshot

If you want to save the visual layout (e.g., a table or chart), take a screenshot.

Windows: Press Windows Key + Shift + S.
Mac: Press Command + Shift + 4.
Phone: Press the Power and Volume buttons simultaneously.

Option 3: Save as PDF

You can also save ChatGPT conversation as PDF. That’s to say, use the “Print” feature to save the webpage as a PDF document. It is the best choice if you want to save the entire conversion. The steps are as follows.

Go to the chat you want to save and press Ctrl + P (Win) or Cmd + P (Mac).
On the new dialog, choose Save as PDF next to Destination.
Adjust the layout, page size, and other settings as needed.
Click Save and select a location to save the document.

In this way, you will have a PDF document that keeps your temporary chat. For safety or privacy reasons, you use a PDF password protector, such as SwifDoo PDF, to encrypt it. For instance, you can add an open password. In this way, only you or someone who knows the correct password can access the PDF.

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In fact, SwifDoo PDF is an AI-powered PDF tool. If you often need to deal with PDF documents, then it will be a very helpful tool. You can open the PDF, click on SwifDoo AI, enter your question, and get the answer. It's very convenient. There's no need to spend time uploading the documents.

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How to Make ChatGPT Temporary Chat Permanent

What if you don't just want to save the text, but you want to continue the conversation later in a "Normal" chat? That’s to say, you want to turn your temporary session into a permanent one. Since there is no "Convert" button, you have to use the "Context Transfer" trick.

Step-by-Step Guide:

Keep your Temporary Chat open.
Ask the AI to summarize what you just talked about, or manually copy the most important parts of the conversation.
Open a new browser tab or click "New Chat" to start a fresh, permanent session (make sure "Temporary Chat" is turned OFF).
In the new chat, paste the information you copied.
Type a message like this: "I am moving a conversation here. Here is the context of what we were just discussing. Please remember this so we can continue."

Now, the AI has the information in a permanent chat memory. You can close the old temporary window, and this new chat will be saved in your history sidebar forever.

Conclusion

The ChatGPT Temporary Chat feature is a fantastic tool for brainstorming and one-time tasks. However, remember the golden rule: If you close it, you lose it.

You can use Temporary Chat for sensitive topics and use Standard Chat for things you want to remember. You can switch between these two modes to utilize the functions of ChatGPT while ensuring the security of your data. Hope this guide is helpful.