Inside ChatGPT, when you start a conversation, you can choose the available model like “GPT-4o”, “o1-mini”, etc., and under all of these, there’s an option for Temporary chat. When toggled on, your chat with ChatGPT will become, well, a temporary chat. But what exactly is a temporary chat, and what does it do?
In this post, I’ll explain it in a simple way so you’ll know if you should use it or not.
What is a Temporary Chat?
As the name suggests, this chat is temporary. You’ll start with a blank slate instead of resuming a previous conversation.
ChatGPT will not be aware of prior interactions or able to access past memories.
How to Start a Temporary Chat
Login to ChatGPT, select the version you want to use from the top menu, and toggle on “Temporary Chat“. This will begin a session with a clean slate.
Temporary chats Won’t Appear in History
Your usual chats are listed on the left sidebar, where you can access and continue conversations.
However, Temporary chats will not be listed there. According to OpenAI, they may still keep a copy of the chat for up to 30 days, but it will be inaccessible to you.
Temporary chats Won’t Be Used for Training
Unlike your regular chats, conversations that happen in Temporary chats will not be used for OpenAI’s training purposes.
Temporary Chat is Gone When You Close the Session
Temporary chats will be erased and become inaccessible the moment you do any of the following:
- Close the browser
- Refresh the ChatGPT page
Temporary Chat Can Be Turned Back Into Normal Chat
At any point during your session with ChatGPT in temporary chat mode, you can toggle off the temporary chat option.
When you do, the session will automatically become a normal chat, and the conversation will then be accessible from the sidebar like any other chat.