Say you want ChatGPT's help wording a sensitive email, but you don't want that conversation sitting in your sidebar forever. Here's how to use a Temporary Chat in ChatGPT: start a new chat, turn on the Temporary option before you type, and it won't appear in your history or shape future memory.
What it's actually for
Temporary Chat suits a question that doesn't belong beside your ongoing work — comparing two drafts, brainstorming a menu, thinking through something private. You want the help, not a permanent record cluttering your sidebar.
It's not a vault, though. OpenAI may still keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety review. "Not in my history" is a real promise; "nobody could ever see this" isn't. If you need to handle something truly confidential or regulated, use an approved tool instead, following your organization's rules.
For an ongoing project you'll want to revisit, a regular chat inside ChatGPT Projects is the better fit — Temporary Chat is for the one-off that doesn't need to stick around.
Starting one
- Open ChatGPT and start a new conversation.
- Select Temporary before typing your question.
- Confirm it's marked temporary, then ask away.
- Close it when you're done — don't expect to find it later in history.
If the option isn't where you expect, check OpenAI's Temporary Chat FAQ rather than guessing from memory, since placement shifts with updates.
Three things that aren't the same
History is your saved list of chats — a Temporary Chat skips it entirely. Memory is what personalizes future answers — Temporary Chat neither creates nor uses it. Data controls, in Settings, are separate account-level choices about things like whether conversations improve the model — starting a Temporary Chat doesn't replace reviewing those.
This is the practical step worth doing today if you haven't: open OpenAI's Data Controls FAQ once and see what's actually turned on for your account.
Strip out what it doesn't need
Before pasting anything in, whether temporary or not, leave out:
- Names, addresses, phone numbers
- Passwords, recovery codes, account numbers
- Medical details or private messages from someone else
Try a substitute instead: "A customer is upset about a delayed order. Help me draft a calm reply" works just as well as pasting their actual message. The same habit matters for voice, too — our guide on using ChatGPT Voice for an action plan shows how to plan out loud without dictating private details.
If you're worried someone else is using your account
Temporary Chat isn't the fix for that. Go to Settings → Security → Active sessions instead, and follow our guide to reviewing unfamiliar ChatGPT sessions to sign out anything you don't recognize.
Don't overtrust the answer
A Temporary Chat changes where a conversation lives, not whether it's correct. For anything involving money, health, or a decision that matters, ask ChatGPT to list its assumptions and what you should verify yourself — then actually check the original source.
Official sources
- OpenAI Help Center: Temporary Chat FAQ
- OpenAI Help Center: Data Controls FAQ