OpenAI's ChatGPT locks chats with 4-digit PIN

OpenAI began rolling out locked chats in ChatGPT on the 20th of October 2026, its release notes say. A locked chat hides behind a PIN, a 4-digit number code.

One warning comes first. If you reset a forgotten PIN, every locked chat is deleted for good, and OpenAI Support cannot bring it back, the help page says.

Who gets locked chats: free users and paid plans, a few at a time

The release notes name Free, Go, Plus and Pro users. It works on the web, on iPhone and Android, and in the new ChatGPT app for Mac and Windows.

The feature arrives "gradually", OpenAI wrote, so some accounts do not see it yet. It is missing from ChatGPT for Healthcare, the help page says.

How a locked chat works, step by step

You open a chat's menu and pick "Lock chat", the help page says. The chat leaves your normal list and search, and moves to Projects, then Locked chats.

On phones you can also open it with Face ID, Touch ID or your phone's own unlock. On a phone, access ends after 1 minute away.

Below we break down what the lock does and what it leaves alone

The lock hides chats from people who see your screen or use your device, OpenAI wrote. It does not add end-to-end encryption, a lock only you hold the key to, the help page says.

OpenAI keeps the chat for as long as before. Anything ChatGPT remembered before you locked it stays remembered.

A 4-digit PIN has 10,000 possible codes, by our arithmetic. ChatGPT pauses access after too many wrong tries, the help page says.

What is confirmed and what is not

The release notes list 4 plans. The help page lists 7, adding Business, Enterprise and Edu, the plans for companies and schools.

TechCrunch reported on the 20th of October that OpenAI made it for "discussing something personal or planning a surprise". TechCrunch also wrote that group, archived and temporary chats cannot be locked.

Key facts

OpenAI began rolling out locked chats on the 20th of October 2026.

A 4-digit PIN opens them, and Face ID works on phones.

Free users get it too.

Resetting a forgotten PIN deletes all locked chats for good.