Quick answer
OpenAI announced new controls for ChatGPT Temporary Chat on August 27, 2026. A temporary conversation still starts non-personalized by default, but users can now choose at the beginning to let it reference existing memories, custom instructions, and plugins. It still does not create new memories while temporary. Users can also save a temporary conversation, which converts it into a regular chat governed by their account-level personalization and model-improvement settings.
Quick answer: what changed in ChatGPT Temporary Chat?
Temporary Chat now offers two optional paths that were not part of its original history-free flow. At the start of a conversation, a user can choose personalized responses that use existing memories, custom instructions, and plugins. If the conversation later becomes useful, the user can save it to regular chat history. OpenAI says the update is rolling out, so account access may not appear everywhere at the same time.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center, OpenAI Help Center
Temporary chats remain non-personalized by default
Starting a Temporary Chat does not automatically use regular personalization. OpenAI says the default non-personalized mode does not use memory, custom instructions, or plugins and does not create new memories. Users who want personalized responses must choose that option when the temporary conversation begins.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center
Personalized Temporary Chat can read existing memory but cannot add to it
A personalized temporary conversation can reference information that ChatGPT already knows through memory, use regular custom instructions, and access plugins. It does not create or update memories while it remains temporary. The personalization choice is fixed after the conversation starts, so switching between personalized and non-personalized modes requires beginning another Temporary Chat.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center, OpenAI Help Center
Saving turns the temporary conversation into a regular chat
The new save action adds the conversation to chat history and converts it into a regular chat. From that point forward, the conversation follows the account's personalization and model-improvement preferences. If memory is enabled, information in the saved conversation may later be used for personalization. Saving is therefore a change in how the conversation is handled, not just a bookmark.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center, OpenAI Help Center
The privacy boundaries still need careful reading
An unsaved Temporary Chat does not appear in history, does not create memories, and is not used to improve OpenAI's models, although OpenAI says it may retain a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes. Limited prior context may also be used for safety and security in rare high-risk situations. If a GPT sends data through third-party actions, the recipient's privacy policy applies and that third party may keep the data longer.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center
When to use each Temporary Chat mode
Use non-personalized Temporary Chat when the goal is a clean conversation that does not draw on regular memory, custom instructions, or plugins. Choose personalized Temporary Chat when existing preferences or connected tools are useful but the session should not create memories or enter history by default. Before saving, review whether the conversation should become part of regular history and inherit the account's data-control settings.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center
Frequently asked questions
What readers usually ask
Does Temporary Chat use ChatGPT memory?
Not by default. A personalized Temporary Chat can reference existing memories, but OpenAI says it does not create or update memories while the conversation remains temporary.
Can personalization be enabled after a Temporary Chat starts?
No. OpenAI says the personalized or non-personalized choice must be made when the conversation begins and cannot be changed afterward.
What happens when a Temporary Chat is saved?
It becomes a regular chat in history and follows the account's personalization and model-improvement settings from that point forward.
Are unsaved Temporary Chats used to train OpenAI models?
OpenAI says a Temporary Chat is not used to improve its models while it remains temporary. It may retain a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes.
Can plugins be used in Temporary Chat?
Yes, but only in a personalized Temporary Chat. OpenAI says non-personalized temporary conversations do not use plugins.
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