ChatGPT Browser Extension

1:14 The ChatGPT browser extension links your own browser to the ChatGPT desktop app, so ChatGPT can read or act on sites where you are already signed in, you can @-mention an open tab in a chat, and you can open a side chat beside a page (ChatGPT Learn, read Nov 6, 2026). It works in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi, the last four since Aug 31, 2026, and it needs the ChatGPT Desktop App. To set it up, open Settings > Computer Use in the desktop app, choose the browser and follow the prompts. It is one of the two replacements OpenAI named when it retired ChatGPT Atlas, its own browser, on Aug 9, 2026.

Quick facts

How do you install the ChatGPT extension?

1. Install or update the ChatGPT Desktop App (macOS or Windows; see that page for Linux) and the browser.
2. In the desktop app, open Settings > Computer Use (ChatGPT Learn).
3. Select your browser and follow the prompt to install the plugin it needs.
4. Install the ChatGPT extension from the browser's extension store and read its permission prompts.
5. Check that the browser now shows Manage in the desktop app's settings.
6. Start a ChatGPT Work or Codex chat and @-mention the browser.

OpenAI notes that which browsers appear "can depend on rollout and your workspace settings"; its setup page names no plan requirement.

What can the extension do?

Side chat. In Chrome, Edge, Brave and Vivaldi, open ChatGPT from the toolbar or the Extensions menu to chat next to a page; the side chat stays with the tab where it was opened. Right-clicking selected text offers Ask ChatGPT (ChatGPT Learn). Opera has no side chat.

Tab mentions. In the desktop app, @-mention an open tab in any of the five browsers to give its page to ChatGPT as context, or bring highlighted text into a chat.

1:38 Browser control. In Work and Codex, ChatGPT can act in your browser where you are signed in. OpenAI's example is updating an account in Salesforce. This is the same idea as Agent Mode, but in your real browser and profile instead of a cloud browser.

The desktop app also has a built-in browser, called with @Browser, which does not use your browser profile (ChatGPT Learn). Website tools (WebMCP), which let a page offer actions to ChatGPT, work in that built-in browser but "not through the Chrome extension" (release notes, Aug 31, 2026).

Permissions and safety

0:27 By default ChatGPT asks before using each new site. The choices are Allow once, Allow for this site, Allow for all sites (marked Elevated Risk) or Decline, and allow and block lists live under Settings > Computer Use (ChatGPT Learn). Reading browser history is also marked Elevated Risk and is asked for every time, with no always-allow.

The extension's own permissions are broad, up to reading and changing data on all websites and reading history. OpenAI says it keeps no separate record of browser actions, storing browser activity only when it becomes part of a chat, and that Computer Use follows your Memory setting. Its advice: treat page content as untrusted and do not send secrets through browser tasks (ChatGPT Learn).

The older ChatGPT search extension

A different, older Chrome extension, the "ChatGPT search extension", only makes ChatGPT Search the browser's default search engine; typing "!g" in front of a query sends it to Google (OpenAI Help Center). It does not offer side chat or browser control.

From Atlas to the extension

OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas browser was deprecated on Jul 9, 2026 and stopped working on Aug 9, 2026, as OpenAI moved "browser-based agentic capabilities into ChatGPT and Codex". Its replacements were the desktop app's built-in browser and this extension. Atlas cookies and passwords could be moved to the desktop app and bookmarks to Chrome; history and open tabs could not (release notes). For other AI browsers, see ChatGPT Atlas vs Other AI Browsers.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official ChatGPT Chrome extension? Yes. OpenAI's ChatGPT extension works in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi and connects your browser to the ChatGPT desktop app, as of Nov 6, 2026.

Does the ChatGPT extension work without the desktop app? No. Setup starts in the desktop app at Settings > Computer Use, and tab mentions and browser control are run from there.

Does the ChatGPT extension work in Firefox or Safari? No. OpenAI lists only Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi.

Why is there no side chat in Opera? OpenAI supports tab mentions and browser control in Opera but not side chat; it gives no reason.

What replaced ChatGPT Atlas? The ChatGPT desktop app's built-in browser and the ChatGPT browser extension, after Atlas stopped working on Aug 9, 2026.

Sources

• Browser extension, ChatGPT Learn, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• ChatGPT release notes, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Searching the web with ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Use Your Computer and Browser, OpenAI, Aug 28, 2026 (video)