ChatGPT Tips

ChatGPT tips and lesser-known features as of Nov 6, 2026, each in a sentence or two with a link to its full page: long-press send to pick a model once, the Think button, locked chats, temporary chats, @ mentions, Search across chats, the Library, scheduled tasks and more.

The most useful ChatGPT features are often one tap away and easy to miss: on a phone you can long-press the send button to answer one message with a different model, Free and Go users have a Think button for harder questions, and Ctrl+K (Cmd+K) searches every chat you have had. Each tip below takes a sentence or two and links to the page with the details. All are checked against OpenAI's own pages, as of Nov 6, 2026.

Quick facts

Tips on this page	25
Free plan tips	Most work on Free; paid-only ones say so
Source of each tip	OpenAI Help Center and release notes, read Nov 6, 2026
Shortcuts	See ChatGPT Keyboard Shortcuts
Writing better prompts	See ChatGPT Prompting Guide

Asking better

Long-press send for a one-off model. On iOS and Android, paid users can long-press the send button to pick a model for that message only, without changing the default. See ChatGPT Models.
Press Think on Free and Go. Free and Go have no thinking levels, but a Think button gives harder questions more reasoning. See Is ChatGPT Free.
Pick the thinking level yourself. Since Sep 14, 2026 ChatGPT no longer moves Plus and Pro questions from Instant to Thinking on its own, so choose Medium or High for math, plans and code.
Add to a long answer while it runs. Since Nov 5, 2025 you can interrupt a long-running query with an update, such as a detail you forgot, instead of starting over.
Branch a chat. "Branch in new chat" on a message starts a separate thread from that point, so you can try another direction and keep the original.
Ask for a table of contents. Chats longer than five responses get a table of contents on the web, for jumping back to an earlier answer.

Mentions and commands

Use @ to call a tool. Type @ and a plugin's name, such as @Health or @study, to make ChatGPT use it in that message. See Plugins.
Use / for big jobs. /Deepresearch starts a cited research report and /agent starts agent mode (paid). See Deep Research and How to Use ChatGPT Agent Mode.
Save a reference photo by name. In ChatGPT Images you can save a photo with a name and use "@Pepper" later to put the same pet or person in new images. See ChatGPT Images.
Ask for a looping GIF. ChatGPT Images 2.6 makes animated GIFs and lets you set their speed (since Nov 4, 2026).

Privacy without fuss

Use a temporary chat. A temporary chat stays out of your history and is not used for training; choose Unpersonalized to keep memory and custom instructions out too. See Temporary Chat.
Lock a chat. Since Oct 20, 2026 you can hide a chat behind a 4-digit PIN or Face ID (••• > Lock chat); it then lives under Projects > Locked chats. Resetting the PIN deletes every locked chat. See Locked Chats.
Archive instead of delete. Archive removes a chat from the sidebar but keeps it searchable; delete cannot be undone. See How to Delete ChatGPT History.
Turn off training, keep history. Settings > Data controls > Improve the model for everyone stops your chats being used for training without losing them. See Privacy and Data Controls.
Correct the memory summary directly. Highlight wrong text in Settings > Personalization > Memory, or pick "Don't mention this again". See Memory.

Finding things later

Search everything at once. Open Search in the sidebar or press Ctrl+K or Cmd+K on the web, then filter by chats, images, documents or projects. Archived chats are included; locked and deleted ones are not. See Chat History and Search.
Pin what you use. Pin a chat or project to the top of the sidebar (OpenAI Help Center): on the web hover and use the ••• menu, on mobile long-press.
Reuse files from the Library. Everything you upload or create is saved in the Library (Space on some plans), and Add from library in the composer drops it into a new chat. See File Uploads and Library.
Find every image you made. All of them are at chatgpt.com/images.

Letting ChatGPT work on its own

Schedule a task. Ask "let me know when my package is delivered" or "every Monday at 8, summarize tech news", and it runs on the Scheduled page. Free and Go get 3 active tasks, Plus 5, Pro 15. See Scheduled Tasks.
Share a task, not your chat. Scheduled > ••• > Share > Copy link shares a task's instructions and schedule without your chats or memories.
Send Work off and come back. ChatGPT Work tasks in the cloud keep going and sync across web, phone and desktop, so you can start on a laptop and check the result on your phone (paid plans).

Small things that save time

Long pastes become files. Pastes over 10,000 characters turn into an attachment; select "Show in text field" to undo.
Scan paper documents. On iOS, the camera's ••• menu has Scan for multi-page documents (since Oct 1, 2026).
Two accounts, one browser. You can stay signed in to two ChatGPT accounts at once, such as work and personal, and switch from the account menu.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best hidden ChatGPT features? Long-pressing send to pick a model for one message, locked chats behind a PIN, temporary chats, @ mentions for plugins and Ctrl+K search across every chat are among the least known, as of Nov 6, 2026.

How do I make ChatGPT think harder on the free plan? Press the Think button in the message box. Free and Go have no thinking levels, but Think gives a harder question more reasoning.

Can I hide a ChatGPT conversation? Yes. Lock it with ••• > Lock chat to hide it behind a 4-digit PIN or Face ID, or archive it to move it out of the sidebar while keeping it searchable.

How do I stop ChatGPT from remembering a chat? Start a temporary chat: it stays out of your history and does not create memories. Choose Unpersonalized if it should not use your existing memory either.

Can ChatGPT remind me of things? Yes, with scheduled tasks: ask it to remind you or check something at a time or on a schedule. Free and Go can have 3 active tasks, Plus 5 and Pro 15.