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Heroes of Might and Magic 3Custom Instructions and Personality
Custom instructions tell ChatGPT about you and how to answer, up to 1,500 characters on Free and Go and 5,000 on paid plans since Jul 15, 2026. Personality presets such as Friendly, Efficient and Candid set ChatGPT's tone; both live in Settings > Personalization.
Custom instructions are standing directions that ChatGPT reads in every chat, and you set them on the web or desktop in Settings > Personalization with Enable customization turned on (ChatGPT Custom Instructions). As of Nov 6, 2026 they hold up to 1,500 characters on Free and Go and 5,000 on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education. Beside them, a personality preset (Default, Cynical, Efficient, Friendly, Professional, Quirky or Candid) sets the tone of every answer, and characteristic controls tune warmth, enthusiasm, formatting and emoji.
Quick facts
| Where | Settings > Personalization (web, desktop); Settings > Customize ChatGPT (iOS, Android) (OpenAI) |
| Length, Free and Go | 1,500 characters, as of Nov 6, 2026 |
| Length, paid plans | 5,000 characters since Jul 15, 2026 |
| Personalities | Default, Cynical, Efficient, Friendly, Professional, Quirky, Candid (OpenAI), as of Nov 6, 2026 |
| Plans | All plans, on web, desktop, iOS and Android (OpenAI) |
| Takes effect | At once, in existing chats too, since Nov 7, 2025 |
| First launched | Beta on Jul 20, 2023 |
What are custom instructions?
Custom instructions are text ChatGPT carries into every conversation: who you are, what you do, and how you want answers written. Typical uses are a job and field ("I teach high school chemistry"), a format rule ("Answer in short paragraphs, no tables") or a language preference. Since a redesign on Jan 17, 2025, the screen asks for traits, how ChatGPT should talk to you, and other rules in separate fields.
ChatGPT can also cite a custom instruction as one of the sources of a personalized answer, beside memories and past chats (Memory in ChatGPT).
How to set custom instructions
On the web and in the desktop app:
- Open Settings > Personalization.
- Make sure Enable customization is on.
- Type your directions in the Custom Instructions field.
On iOS and Android:
- Open Settings > Customize ChatGPT.
- Make sure Enable customization is on.
- Fill in Custom Instructions.
To stop using them, switch Enable customization off and, if you like, delete the text (ChatGPT Custom Instructions). Since Nov 7, 2025, changes apply immediately to every chat, existing ones included.
Character limits by plan
| Plan, as of Nov 6, 2026 | Custom instructions limit |
|---|---|
| Free, Go | 1,500 characters |
| Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, Education | 5,000 characters |
Source: ChatGPT Custom Instructions, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026. The paid limit rose from 1,500 on Jul 15, 2026.
ChatGPT personalities
A personality, also called a base style, changes how ChatGPT sounds without changing what it knows. OpenAI's help article lists seven as of Nov 6, 2026, each with sample replies (Customizing Your ChatGPT Personality):
| Personality | How it sounds in OpenAI's examples |
|---|---|
| Default | Balanced and explanatory |
| Cynical | Dry and sardonic |
| Efficient | Short and direct, often with no introduction |
| Friendly | Warm and encouraging |
| Professional | Formal and structured, with labeled steps |
| Quirky | Playful, sometimes with emoji |
| Candid | Plainspoken, ending on a clear takeaway |
You choose one in Settings > Personalization, where personalization has lived since Sep 15, 2025. The help article itself does not say which plans get which presets.
Characteristics
Since Dec 19, 2025, ChatGPT also offers characteristic controls that make answers more or less warm, more or less enthusiastic, and more or less given to headers and lists or to emoji. They sit on top of the chosen personality, so "Efficient with fewer lists" is possible.
History of personalities
OpenAI added four personalities (Cynic, Robot, Listener and Nerd) beside Default on Aug 7, 2025, together with accent colors. On Nov 12, 2025 the presets became Default, Friendly, Efficient, Professional, Candid and Quirky, with Cynical and Nerdy kept. On Mar 17, 2026 OpenAI sunset the Nerdy base style, which leaves the seven above.
Where custom instructions do and do not apply
- Projects: a project's own instructions override your global custom instructions inside that project (Projects in ChatGPT).
- Temporary chats: an Unpersonalized temporary chat uses no custom instructions, memory or plugins (Temporary chat in ChatGPT).
- Voice: preset personalities do not currently apply to Live, the newest voice (ChatGPT Voice).
- Skills: for a repeatable workflow, such as a weekly report format, a skill or plugin holds longer, task-specific instructions than custom instructions can.
Frequently asked questions
How long can ChatGPT custom instructions be? As of Nov 6, 2026, up to 1,500 characters on Free and Go and 5,000 characters on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education.
Where are custom instructions in ChatGPT? On the web and desktop, Settings > Personalization; on iOS and Android, Settings > Customize ChatGPT. Enable customization must be on.
How do I change ChatGPT's personality? Open Settings > Personalization and pick a personality: Default, Cynical, Efficient, Friendly, Professional, Quirky or Candid, as of Nov 6, 2026.
Do custom instructions change old chats? Yes. Since Nov 7, 2025, ChatGPT applies changes to custom instructions immediately across all chats, including existing conversations.
What happened to the Nerdy personality? OpenAI sunset ChatGPT's Nerdy base style on Mar 17, 2026.
Does the personality work in voice? Not in Live: OpenAI says preset ChatGPT personalities do not currently apply to Live voice.
Sources
- ChatGPT Custom Instructions, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
- Customizing Your ChatGPT Personality, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
- ChatGPT release notes, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
- Memory in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
- Projects in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
- Temporary chat in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
- ChatGPT Voice, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
- Introducing GPT-5, OpenAI, Aug 7, 2025 (video)
Moments
Introducing GPT-5
OpenAI
Related
- Account SecuritySecure a ChatGPT account in Settings > Security: turn on multi-factor authentication or passkeys, review active sessions and security history, and for the strongest protection enroll in Advanced Account Security, which requires passkeys or security keys plus recovery keys.
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- Chat History and SearchChatGPT keeps every saved chat in the sidebar until you delete it; Search (Ctrl+K or Cmd+K on the web) finds chats, projects, images and documents, archived chats stay searchable, and deleted chats are erased within 30 days.
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ChatGPT Browser ExtensionThe ChatGPT browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi lets the ChatGPT desktop app read and act in your own browser, mention open tabs in a chat, and, in every browser but Opera, open a side chat next to a page; it needs the desktop app and replaced the retired Atlas browser.
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- ChatGPT in Other AppsChatGPT also answers outside its own app: on WhatsApp and by phone at 1-800-CHATGPT (+1-800-242-8478), on Kakao in South Korea and Viber, in Apple CarPlay, Slack, Apple Messages on the Mac and the Office add-ins.
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See also
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MemoryChatGPT memory lets ChatGPT remember your preferences and details from past chats, saved memories and other sources. You can view, edit or delete what it remembers, or turn it off, in Settings > Personalization > Memory.
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ProjectsProjects in ChatGPT keep related chats, files and instructions together in one folder-like workspace. Every plan, including Free, can create unlimited projects; files per project range from 5 on Free to 40 on Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu.
- Temporary ChatTemporary Chat is ChatGPT's incognito mode: the chat stays out of your history, does not create memories and is not used to train OpenAI's models, though OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety.
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