How to stop ChatGPT from training on your chats

OpenAI can train its models on what people type into ChatGPT. “When you use our services for individuals, such as ChatGPT and Codex, we may use your content to train our models,” its help center says.

The switch that stops it is called Improve the model for everyone. When it is off, OpenAI says, “your new conversations won’t be used to train OpenAI models.”

On the web

1. Open your account menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Data controls.
4. Select Improve the model for everyone, turn it off, and select Done.

On iPhone and Android

1. Open the sidebar.
2. Select your profile icon to open Settings.
3. Select Data controls.
4. Turn off Improve the model for everyone.

When you are signed in, the setting follows your account to every device. If you use ChatGPT without signing in, open Settings and turn it off there. That choice is saved only in that browser.

Or through the Privacy Portal

In OpenAI’s Privacy Portal, select Do not train on my content. OpenAI says either this or the settings switch is enough. You don’t need both.

For a single chat: Temporary Chat

1. Open a new chat.
2. Select Temporary.
3. Choose Personalized or Unpersonalized before you send your first message.
4. Enter your message.

What OpenAI says about temporary chats:

• They are not used to train its models while they stay temporary.
• They do not appear in your chat history and do not create or update memories.
• OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days “for safety purposes.”
• If you save one, it becomes a regular chat and follows your training setting.
• If a custom GPT sends data to another company through an action, that company’s privacy policy applies. It may keep the data for longer than 30 days.

What the setting does not cover

• Chats from before you switched it off. OpenAI says that after you opt out, it won’t use your new conversations. Its pages do not say it removes older ones from training.
• Thumbs up and thumbs down. If you rate a response, “the entire conversation associated with that feedback may be used to train our models,” even after you opt out.
• Your saved chats. Turning the setting off does not delete or hide anything. Archiving a chat does not change whether it can be used for training either. To remove a chat, delete it.
• Codex environments. Codex has a separate Include environments setting in Codex settings. The ChatGPT switch and the Privacy Portal do not change it.
• Memory. Memory, which lets ChatGPT personalize answers, is a separate setting. Turning off training does not turn off memory, and the other way around.
• Ads. On Free and Go plans, OpenAI’s privacy policy says it uses information to personalize the ads you see. Those are separate controls.

Work, school and teen accounts

OpenAI says it does not train on content from ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu or ChatGPT for Healthcare workspaces, or from its API, by default. For a teen account linked to a parent’s, the parent or guardian can manage the training setting through parental controls.

Want it gone, not just left out of training?

Turning off training keeps your chats. To remove them, see how to delete your ChatGPT account.