Temporary Chat is a special ChatGPT mode for holding conversations that you would prefer not to keep in your chat history.
For example, suppose that you want to ask ChatGPT a sensitive question, test an idea, or simply try something out without recording such a conversation in your chat history. That's when temporary chat can come in handy.
When you initiate a temporary chat, ChatGPT treats that conversation differently than it would a normal chat. As the OpenAI documentation explains, Temporary Chats "do not appear in your chat history, do not create memories, and are not used to improve OpenAI's models," (with the caveat that OpenAI may retain a copy for up to 30 days for safety reasons.)
Why Would You Use Temporary Chat?
Let's look at some of the normal use cases for a temporary chat.
1. You want a clean conversation
Sometimes you just want to experiment with ChatGPT without creating yet another permanent-looking conversation in your chat history. That's where temporary chat can come in handy.
2. You're discussing something personal
You might want to ask a question in a way that won't show up in your chat history. Temporary chat can be useful for those situations, although it shouldn't be treated as a guarantee that absolutely no copy is retained.
Perhaps you're trying out a novel prompt or writing style or a strange question. That's when temporary chat can come in handy.
4. You don't want the conversation to affect Memory
A useful difference is that temporary chats don't create memories. Thus, for experimenting with things that you don't want ChatGPT to remember in subsequent conversations, temporary chat can be useful.
Is Temporary Chat Completely Private?
This is an important point to make.
Temporary chat doesn't mean that absolutely nobody is retaining the conversation.
As explained above, OpenAI says that temporary chats are not saved in your chat history and are not used to improve its models, but a copy may be retained for up to 30 days for safety reasons. Thus, it's a good idea to treat temporary chat as a more private conversation mode, rather than an invisible or completely unrecorded conversation.
You should avoid sharing passwords, banking information, government ID numbers, or other extremely sensitive information with any online service.
Temporary Chat vs Normal Chat
The easiest way to distinguish between a normal chat and a temporary chat is to look at their differences.
Feature Normal Chat Temporary Chat
Appears in chat history Yes No
Creates memories Depending on settings/features No
Used to improve models Depends on your data settings No
Safety retention May apply Up to 30 days may apply
The exact functionality of ChatGPT can change as OpenAI updates its products, so make sure to check the current settings.
The Simple Idea Behind Temporary Chat
You don't need to overthink it.
Normal Chat = A normal conversation that you may want to keep.
Temporary Chat = A conversation that you want to keep separate from your normal ChatGPT history and memory.
That makes temporary chat particularly useful for testing prompts, asking sensitive questions, brainstorming something quickly, or simply having a conversation that won't turn into part of your regular ChatGPT experience.
So, if ever you open up ChatGPT and think to yourself, "I just want to ask this one thing without keeping it in my normal chats," temporary chat is the mode to look for.
