What happens to files you upload to ChatGPT, and how long OpenAI keeps them
The Morse teamPublished 7 min read
As of October 2026, ChatGPT does keep uploaded files, in a Library that outlives the chat they came from. Until spring 2026, OpenAI's rule was that deleting a chat deleted its files too. OpenAI's upload page now says "Files saved in Library can be retained separately from the conversation that used them," and a file you delete from Library is scheduled for permanent deletion "within 30 days," barring legal or security holds (OpenAI). On personal plans, those PDFs, images, and spreadsheets can also train OpenAI's models unless you turn off Improve the model for everyone.
We read OpenAI's help pages on uploads, Library, retention, Temporary Chat, data controls, projects, GPTs, apps, and shared links on October 23, 2026, and compared them with older copies of the same pages in the Internet Archive. OpenAI gives a period for nearly every case, but the periods changed this spring, and many guides still describe the old ones.
ChatGPT uploaded files at a glance
Personal accounts unless noted, read October 23, 2026.
| What | Default | How long OpenAI keeps it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A file you attach in a chat | Saved to Library automatically | Until you delete it from Library, then within 30 days | OpenAI |
| A file in a Temporary Chat | Not saved to your account or Library | Not kept in Library | OpenAI |
| Training on your files | On for Free, Plus, and Pro | Turning it off covers new chats only | OpenAI |
| Enterprise, Edu, and Healthcare files | Not used for training | The workspace's retention policy | OpenAI, OpenAI |
Does deleting a ChatGPT chat delete the files in it?
No, not since April 2026. OpenAI's upload page says "Deleting a saved file and deleting a conversation are separate actions." For most of ChatGPT's history its own pages said the opposite, and copies saved by the Internet Archive show the rule moving:
| Copy of OpenAI's page from | What it said about uploaded files |
|---|---|
| May 2024 | Images and files uploaded as GPT knowledge: "Retained indefinitely" (OpenAI, archived) |
| October 2025 | Files "saved in your account up to the retention period of the corresponding chat," and deleted within 30 days of deleting that chat (OpenAI, archived) |
| March 8, 2026 | Files "tied to that conversation's lifecycle," and "immediately scheduled for deletion alongside the chat" (OpenAI, archived) |
| April 10, 2026 | Files "stored in your Library for use across chats," and "Chats and files are managed separately" (OpenAI, archived) |
| October 23, 2026 | "Files saved in Library can be retained separately from the conversation that used them" (OpenAI) |
A guide saying files are "deleted within 30 days if the chat is removed" (Data Studios, September 2025) now has it backwards. OpenAI's own macOS retention page, read on October 23, 2026, still says "Deleted chats and files are fully removed from our systems within 30 days."
Deleting a file doesn't clean up the chat either. OpenAI's upload page says "Content from a file that was brought into a conversation can remain in that conversation," so the summaries, quotes, and tables ChatGPT made from a file can stay in the chat after you delete the file from Library.
How long does ChatGPT keep uploaded files?
On a personal account, until you delete them. After you delete one, OpenAI removes it within 30 days, unless "OpenAI must retain it longer for security or legal obligations" (OpenAI).
In Enterprise, Edu, and Healthcare workspaces, Library files follow the workspace retention policy. OpenAI's retention page adds that some Enterprise files never saved to Library "can expire after 48 hours," and that "OpenAI backups may retain it for up to 30 additional days" after a Library file is deleted. A court order can also make OpenAI keep what it would otherwise delete, as the ChatGPT court order on data retention shows.
Every place a file can live in ChatGPT, who sees it, and whether it trains
Read October 23, 2026.
| Where the file lives | Who can see it there | Used for training? | When OpenAI says it goes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Library | You; in workspaces, people you share it with and compliance admins | If your setting is on | When you delete it, then within 30 days | OpenAI |
| The chat that quoted it | You, and anyone with a shared link to the chat | If your setting is on | When you delete the chat, then within 30 days | OpenAI |
| A shared project | Every project member, who can download it | Only if the owner and every contributor allow it | When you delete the file or project, then within 30 days | OpenAI |
| A custom GPT's knowledge | Anyone whose answers the GPT draws from it | Depends on each user's plan and setting | With the GPT, then within 30 days | OpenAI, OpenAI |
| A Temporary Chat | You | No, while it stays temporary | Not saved, unless you save the chat | OpenAI |
| A locked chat | You, inside that chat only | Your setting still applies | Hidden from Library until you unlock | OpenAI, OpenAI |
| Google Drive, connected | Whoever Drive already allows | If your setting is on | Stays in Drive | OpenAI, OpenAI |
Are ChatGPT files deleted after a few hours?
No. None of the OpenAI pages we read gives a retention period in hours for personal accounts. The only hours on OpenAI's upload page belong to a rate limit, "You can upload up to 80 files every 3 hours," and Free users "are limited to 3 file uploads per day." Users on OpenAI's community forum report files that "expired after minutes" inside a chat, but OpenAI's help pages don't call that deletion.
Do files in Library and shared projects train OpenAI's models?
Library files can. OpenAI's Library page says it "may use content (including files you upload)" to improve its models "if you have 'Improve the model for everyone' turned on." A file in a shared project needs everyone's consent. OpenAI says project data on personal accounts can train models "only when the project owner and every contributor" have the setting on (OpenAI). The rest of the training rules are in does ChatGPT train on your data.
Are files in a ChatGPT Temporary Chat saved?
Not while the chat stays temporary. OpenAI's Library page says "files uploaded while using Temporary Chat are not saved to your account or Library." Saving the chat changes that: "eligible files may also be saved to Library when you save the chat," subject to storage limits (OpenAI).
Who else can see a file you upload to ChatGPT?
- Anyone with a shared link, as of when you shared it. A personal-account link holds "the content available when the link is created or updated," and "Messages added later are not included automatically," so a file you attach after sharing stays out until you update the link (OpenAI).
- Project members. "All members of a project can view and download files added to the project" (OpenAI).
- Outside services, when a GPT with apps or actions passes your input along (OpenAI).
- Your employer. In a workspace, compliance admins "can export and delete Library files" (OpenAI).
How Morse keeps your files off its servers
Most of the places a file can live in ChatGPT start with a copy on OpenAI's servers, filed under your account. Morse keeps no such copy. A file you attach is sent with the message and never stored by Morse, so there's no Library on our side to clear out. Morse doesn't train AI on your content, and temporary chats stay in memory only.
Then pick who reads each message:
- Private, for a passage from a contract, a statement, or a draft you'd rather no host keep. New chats open here. Open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM, plus Grok, answer under Morse's zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers, so the hosts have agreed to keep nothing.
- Anonymous, when GPT, Claude, or Gemini should read a passage without knowing whose it is. Our proxy strips your account, email, and IP address before it goes out. The provider may keep what you send for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy, so take names out first.
- E2EE, for questions no one but you should read. Your browser checks the enclave's hardware attestation, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it, and our servers pass along ciphertext they can't read. This rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed.
Your chat history stays in your browser, encrypted. Morse doesn't sell your data or show ads, and because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities (privacy policy). Clearing your browser deletes your chats for good, and Morse can't recover them, so keep your originals. See AI that doesn't save your data.
So should you upload that file to ChatGPT?
- A copy on OpenAI's servers: use a Temporary Chat and don't save it. On Morse, an attached file goes out with the message and isn't stored by Morse.
- Training: turn off Improve the model for everyone, and skip rating replies in chats that hold a file. Morse doesn't train AI on your content.
- Other people: check a chat for files before you share its link, since links never expire on their own.
Try a chat from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with no card needed. End-to-end encrypted chats come with Pro, at $19 a month.
Common questions
Does ChatGPT read the location data in my photos?
OpenAI's image FAQ says the model "doesn't process original file names or metadata" and resizes images before analyzing them. It doesn't say the stored copy is stripped of that data, so remove location data from a photo before you upload it if that matters to you.
How big a file can I upload to ChatGPT?
As of October 2026, OpenAI allows up to 512 MB per file, 2 million tokens per text document, about 50 MB per spreadsheet, and 20 MB per image. Library storage is 500 MB on Free, 4 GB on Go, 20 GB on Plus and Business, and 100 GB on Pro, though OpenAI's upload page also lists a 25 GB cap per user.
Can ChatGPT use a Library file in a chat I didn't attach it to?
Yes, in some cases. OpenAI's Library page says that with Memory on, "files and chats may be used to help ChatGPT remember useful details about you between chats." In workspaces, owners decide whether ChatGPT automatically references Library files, and it's off by default for Healthcare.
Are files uploaded to ChatGPT Health saved?
OpenAI's Library page says files uploaded while you use ChatGPT Health "are not saved to your account." Its Health page says connected medical records, and conversations that use them, aren't used to train its foundation models, whatever your training setting.