Note: Starting April 2, 2026, ChatGPT Business supports two seat types: standard ChatGPT seats (fixed monthly cost) and Codex seats (usage-based). A Business workspace can include standard ChatGPT seats, usage-based Codex seats, or a mix of both. Learn more in our ChatGPT Business overview article.
Overview
A workspace is a unique ChatGPT environment with its own settings, members, and resources.
Personal workspaces are tied to existing ChatGPT accounts, and contain chats, memory, context, apps, and other ChatGPT features specific to the user. Similarly, organizations can set up workspaces for their ChatGPT Business accounts, containing information, features, and context applicable to the organization and its members.
This article covers workspace migration aspects, including keeping a personal workspace separate, merging personal data into a Business workspace, handling seat-type changes, leaving a workspace and workspace activation/deactivation.
Important: after you leave a workspace, you cannot access data in that workspace unless you are invited back.
Keep or merge a personal workspace
When you accept an invite to a ChatGPT Business workspace and you also have a ChatGPT Personal workspace, you have two options:
Keep a personal workspace separate
If you keep your ChatGPT Personal workspace, your personal data stays separate from your Business workspace, and you can switch between the two workspaces.
If you have a Plus subscription, the subscription stays active until you cancel it. You continue to have access to chats in the Personal workspace even after cancellation.
Merge a personal workspace into ChatGPT Business
If you merge your ChatGPT Personal workspace into your Business workspace, data from the Personal workspace moves into the Business workspace and the Personal workspace is deleted after migration.
If you have an active subscription, OpenAI automatically cancels it and refunds the remaining subscription period, except for mobile subscriptions.
If you have a mobile subscription, cancel it separately on iOS or Android. If you are charged after migrating, contact OpenAI support for refund and cancellation help.
After the merge is complete, the Personal workspace no longer appears in the account. Only the Business workspace remains.
Merging workspaces is permanent and cannot be undone.
Understand what migrates and what does not
When you merge a personal workspace into a Business workspace:
Existing chat history moves to the Business workspace
GPTs from the Personal workspace move to the Business workspace
Plugins are deleted
Custom instructions are deleted and do not migrate
If you previously verified a domain in the GPT Builder Profile, you must verify that domain again in the new Business workspace
If the domain cannot be verified because it is already verified by another organization, remove the domain from the Builder Profile in the Personal workspace before trying again.
In rare cases, long-running or historical chats may not be retrievable after a merge. Save important conversations before migrating.
Data export is not available in a Business workspace.
To merge a personal workspace into ChatGPT Business:
Switch to the Business workspace by clicking on the profile icon from your account.
Go to Settings > Data Controls.
Select Merge data from your personal workspace.
Follow the prompts to complete the migration.
Seat-type changes and workspace access
Note: Starting April 2, 2026, ChatGPT Business supports two seat types: standard ChatGPT seats (fixed monthly cost) and Codex seats (usage-based). A Business workspace can include standard ChatGPT seats, usage-based Codex seats, or a mix of both. If you need a larger deployment or more advanced controls, consider ChatGPT Enterprise.
Changing a member from a standard ChatGPT seat to a Codex seat
If an existing Business user is changed from a standard ChatGPT seat to a Codex seat:
They lose ChatGPT access in the workspace
They are redirected to Codex or shown a message that chat is not available in that workspace
If they also have a personal workspace, they can still use that separate personal workspace
Workspace history may no longer be available from the Codex-only seat. Workspace history has not been deleted and is available if the user is switched back to a ChatGPT seat.
Changing a member from a Codex seat to a standard ChatGPT seat
If an existing Business user is changed from a Codex seat to a standard ChatGPT seat:
ChatGPT Business access is restored
Codex access continues
The user can switch between workspaces as usual
Review before publishing: launch notes say a user changed from a standard ChatGPT seat to a Codex seat will "lose history." Confirm whether that means history is deleted, hidden while the user remains Codex-only, or inaccessible until a standard ChatGPT seat is restored.
Access risks after a merge
Once personal data is migrated, that data becomes part of the Business workspace.
If you later lose access to the Business workspace, leave the workspace, get removed from the workspace, or the workspace is deactivated, you also lose access to the migrated data. When you sign in again, you are redirected to a new Personal workspace without the previous Business data.
If you later change from a standard ChatGPT seat to a Codex seat, review whether the merged chat history will remain accessible before making that change.
Review your organization’s policies before deciding whether to merge a personal workspace into a Business workspace.
Troubleshoot missing chats or GPTs after a merge
After a successful merge, the Personal workspace disappears and the content moves into the Business workspace. Migration and re-indexing can take time, and chats or GPTs may take up to about 24 hours to appear and become searchable.
Try these checks first:
Confirm that you are in the correct Business workspace.
Refresh the browser, or sign out and sign back in.
Use chat search and check the Archived chats view.
Check the GPTs list in the Business workspace.
If content is still missing, contact Support and include the account email, the Business workspace name or ID if known, the names or approximate dates of missing chats or GPTs, and screenshots of missing content or errors.
Leave a workspace
To leave an active workspace:
Select the Business workspace from the profile menu.
Go to Workspace settings.
Select Members.
Next to your own name, select the more options menu (•••).
Select Leave workspace.
Enter your email address to confirm, then select Leave workspace again.
To leave a deactivated workspace:
If the workspace is deactivated, it appears locked and greyed out in the profile menu. Select the more options menu (•••) for that workspace, then select Leave workspace.
If you are an Owner, you can also select the workspace to reactivate the subscription instead of leaving.
Resolve a failed to leave workspace error
You may see a failed-to-leave-workspace error if:
You are the last Owner in the workspace
You are an Admin and an Owner must first change your role to Member or remove you from the workspace
Workspace Deactivation
A Business workspace can be deactivated if an Owner cancels the subscription or fails to make a payment. In most cases, users can still access the workspace until the end of the next billing cycle, after which the workspace is deactivated. A workspace can also be deactivated sooner because of fraud, abuse, or other terms violations.
Disputing a payment can also cause an unexpected deactivation. If you see an unexpected charge, first check whether someone in the workspace invited another user.
If a Business workspace is deactivated:
Data in the workspace remains intact
Users cannot access the workspace
Only workspace Owners can access the workspace settings needed for reactivation
Users who still have a Personal workspace can continue to use it
Users without a Personal workspace are prompted to create a new Personal workspace
If a user previously merged a Personal workspace into the Business workspace, the previous Personal workspace cannot be recovered.
Reactivating a deactivated workspace
Only a workspace owner can reactivate a deactivated workspace.
Sign in with the same email that was an Owner for the Business workspace and managed the subscription.
Create a Personal workspace if ChatGPT prompts you to do so.
Select the profile menu and find the greyed-out deactivated Business workspace.
Select the more options menu (•••), then select Reactivate Workspace.
Select the subscription details and the desired number of users.
Pay the outstanding invoice.
When you reactivate a Business subscription, you must have at minimum the same number of ChatGPT seats prior to deactivation, but there is no required number of Codex seats.
Create a new workspace instead of reactivating
You can create a new Business workspace instead of reactivating the deactivated one, but the old data cannot be merged into the new workspace. The new workspace starts as a blank slate.
Migrating Business workspace to other plans
ChatGPT Business does not support merging one Business workspace into another.
Each Business workspace is a separate entity with its own members, billing subscription, settings, and data. A newly created Business workspace does not inherit the settings or subscription of an existing Business workspace.
GPTs created in one Business workspace cannot be transferred to another Business workspace.
To migrate your ChatGPT Business workspace to ChatGPT Enterprise, contact OpenAI sales.
FAQ
Is a personal-to-Business merge reversible?
No. A merge is permanent and cannot be undone.
What happens if my seat changes from a standard ChatGPT seat to a Codex seat?
You lose ChatGPT access in the workspace and may lose access to workspace history while you remain on a Codex seat.
What happens if my seat changes from Codex to a standard ChatGPT seat?
ChatGPT Business access is restored, and Codex access continues.
Can I export data before I leave or after I merge?
No. Data export is not available in a ChatGPT Business workspace.
What happens to my Plus subscription if I merge?
OpenAI automatically cancels the remaining subscription period and refunds it, except for mobile subscriptions. For mobile subscriptions, you must cancel the subscription from the Apple app store or the Google play store.
What should I do if I am still charged after migrating from a mobile subscription?
Cancel the subscription separately on iOS or Android, and contact Support if charges continue after migration. Read more about avoiding duplicate charges and what to do if you get charged.