Chats
Chats are saved to your account until you delete them manually.
When you delete a chat (or your account), the chat is removed from your account immediately and scheduled for permanent deletion from OpenAI systems within 30 days, unless:
The chat has already been de-identified (made anonymous) and disassociated from you, or
OpenAI must retain it longer for security or legal obligations.
Once you delete a chat, you cannot recover it. Deleting a chat removes it both from your visible chat history and the system after the retention window.
Archiving vs Deleting:
If you simply want to hide a chat from your sidebar (but keep it in your account), you can archive it instead of deleting it.
Archived chats follow the same retention rules as unarchived chats and can be managed in your ChatGPT Settings.
For additional instructions on how to delete and archive chats, please visit here:
Temporary Chats:
When using Temporary Chat mode, your chats are automatically deleted from OpenAI systems within 30 days, even without manual deletion.
Learn more about Temporary Chats here: Temporary Chat FAQ
Files
Files uploaded during a conversation (e.g., documents, images) are tied to that conversation's lifecycle.
Enterprise users:
Uploaded files expire automatically after 48 hours — even if the conversation itself still exists.
After expiration, the file is deleted from active systems and can no longer be accessed, even via the Compliance API.
Standard users (non-Enterprise users):
Files expire after a shorter window — typically 3 hours
If you delete the conversation that contained an uploaded file:
The file (if still active) is immediately scheduled for deletion alongside the chat.
The 30-day maximum deletion timeline applies, unless the file had already expired naturally
Custom GPT Files:
Files uploaded as knowledge to a custom GPT are retained until you delete the custom GPT. Once deleted, the file is removed within 30 days unless legal/security exceptions apply.
Compliance API Considerations (Enterprise Only)
Files uploaded into conversations expire independently of chat retention settings.
After a file expires or a conversation reaches the configured retention period, it becomes unavailable via Compliance API immediately, but OpenAI’s internal backups may retain it for up to 30 additional days (not accessible via Compliance API).
If a file has expired (after 48 hours for Enterprise users), you may encounter errors when trying to access or delete it via the Compliance API, such as:
{
"error":
{
"message": "File not found in workspace.",
"type": "invalid_request_error"}
}
}