6 ChatGPT settings most people never touch

Checked on OpenAI's help pages on Oct 7, 2026. Menus can move, so if a step looks different, use the help link.

Settings, then Personalization, then Custom instructions. Tell it about your business and your tone once. Free and Go plans can save up to 1,500 characters; paid plans up to 5,000.

Settings, then Personalization, then Memory. Review, correct or delete what it remembers. You can also ask: "What do you remember about me?"

Open a new chat and select Temporary. It stays out of your chat history and isn't used to improve OpenAI's models while it stays temporary.

Keep related chats, files and instructions together, one project per client or job. Project instructions apply only inside that project and override your global custom instructions.

Upload a .csv or .xlsx and ask for a table or a chart. Use clear column headers, one row per record. Leave out customer personal data.

Ask it to do something on a schedule, like "Remind me every Monday at 8 to check reviews." Find and manage them under Scheduled. Availability depends on your account and app.