OpenAI's Temporary Chat starts out of the sidebar and, by default, does not use memory, custom instructions, or plugins. As of August 27, 2026, users can optionally personalize a Temporary chat with existing memories, custom instructions, and plugins without writing new memories, and can save the thread to history — converting it into a regular chat under account-level settings. Unsaved Temporary chats are not used to improve models and are retained for up to 30 days for safety purposes.