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How to opt out of ChatGPT using your chats to train models

A person typing on a laptop that is showing the ChatGPT generative AI website.
Matheus Bertelli / Pexels

Whether you are hoping to preserve a semblance of privacy on today's internet or you just don't feel like serving as a cog in OpenAI's model training machinery, there's an easy way (three, actually) to opt out of letting the company use your chats to fine-tune its generative models. This guide will show you how to keep your ChatGPT history to yourself on both desktop and mobile.

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Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • A computer or smartphone with an internet connection

  • Your ChatGPT login, if you have one

How to opt out on desktop while logged out

One cool aspect of the ChatGPT service is that you don't actually need to log into the system to use it. But nothing says you have to trade access to your otherwise anonymous chat history for that convenience. Here's how to opt out even when you aren't logged in.

Go to settings and deselect Improve the model for everyone. From the ChatGPT home screen, click the difficult-to-notice question mark icon in the bottom-right corner. Select Settings from the popup menu and then the Data Controls tab. Disable Improve the model for everyone, and that's it.

the improve the model popup screen on chatgpt
OpenAI

How to opt out on desktop while logged in

Go to settings and deselect Improve the model for everyone. From the ChatGPT home screen, click on your profile icon in the top-left of the page, select Settings from the popup menu, and then the Data Controls tab. Deselect Improve the model for everyone option at the top of the list.

the training opt out screen for logged in chatgpt users
Open AI

How to opt out on mobile

If you use ChatGPT on iPhone or Android, you can opt out. Note that this will only disable model training on any future conversations you have with it on your device, as the rule is not retroactive.

Step 1: For iOS: Once you have the ChatGPT app open, tap the three dots on the bottom-right corner of the screen, then click on Settings, then the Data Control tab and turn off Improve the model for everyone.

Step 2: For Android: Once you have the ChatGPT app open, click on the two horizontal lines in the top-left corner of the home screen, then tap on the three horizontal dots at the bottom of the navigation pane (to the right of your username and icon). This pops up the Settings menu and, from there, simply tap the Data Controls tab and turn off Improve the model for everyone.

If you're concerned about how ChatGPT has already used your chats, use the ChatGPT search function to look for key details. In most cases, everything should be fine, but it's a smart idea to opt out of any data collecting service i fyou value your privacy.

Andrew Tarantola
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Andrew Tarantola is a journalist with more than a decade reporting on emerging technologies ranging from robotics and machine…
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