Projects in ChatGPT are dedicated spaces for a specific body of work or area of focus. A project can hold chats, files, instructions, and related context in one place, so you do not need to restate the same background every time you start a new conversation.
Projects are especially useful for work that continues over time. Instead of spreading materials across separate chats, you can keep everything together in one place and return to the same context when needed. On some plans, you can also invite other people to collaborate within a project.
## How to create a project
1. Open Projects from the left-hand menu. 2. Create a new project and give it a name. 3. You can now add files, set project instructions, or move existing chats into the project. If sharing is available on your plan, you can also invite collaborators.
_For ChatGPT Enterprise customers, admins can manage shared projects at the workspace level. Availability can also be managed by group through role-based access controls._
## Why projects can be helpful
A lot of the things people use ChatGPT for extend beyond a single conversation. You may want to revisit a topic over several days, refine a draft in stages, or materials over time.
Without a project, that context can become scattered. You may need to re-upload the same files, repeat the same instructions, or search through past chats to find what you already worked on.
Projects help address this by keeping related materials—chats, files, and instructions—in one place. This creates a more stable working context, making it easier to continue where you left off and produce more consistent results over time.
## When to use a project
A good rule of thumb is to use a project when your work has some ongoing context. That might include:
If your task is quick and self-contained, a regular chat may be enough. If you expect to return to it, a project if often the better fit.
## Example use cases
The use cases for projects are broad. They can be useful for both work and personal use, depending on how you organize your information.
SituationHow a project helps Ongoing research Keeps notes, source files, and related chats together so you can build on earlier work Writing and editing Stores drafts, reference materials, and instructions in one place so revisions stay connected Planning Organizes plans, ideas, and supporting documents around one goal Learning a topic Brings together questions, study materials, summaries, and follow-up chats Personal organization Helps manage longer-running efforts like trip planning, job searching, budgeting, or major decisions Shared collaboration Gives collaborators access to the same files, instructions, and conversation history when sharing is available
## Project-only memory
When you create a project, you may be able to choose project-only memory. This setting keeps the project self-contained by limiting chat context to that project.
With project-only memory, chats can reference other conversations in the same project, but not conversations outside it. This can be useful when you want to keep one area of work separate or maintain clear boundaries between projects.
On supported plans, projects can be shared with others. Shared projects allow collaborators to work from the same files, instructions, and conversation history inside that project. Everyone in the project sees updates in real time, reducing the need to manage separate copies of the same work.
Learn more about projects in the Help Center(opens in a new window).
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