ChatGPT bug (Oct 4): Chat history off = current conversation session getting wiped after short inactivity

Today, I’m experiencing some strange issues with ChatGPT. It’s not responding correctly to my prompts, and when I’m inactive for about 2 to 3 minutes while using another tab, the chat conversation gets automatically deleted. I am using “Chat History is off for this browser”,
I understand that the chat clears due to inactivity, but it’s clearing too quickly, and that’s frustrating.

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I am experiencing this issue as well. However, I noticed that the problem goes away when I turn Chat History back on.

Does this mean that ChatGPT no longer allows conversations to persist for the full 30 days when Chat History is turned off, but instead erases them after only a minute or two of inactivity? I certainly hope this is not the case.

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Please roll back this change, it is incredibly frustrating! I want chat history off, and I want my conversation history to remain unless the page is reloaded or the 6-hour threshold is passed. Don’t clear the browser window, that’s horrible UX and misunderstands why users would choose the “turn off chat history” setting.

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Yup. Have also noticed this. Pretty brutal. It seems like they are refreshing the components which causes the sessions to drop ( just a guess ).

Another issue is that if someone starts a second ChatGPT session in another tab, the first one will be discontinued with a misleading error (30 Days have passed).

Oh well. I imagine the people who have Chat History + Training turned off are at the bottom of the priority list. Understandable :sweat_smile:

Oh my god. I had it occur WHILE I WAS CHATTING

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I, too, started facing this today. This is **** frustrating. I’m planning to create a separate account and use ChatGPT there.

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I filled out that Google Form to opt out of training. Is there a way I can roll back this change?

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Exactly! “History off” is unusable now, since the conversation keeps getting wiped.

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I was hoping it was a bug, but it seems to be a “feature” since it appears on all platforms.

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Yeah. This is completely unusable now. It’s mere minutes before it resets. Hopefully this gets fixed soon.

The main reason I use it is because there’s no organizing conversations and it clutters up way too quickly.

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Agreed, something needs to be done now, my subscription is utterly useless right now, if not fixed in a few hours, I’ll need to cancel the subscription, because I really doubt it’s a bug.

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Me too, it just cleared itself in the middle of me typing something!

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I also reported this bug, but didn’t see this existing post (the search mechanism isn’t very robust). Cross-linking for the record: /t/chat-keeps-getting-wiped-every-few-minutes/414274

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Thank you! how do we report a bug? I want to help report too so more people can report it.

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Exactly, I also use it to reduce clutter and it’s now totally unusable because we can’t build up a longer conversation!

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I really hope we get an official statement from OpenAI soon about this, because this change essentially forces everyone to allow their data to be used for training purposes just to have a functioning chat session. If this is a deliberate feature and not a bug, I will have to seriously consider canceling my subscription, and I doubt I’ll be the only one. Rolling out such a significant change unannounced feels very underhanded and risks damaging user trust going forward.

In the off chance that this is a bug, it needs to be announced as such and fixed immediately.

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Your comment makes so much sense and makes me feel less crazy and alone. This is a big deal, super frustrating and impacting our trust in the platform. Totally agree that OpenAI should communicate clearly about these changes, whether they’re intentional or just a bug. It’s important for us users to know what’s going on!

Let’s hope OpenAI addresses this issue soon! Your perspective is much appreciated!

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For sure, I was thinking of subscribing but now I’m hesitant to upgrade to the paid version.

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I’m also experiencing this now with history turned off and as a paying Plus subscriber! I’m constantly on the edge of my seat now and preemptively copying the most important stuff to clipboard, because the chat could be gone at any moment.

If this is deliberate to get people to turn on history, this surely would be a gross violation in the context of GDPR legislation.

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Me too! Even when copying to clipboard, it’s useless because if we leave for a minute, it wipes itself. We can’t build a longer conversation with context.

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I was able to create a TamperMonkey script to bypass this issue.:
justpaste dot it slash bh1iz

It works well for me but it might be a bit too heavy handed in the number of event listeners it removes. As always, vet any scripts you are given online. I suggest running it past chatGPT. I also suggest checking your license agreement with OpenAI to ensure it is compatible.

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