How to use ChatGPT: a beginner's guide to the apps, models, projects, memory and plans

ChatGPT is OpenAI’s AI assistant, and the first step is simple: open it in a browser, the desktop app or your phone, type a question and send it. What confuses new users is everything after that. There are several apps, a model menu with names like Sol, Luna and Astra, a thinking slider, projects, memory, temporary chats, deep research and an agent called Work. This tutorial walks through each one in order, using OpenAI’s own help pages, pricing pages and terms as of October 2026.

What you need

• An account, eventually. You can type a question at chatgpt.com without signing in, but an account saves your chats and turns on memory, projects and file uploads. OpenAI’s terms say you must be at least 13, or the minimum age required in your country, and anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian’s permission.
• A browser, computer or phone. ChatGPT runs on the web, in desktop apps for macOS and Windows, and in apps for iPhone and Android.
• Nothing to pay, to begin with. The free plan covers everything in this guide except where we say a paid plan is needed.

Step 1: Choose where to use ChatGPT

The desktop app changed this year. OpenAI’s help center says the new app brings Chat, Work and Codex together in one place. You pick ChatGPT or Codex from the menu at the top left, then use a toggle at the top of the page to move between Chat and Work. The older Mac app has been renamed ChatGPT Classic, and OpenAI says you can keep using it with no migration required. On a Mac, the new app needs macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon (M1 or newer) or an Intel processor.

To install it, OpenAI’s steps are to download the desktop app for your operating system, open it and sign in. Get it only from OpenAI’s site or the official app stores.

Step 2: Sign up and sign in

1. Go to chatgpt.com, or open the app, and choose Sign up.
2. Register with an email address or with a Google, Microsoft or Apple account.
3. Follow the prompts to verify your email if you chose that route.

One detail catches people out later. OpenAI’s login help says you have to keep signing in with the same method you used at sign-up. If you registered with Google, choose Google again. If you used Apple’s Hide My Email, your account sits under an @privaterelay.appleid.com address, so sign in through Apple rather than typing your normal email.

Depending on where you live, OpenAI may ask you to verify your age through its provider, Yoti. Parents can also manage some settings for teen accounts through parental controls.

Step 3: Start your first chat

1. Type your request in the message box. Write it the way you would brief a person: what you want, who it’s for and how long it should be.
2. Press Enter or select the send arrow.
3. Ask follow-ups in the same chat to refine the answer, rather than starting again.

The + button next to the message box is worth learning on day one. It holds the tools menu, where you add files and photos, start a web search or deep research, and create images. Your chats are listed in the sidebar so you can return to them.

On paid plans, answers from GPT-6 can now include more than text. OpenAI calls this Intelligent UI: a reply can mix text with visuals and interactive elements, such as a side-by-side comparison or a small calculator. It is rolling out on the web and updated apps.

Step 4: Pick a model

ChatGPT runs on several models, and which ones you see depends on your plan. As of October 2026, OpenAI’s help center describes it like this:

• Free and Go: GPT-5.6 Luna answers your chats. There is no thinking slider. For harder questions you select Think, which also uses Luna.
• Plus: open the model menu and choose GPT-6, which replaced the old “Latest” option. A Thinking slider sets how long it reasons: Instant for fast everyday answers, Medium for standard thinking and High for extended thinking. GPT-6 Sol powers all three.
• Pro: adds Extra High, the highest level on GPT-6 Sol, and Pro, which uses GPT-6 Pro, powered by GPT-6 Astra, OpenAI’s most capable model.

Two things to know. On Plus and Pro, Instant no longer moves up a level on its own for a hard question, and typing “think harder” won’t change the level either; you choose it in the menu. And if you previously picked GPT-5.6 Sol by name, OpenAI says that choice stays on GPT-5.6 until you change it.

For most everyday questions, the default is fine. Our guide to ChatGPT models explained covers what each model is for and the Pro usage limits.

Step 5: Talk, show and create

Voice. On iPhone or Android, tap the Voice icon in the message bar; on the web, select it in the prompt window. Allow microphone access, pick a voice the first time, and start talking. The Live option, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-Live models, listens and speaks at the same time, so you can interrupt it. Free users get limited Live time, Go and Plus up to three hours a day, and Pro more. Our tutorial on how to use ChatGPT Voice covers the modes, limits and privacy settings.

Images. Every plan, including Free, can create images. Describe the picture you want in any chat, or open Images from the sidebar for templates. To edit, select part of an image and describe the change. Plus and Pro add image generation with Thinking for more complex pictures. See how to use ChatGPT Images 2.5.

Files and photos. Use + to attach a document, spreadsheet, PDF or photo and ask ChatGPT to summarize, explain or analyze it. OpenAI’s file help sets a hard limit of 512MB per file, with lower limits on how many uploads you can make on the free plan than on paid ones.

Step 6: Keep related work in a project

A project groups chats with shared files and instructions, so you don’t re-explain the background every time. Projects are available on every plan, including Free.

1. Select New project in the sidebar.
2. Give it a name, and pick an icon and color if you like.
3. Add files the project should use. Free accounts can add fewer files than paid ones.
4. Open the ⋯ menu at the top right of the project, choose Project settings and add instructions, such as “answer as a patient tutor” or “use UK spelling”. These apply only inside the project and override your general custom instructions.
5. Start chatting inside the project.

In the same settings you can choose Project-only memory, which keeps the project’s chats separate from everything else ChatGPT knows about you. Shared projects always use project-only memory.

Step 7: Understand memory and temporary chats

Memory lets ChatGPT carry details from one chat to the next, such as your job, preferences or the way you like answers formatted. Every plan has it: limited on Free, longer on Go, and expanded on Plus and Pro. To see or change it, open Settings, then Personalization, then Memory. You can correct or delete what ChatGPT remembers, or switch memory off. Turning memory off doesn’t delete your past chats. You can also simply ask, “What do you remember about me?”

For a one-off conversation you don’t want kept, start a temporary chat. Open a new chat, select Temporary, then choose before your first message:

• Personalized, which can use your existing memories, custom instructions and plugins.
• Unpersonalized, which uses none of them.

You can’t change the choice once the chat starts. Either way, a temporary chat stays out of your history, never creates or updates memories and isn’t used to improve OpenAI’s models while it stays temporary. OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes. If you save it, it becomes a normal chat. Temporary chats also don’t show ads. Our guide to ChatGPT memory explained goes deeper.

Step 8: Search the web and run deep research

ChatGPT can bring current information from the web into a chat. Ask about something recent, or choose Web Search from the tools menu. OpenAI says a small globe icon next to a response shows that search was used, and citation links let you check the original sources.

For bigger questions that need many sources, use deep research. Start it by typing /deepresearch, choosing Deep research from the + menu, or from the sidebar. Describe the outcome you want, review the plan ChatGPT proposes, and let it run. You can interrupt to change its focus. The result is a structured report with citations. Every plan includes some deep research, with more on Plus and the most on Pro, and a counter shows how many tasks you have left. Our comparison of deep research tools sets it against Gemini, Claude and Perplexity.

Step 9: Try Work for bigger tasks

ChatGPT Work is OpenAI’s agent for jobs that take more than a quick answer. OpenAI’s help center says it can research and analyze information, work across connected apps and files, and create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, reports and Sites. You can follow its progress, answer its questions, change direction and approve important actions as it goes.

• On the web or phone, open ChatGPT and select Work. It runs in the cloud and is available to eligible paid plans.
• On the desktop app, choose ChatGPT at the top left and switch the toggle to Work. Here it can also use local files and apps you give it permission to use. OpenAI’s pricing lists limited Work in the desktop app on Free and Go.

A good first task is something you’d hand to a colleague: “Compare these three quotes and put the totals in a spreadsheet.” Describe the result you want, attach the files and check the output before you share it. Grant access only to the folders and apps a task needs. Work has its own usage allowance, separate from chat. If you write code, Codex is the separate coding view in the desktop app. Read What is ChatGPT Work? for the details.

Which plan do you need?

OpenAI bills Go, Plus and Pro monthly, with no annual discount. Ads may appear below answers for Free and Go users, and OpenAI says they don’t influence responses; see ChatGPT ads explained. If you keep hitting the free limits on uploads, images or memory, Go is the cheapest step up. If you want stronger reasoning, more deep research, Work across devices or no ads, choose Plus. Our ChatGPT Go vs Plus and ChatGPT Pro explained guides cover the limits in detail.

Tips for getting better answers

• Give context up front. Say who the answer is for, how long it should be and what format you want.
• Attach the source. Upload the document or photo rather than pasting fragments.
• Choose the thinking level yourself. On Plus and Pro, ChatGPT won’t move up a level on its own, so pick Medium or High for hard problems.
• Keep one topic per chat, or use a project, so unrelated threads don’t mix.
• Check your data settings. For personal plans, OpenAI may use chats to improve its models unless you turn off Improve the model for everyone in Data controls.
• Verify important facts. ChatGPT can make mistakes, so check numbers, quotes and anything you’ll rely on, using the citations when it searched the web.

Where to go next

For a fuller verdict on the assistant, read our ChatGPT review, and for the product facts, the ChatGPT profile. If you’re still choosing an assistant, compare ChatGPT vs Claude or read the counterpart to this tutorial, how to use Claude.