In summary:
- PCWorld reports ChatGPT’s new ‘Library’ feature allows users to manage uploaded and generated files through a dedicated sidebar tab.
- Files are now retained even after clearing conversations, with support for filtering by type and origin plus download/delete options.
- The feature includes specific size limits of 512MB for general files and 20MB for images, significantly improving file organization.
Uploading and creating files in ChatGPT is easy, but until now, finding those files at a later date was a pain.
That’s all changed thanks to Library, a just-announced ChatGPT feature that makes it easier to spot and manage files you uploaded during previous chats, as well as track down any documents the LLM may have created for you.
The new Library feature is similar to the My Stuff tab in Google’s Gemini app, which aggregates documents and images created during Gemini conversations. Gemini also leans on Google Drive as a place to store documents it created. Anthropic’s Claude, meanwhile, doesn’t have a central repository for uploaded or created files.
You can find ChatGPT’s new Library in the left sidebar just below the Images tab. I spotted it on the web-based ChatGPT, but I don’t see it on ChatGPT for iPhone yet.
Click the Library tab, and you’ll get a storable list of files you’ve either uploaded to ChatGPT or created. You can then download one or more files, or delete them. You can also filter by uploaded or generated files, as well as by files type (including images, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs).
Aside from accessing old files from the Library sidebar tab, you can also grab a saved file within a ChatGPT conversation. Just click the “+” button and select a file from the “Recent files” option or select “Add from library” for a searchable list.
Thanks to its new Library, files within a previous chat will no longer be deleted when you’re clearing out old conversations, OpenAI notes.
OpenAI says deleted files will be wiped from its servers permanently within 30 days, although it reserves the right to keep files from chats that have been “de-identified and dissociated from you” or if it must keep a file for longer “for security or legal obligations.”
It’s worth noting that files you upload to ChatGPT won’t be saved to your Library, nor will any files uploaded to Temporary Chats. That said, files you upload to regular ChatGPT conversation threads may be used for model training, unless you toggle off the “Improve the model for everyone” setting under Settings > Data Controls.
File uploads to ChatGPT have a “hard limit” of 512MB per file, while CSV files and spreadsheets are limited to 50MB and images are capped at 20MB, OpenAI says.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer, PCWorld
Ben has been writing about consumer technology for more than 20 years, and now focuses his reporting on AI as it relates to the basic human experience. His coverage of artificial intelligence interrogates the latest LLMs, and how they can be used at work and at home to be best prepared for the AI revolution. “AI is going to change our lives sooner than we think,” Ben writes. “Our best way to adapt is by using it every day.” Ben has been a PCWorld author since 2014, and has covered everything from laptops to security cameras before launching PCWorld’s AI beat. Ben's articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men's Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master's degree in English literature.