If you keep explaining the same project in different ChatGPT chats, bring those conversations into one Project. Add your writing instructions and current files, move the relevant chats, then start the next piece of work there.
You can do this after the work has started. The useful part is having the background ready when you ask the next question. Moving a chat does not make its old answers correct.
This guide follows OpenAI’s Projects documentation. The example is made up. Product details checked on 9 September 2026.
Set up the Project before moving chats
Choose New project in the sidebar and give it a recognisable name, such as the project or client you are working on. Use an account and material your organisation allows.
In Project settings, add the instructions you want applied to future answers. Say who the reader is, what you are producing and what the model must check. Keep changing facts in dated source files so you can replace them when they go stale.
Check the Project’s memory and sharing settings too. A Project with default memory is not automatically isolated from other chats on every plan. Project-only memory limits chat context to that Project, but OpenAI says ChatGPT Work is unavailable inside it. Choose the setting that fits the task before relying on it.
Move the relevant conversations
Open each chat’s menu and choose Move to project, or drag the chat onto the Project in the sidebar. It inherits the Project’s instructions and file context. You can remove it later through the chat menu.
Temporary chats and chats created with a custom GPT cannot be moved. If the move option is absent, start a new chat inside the Project and supply the relevant context you are permitted to use.
Review what you are bringing in. Old chats may contain guesses, superseded dates or material unrelated to this task. If the Project is shared, its members can see the chats and files you add.
Example: bring a weekly project update together
Imagine a fictional payments project with separate chats for a risk log, a supplier follow-up and cutover notes. Create a Project called Northbridge Payments Migration. Add the current risk log, the last steering note and the agreed cutover dates.
Move the three relevant chats in. Replace any stale files, then open a new chat inside the Project. Supply this week’s notes as well: the Project cannot know about a meeting nobody has recorded.
Write for the sponsor and workstream leads of Northbridge Payments Migration. Use British English and plain language.
For a weekly update, cover progress, unresolved blockers and decisions needed. Use the dated files as sources. Flag conflicts between files, chats and new notes instead of choosing silently.
Do not invent owners, dates, figures or decisions. State when a fact is missing. Keep a blocker as a blocker, and preserve uncertainty. Link or refer to the source for each material claim.Draft this week’s steering note using the current Project files and the notes below. Show the source and date for material claims. Flag conflicts or gaps. Do not infer a new status from silence.
New notes for this fictional example: the supplier is still blocked on test data; scheme certification was raised again but no owner was named; the board wants a decision this week on whether to postpone the rehearsal.
Separate confirmed facts, reported updates and decisions still needed. If the evidence is insufficient, say what I need to check.Check what the next answer actually says
Suppose the answer says: “The supplier issue should clear next week. Sarah owns certification. The project remains on track.” Those are invented claims in this example. The notes provide no recovery date, named owner or overall delivery verdict.
Compare dates, owners and risk descriptions with the source files. Check that the rehearsal decision appears, and that older chat context has not overruled a newer note. Open any cited source before using the answer in a project update.
For the full review method, use How to check AI output at work.
Keep the Project current
Replace outdated files when the plan changes. Keep useful history clearly dated, and tell ChatGPT which version is current. A well-organised Project can still produce an answer from the wrong week.
OpenAI currently lists 5 files per Project on Free, 25 on Go and Plus, and 40 on Edu, Pro, Business and Enterprise, with up to 10 uploaded at once.
If you need help writing the reusable background itself, see Give one live programme a standing brief in ChatGPT or Claude.