Memory Without Screenshots
The feature, available to Pro, Business and Enterprise subscribers, turns activity in approved apps into text summaries and a searchable timeline. Users can then ask things like "What was I debugging yesterday?" without re-explaining the context, whether the work happened in Google Docs, Slack or a browser tab.
"Computer History doesn't rely on screen or audio capture," OpenAI's Dominik Kundel said in the announcement. "Instead, it captures interaction events like clicking, typing, app switches, and more." That distinguishes it from Microsoft's Recall, which drew a privacy firestorm over constant screenshots, and from OpenAI's own earlier Chronicle experiment, which used screen captures and text recognition.
Local Storage, With Caveats
The feature is off by default, and users control which apps and websites contribute, with a pause button in the macOS menu bar. Memory files are stored locally and can be deleted at any time, and private browsing is never captured. In workplaces, administrators must enable access before employees can even opt in.
The caveats sit in OpenAI's own documentation. Raw interaction events are kept on the Mac for up to 48 hours and are processed on OpenAI's servers to generate the summaries, though the company says they are deleted after processing and not used for training. OpenAI also warns the feature can increase the risk of prompt injection, where malicious content in an app or website manipulates the AI, and recommends excluding apps with sensitive information.
What Comes Next
The rollout is global, except in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, where OpenAI says access will come "in the coming weeks", a delay that typically signals regulatory review. The open question is adoption: the feature's usefulness depends on employees switching it on, and both workers and their employers may decide an AI that remembers everything is a setting best left off.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is ChatGPT Computer History?
- An opt-in feature in the ChatGPT macOS app that records interaction events, like clicks, typing and app switches, across approved apps and websites, turning them into memories and a timeline ChatGPT and Codex can reference.
- Does Computer History take screenshots?
- No. OpenAI says it does not capture screenshots, screen recordings, microphone input or system audio, and private browsing is never included.
- Who can use Computer History?
- ChatGPT Pro, Business and Enterprise users, with the feature off by default. Business and Enterprise admins must enable access first. Users in the EEA, UK and Switzerland will get it in the coming weeks.
