How long does OpenAI keep chat logs and training data after account deletion?
Executive summary
OpenAI’s retention for consumer ChatGPT historically let users delete conversations that were then removed within roughly 30 days, but a U.S. court order in 2025 forced OpenAI to preserve deleted consumer chats and API outputs from certain windows indefinitely under legal hold; OpenAI says business/Enterprise and Zero Data Retention (ZDR) customers are excluded from that preservation and enterprise deletions are normally removed within 30 days unless law requires otherwise [1] [2] [3]. OpenAI’s public posts say the court order’s obligations ended Sept. 26, 2025 and that it returned to “standard data retention practices,” while it still “securely store[s] limited historical April–September 2025 user data” [4].
1. Court orders changed the rules — temporarily and selectively
In mid‑2025 a federal magistrate directed OpenAI to retain and segregate “output log data that would otherwise be deleted,” creating an unusual legal hold that kept deleted consumer conversations and some API outputs alive in secure storage for litigation purposes; OpenAI appealed and acknowledged the order applied to consumer-level ChatGPT and standard API usage but not to enterprise customers on ZDR or other enterprise agreements [5] [1] [2].
2. What users were told about deletions before the order
OpenAI’s enterprise pages and earlier public statements said deleted conversations are removed from systems within about 30 days unless retained for legal or security reasons — that 30‑day window has been referenced repeatedly for enterprise and standard accounts as the normal deletion timeframe [3] [6].
3. What changed during the preservation period
Because of the New York Times litigation and the magistrate’s preservation directive, OpenAI said it had to keep chats and uploaded files — including items users deleted — under secure, segregated storage during the litigation. Multiple commentators and vendors noted the preservation applied to non‑enterprise accounts and stated that ZDR and enterprise agreements were not subject to the same indefinite retention [7] [1] [2].
4. OpenAI’s post‑litigation posture and narrow historical hold
OpenAI later announced the court-ordered indefinite retention obligation ended on Sept. 26, 2025 and that it reverted to its standard retention practices; it also said it would still “securely store limited historical April–September 2025 user data,” indicating a targeted retention of that specific timeframe rather than an ongoing indefinite policy for new conversations [4].
5. Enterprise customers and Zero Data Retention remain distinct
OpenAI’s enterprise materials and vendor reporting repeatedly draw a line: enterprise contracts let organizations set retention windows (with some enterprise minimums stated for workspace policies) and OpenAI promotes ZDR endpoints or enterprise agreements that prevent inputs/outputs from being retained or used for training — those customers were described as excluded from the court’s preservation in reporting [3] [8] [1].
6. Public confusion and gaps in documentation
Community threads and Microsoft/Azure Q&As show public uncertainty about whether the 30‑day “abuse monitoring” retention still applies to API users and where the documentation changed; some pages that previously stated a 30‑day retention were later edited or removed, and public Q&A posts asked for clarity about whether the 30‑day wording still governs standard API usage [9] [6].
7. Practical takeaway for account deletion requests
Available sources show: for most consumer accounts, OpenAI historically removed deleted conversations within ~30 days, but litigation forced preservation of deleted chats during April–September 2025 and OpenAI confirms it still holds that limited historical set; enterprise and ZDR customers operate under different contractual terms that generally avoid such retention [3] [4] [1]. Sources do not mention exact technical details of purge processes beyond these high‑level timeframes and legal exceptions (not found in current reporting).
8. Conflicting incentives and why this matters
OpenAI’s public commitment to short deletions and ZDR aims to reassure privacy‑focused customers, but litigation and court orders show legal processes can override those promises for consumer accounts; industry commentary and vendors stress that organizations needing strict non‑retention should use enterprise contracts or ZDR endpoints to avoid exposure [2] [1].
Limitations: reporting in these sources focuses on the 2025 litigation and policy revisions; available sources do not provide a granular, technical timeline of every retention layer, nor do they supply a definitive current retention table for every product and region — for those specifics, OpenAI’s contractual DPA and enterprise pages are the referenced places to seek binding terms [10] [3].