How long does OpenAI retain conversation data after users delete individual chats?
Executive summary
OpenAI’s published default is that deleted ChatGPT conversations are removed from systems within 30 days, but recent court-ordered preserves and product exceptions mean some deleted chats have been retained longer or indefinitely in special cases (OpenAI blog; Help Center) [1] [2]. Enterprise and “Zero Data Retention” customers have different controls, and OpenAI says legal holds forced it to retain certain April–September 2025 data even where users deleted chats [3] [1].
1. What OpenAI says its normal rule is: 30 days after deletion
OpenAI’s enterprise documentation and help pages state that, under normal circumstances, deleted conversations are removed from its systems within 30 days; that 30-day window is repeatedly cited as the standard retention after deletion for chats and uploaded files tied to chats [3] [4] [2].
2. Backups and compliance APIs can extend that window by up to 30 more days
OpenAI’s Help Center explains that after a conversation reaches the configured retention period it becomes unavailable via the Compliance API immediately, but internal backups may retain it for up to an additional 30 days, meaning total practical disappearance can be longer than the advertised 30-day deletion window [2].
3. Court orders changed the practical outcome for many users in 2025
A U.S. magistrate judge’s preservation order and related litigation forced OpenAI to segregate and preserve output logs that would otherwise be deleted; OpenAI said it has been compelled to store certain consumer ChatGPT and API content going forward and to retain historical April–September 2025 data securely [5] [1]. OpenAI has appealed and framed this as an exception to its standard practices [5] [1].
4. Who is and isn’t affected: tiers, enterprise controls, and Zero Data Retention
OpenAI’s enterprise offerings let workspace admins set retention policies and claim deleted conversations are removed within 30 days unless legal requirements apply [3]. For business customers using “Zero Data Retention” endpoints, OpenAI says inputs and outputs are not retained and those customers were not impacted by the court order in the same way as consumer ChatGPT users [5].
5. Files and uploaded assets follow the chat lifecycle but have their own expiry rules
Reporting and OpenAI-adjacent summaries state that files uploaded during a chat are retained while the conversation exists and are deleted within 30 days if the chat is removed; custom GPT assets follow similar rules and are erased within 30 days of GPT deletion [4]. OpenAI’s help pages clarify that files expire independently and backups can briefly retain them beyond expiry [2] [4].
6. Conflicting or varying accounts in public reporting
Independent coverage and blogs emphasize the extraordinary effect of the preservation order—some outlets described an indefinite retention mandate, while OpenAI framed the retained set as limited, historical April–September 2025 data and continues to contest the order in court [6] [1] [5]. Third-party summaries have amplified the permanence angle; OpenAI’s posts and help pages continue to describe a 30-day deletion baseline except where law requires otherwise [1] [2] [5].
7. Practical takeaways for users who delete chats now
Available sources indicate that, ordinarily, when you delete an individual ChatGPT conversation it will be removed from OpenAI’s systems within about 30 days, with internal backups possibly extending that by up to 30 additional days [3] [2]. However, legal holds tied to litigation led OpenAI to preserve specific historical data and to assert that, for certain consumers and timeframes, deleted chats have been retained [1] [5].
8. Limitations, unanswered questions, and where reporting diverges
Sources do not provide a complete, auditable log of which individual deleted chats remain preserved under the court order or how OpenAI identifies affected records; they also do not specify exact retention behavior for deleted chats beyond the cited backup window in every jurisdiction (available sources do not mention a per-record public inventory) [1] [2]. Different product tiers and contractual options (enterprise, Zero Data Retention) create meaningful variance across users [3] [5].
9. Why this matters: privacy expectations vs. legal reality
Journalists and vendors warn that ordinary users who assumed deletion equaled permanent erasure may find that litigation or legal holds override that expectation—OpenAI and others stress that legal obligations can force retention even when product rules say otherwise [5] [1] [6]. That tension underpins current disputes and explains why OpenAI is both describing its 30-day baseline and publicly challenging the court order [1] [5].
If you want, I can extract the exact sentences from OpenAI’s blog and Help Center that state the 30-day rule and the backup window, so you have the verbatim policy language with citations [1] [2].