What data does OpenAI retain after I delete my ChatGPT account?
Executive summary
OpenAI’s public materials and reporting show that when you delete a ChatGPT account the company says it will delete most account data within about 30 days, but it also cautions it may retain a limited set of data longer when required by law; meanwhile a 2025 U.S. court preservation order forced OpenAI to hold many consumer ChatGPT and API logs (including deleted conversations) for a period that ran through at least September 26, 2025 [1] [2]. Reporting and help pages disagree on what “deleted” means in practice: some guides say deletion removes only your view until account deletion triggers server-side removal, while OpenAI’s enterprise pages state deleted conversations are removed from systems within 30 days unless legally required to retain them [3] [4] [5].
1. What OpenAI’s own policies say — 30 days, with legal exceptions
OpenAI’s help and privacy materials repeatedly state that deleting a chat or deleting your account schedules that data for permanent deletion within roughly 30 days, but the company also notes it “may retain a limited set of data for longer where required or permitted by law” [3] [1] [6]. For enterprise customers OpenAI’s enterprise privacy page explicitly says deleted conversations are removed from their systems within 30 days unless legal requirements intervene, and enterprise contracts also allow configurable retention and zero‑retention options for qualifying customers [5] [7].
2. The court preservation order that changed practice in 2025
Independent reporting and OpenAI’s response to litigation make clear this isn’t a simple “delete = gone” story in 2025. OpenAI said it was under a court order that required preserving consumer ChatGPT and API content indefinitely, and that obligation affected non‑enterprise users until at least September 26, 2025 — after which OpenAI said it returned to standard practices [2]. Multiple commentators and guides reported that, while users could delete content from their account view, a preserved copy remained in secure storage under the court order [8] [9].
3. Practical difference between “delete from view” and “server deletion”
Several help articles and tech guides emphasize a practical distinction: clearing chat history removes conversations from your sidebar but does not necessarily remove backend copies; account deletion is the action OpenAI describes as triggering the permanent deletion process, which it says completes within 30 days except for legally retained elements [3] [1] [4]. Consumer-facing guides vary in tone — some say deletion only removes your view [4], others explain deletion schedules that aim for removal after 30 days [3] [1].
4. Exceptions and enterprise or special‑contract arrangements
OpenAI’s business and enterprise offerings provide stronger controls: qualifying organizations can set retention policies, in some cases enable zero data retention, and have guarantees that business inputs won’t be used for training by default [7] [5] [10]. Independent examples show companies can secure ZDR (Zero Data Retention) agreements that remove provider‑side retention for approved endpoints [11].
5. How experts and vendors interpret the risks
Industry analysts and security vendors flagged that the preservation order creates a practical gap between user expectations and what’s stored: even deleted chats could remain in secure logs for litigation or regulatory reasons, creating potential long‑term retention of sensitive data unless you’re covered by an enterprise/ZDR contract [9] [12]. Some explainers urge users to assume deleted chats might persist in backend systems during legal holds, and recommend avoiding sharing highly sensitive data in non‑enterprise accounts [12] [8].
6. What the available sources do not settle
Available sources do not mention precise technical mechanisms for how deleted chat artifacts are stored across infrastructure layers or a complete inventory of every metadata field retained after deletion. They also do not provide an independently audited timeline proving every item is purged after 30 days in all jurisdictions; instead, the record contains company statements, help pages, court‑related disclosures, and third‑party analysis [3] [2] [9].
Conclusion — what a cautious user should assume: follow OpenAI’s delete/account‑deletion procedures if you want data removed from your account view, but expect that (a) OpenAI’s stated standard is ~30 days for deletion with legal exceptions [3] [1], (b) a 2025 court preservation order required retention of many consumer logs for a period that affected deleted conversations [2] [9], and (c) stronger guarantees exist only under enterprise/ZDR agreements [7] [11].