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Lesson 3 of 18 · ChatGPT: Complete Guide

The Interface: Conversations, Sidebar, and Settings

Lesson 3 of 18 Updated November 5, 2026 Beginner
On this page
  1. Navigating the ChatGPT Interface
  2. The Sidebar
  3. The Conversation Area
  4. Settings That Matter
  5. Your Turn
  6. Key Takeaways

ChatGPT’s interface is clean—so clean you might think it’s simplistic. That’s an illusion: half the most useful features are one click away, hidden in menus you never open because nothing invites you to. Spend ten minutes exploring, and you’ll stop hunting for features that are right in front of you.

It all comes down to three zones: the sidebar on the left, the conversation in the center, and settings behind your profile icon. The labels below match the English interface; if you’ve switched to French, you’ll spot the equivalents easily.

Three zones to know Three columns. Sidebar: New chat, Search in history, Projects, Library. Conversation: the plus button for files and tools, the model menu, the mic and Voice, commands under the response. Settings: General, Personalization, Data controls, Security and login. THE INTERFACE Three zones to know Sidebar New chat A new thread Search Your history, not the web Projects Threads, files, instructions Library Imported and created files Conversation + Button Files, photos, tools Models GPT-6 and reasoning level Mic, Voice Dictate or converse Under the response Copy, Try again, Share Settings General Appearance, language Personalization Instructions, memory Data controls Training, archives, export Security Two-factor authentication The labels are those of the English interface.
Based on articles about search, projects, Library, and settings from the OpenAI Help Center (November 2026).

The Sidebar

New chat opens a blank conversation. Blank for the thread, not necessarily for you: if Memory is enabled, ChatGPT can rely on what it retained from previous exchanges. As long as the topic doesn’t change, stay in the same conversation: that’s where it has all the context.

Search finds your conversations, projects, images, and files. It searches titles and message text, including archived conversations; on the web, the shortcuts Ctrl+K on Windows and Cmd+K on macOS open it directly. Watch out for confusion: this search digs through your history, not the web.

Projects groups conversations, files, and instructions around a single goal: a client folder, a course, an event. Create one with New project, add your reference documents and project-specific instructions, which take precedence over your general instructions. You can drag an existing conversation into it, which then inherits the project’s instructions and files. This is the right way to organize ChatGPT, which has no folders otherwise.

Library keeps files you’ve imported or created, to reuse them without uploading again. On accounts with access to Space, Space handles this instead.

Your conversations come next. The ••• menu on a conversation lets you share it, move it to a project, archive it, lock it behind a four-digit code, or delete it. Archiving removes it from the list without erasing it: it remains findable via search. Deleting is permanent.

A word on GPTs, these versions of ChatGPT configured for a specific task: OpenAI announced their removal in favor of plugins, generally scheduled for December 11, 2026. Personal accounts can no longer create new ones, but existing GPTs remain usable until the removal date that applies to you.

The Conversation Area

At the bottom of the screen, the input zone accepts your messages. Enter sends; Shift+Enter creates a new line without sending, which changes everything once your request exceeds three lines. The + button attaches files and photos and gives access to tools: View all tools lists Search in particular, to force a web search, and typing / in the field opens the same shortcuts. The mic icon dictates a message, transcribed into text that you review before sending; the Voice icon starts an oral conversation (lesson 13). The model menu chooses the model and reasoning level (lesson 5). For an exchange that must leave no trace in history or memory, open a new conversation and choose Temporary (lesson 17).

Under each response, a few discreet but valuable commands: copy the text, give feedback to OpenAI with thumbs up or down, rerun the response with Try again, or redo it with web results with Search the web. The Share button creates a link to a read-only copy of the conversation. Good to know: on personal plans, thumbs-up feedback authorizes OpenAI to use the entire conversation concerned to improve its models, even if you have disabled training. When ChatGPT drafts text you’re going to tweak, it often places it in a writing block: you edit it directly, or you request a revision of a selected passage.

With GPT-6, a response can also contain tables, charts, buttons, or checkboxes: this is the Intelligent UI. If you prefer soberer responses, the Layout and visuals setting in settings, on the web, reduces these visual elements.

Settings That Matter

You reach settings via your profile icon, then Settings.

  • General gathers appearance (system, light, or dark), contrast, and interface language.
  • Personalization contains ChatGPT’s most underestimated feature: Custom instructions, directives applied to all your conversations. A line like “I am a web developer, adapt your answers to my technical level” saves you from repeating your context thirty times a week, and “Always respond in English” fixes answers that slip back into English. Count on 1,500 characters maximum on Free and Go, 5,000 on paid plans. You’ll also find Memory, with a summary of what ChatGPT remembers about you, which you can correct, and Characteristics, which set the tone warmth, enthusiasm, formatting, and emojis.
  • Data controls governs your data: the Improve the model for everyone option (training models on your conversations), shared links, archived conversations, exporting your data, and location.
  • Security and login hosts two-factor authentication.

Your Turn

Your space organized. Identify the three zones. Create a project “ChatGPT Training” and open a conversation there. In Settings > Personalization, add a custom instruction: “Respond in English. Be concise and structured.” Then open search, with Ctrl+K or Cmd+K on the web, and find your conversation from lesson 1. Archive it, then bring it back into history from Settings > Data controls. The responses you get in the rest of the course will reflect your instruction: this is the first personalization lever at your disposal.

Sources officielles : Finding your chats, projects, and files in ChatGPT (centre d’aide OpenAI : recherche) · Projects in ChatGPT · Using Library to manage files in ChatGPT · Deleting and archiving chats in ChatGPT · GPTs in ChatGPT (retrait des GPTs) · ChatGPT Custom Instructions · Memory in ChatGPT

Key Takeaways

  • The sidebar gives access to new conversations, search in your history, projects, and your files
  • Projects replace folders: conversations, files, and instructions gathered around a goal
  • The input zone opens files, tools, dictation, voice, and model selection
  • Custom instructions apply to all your conversations: set them from day one
  • Archiving removes a conversation from the list without erasing it; deleting is permanent
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