Skip to main content
EN · FR Start for free
Menu
Lesson 8 of 11 · Writing Blocks, Memory, and Projects

Create a project in ChatGPT

Lesson 8 of 11 Updated November 5, 2026 Intermediate
On this page
  1. Projects: A dedicated workspace in ChatGPT
  2. Why use projects
  3. Create your first project
  4. Bring in an existing conversation
  5. How to organize your projects
  6. Your turn
  7. Key takeaways

Projects: A dedicated workspace in ChatGPT

Projects are thematic workspaces in ChatGPT. Instead of scattering isolated conversations across the same topic, you group everything into a single project: conversations, files, specific instructions, and data sources. This shifts your AI usage from ad hoc—one question, one answer, then close the tab—to a structured workflow where ChatGPT becomes a workstation that retains your context over the long term.

Why use projects

To understand what projects change, look at what heavy ChatGPT usage looks like without them. Imagine you have been leading a company website redesign for two months. You have opened about fifteen scattered conversations on the topic: one on the site map, one on vendor quotes, three or four on page copy. For every new conversation, you must re-explain the context: the company, the budget, the deadline. You have to re-upload the specifications every time ChatGPT needs them. And when you search for “that conversation where we compared CMS platforms,” you dig through your history with no guarantee of finding it.

With a project, everything is centralized. All conversations within a project share the same context: the instructions you defined apply automatically to each one. Files uploaded once remain accessible permanently. Your history is grouped in one place, easy to browse. The time you used to spend re-contextualizing is simply eliminated.

Create your first project

Creating a project takes less than a minute:

  1. In the ChatGPT sidebar, select New project.
  2. Name the project, then choose an icon and a color.
  3. Choose the project’s memory setting, Default memory or Project-only memory, which Lesson 9 details; you can change this later.

Naming deserves more attention than it might seem. In six months, you may have a dozen projects in your sidebar: the name is what will help you find your way. Prefer “Website Redesign 2026” over “Web Project,” “Q2 Quarterly Report” over “Report,” or “SaaS Competitive Intelligence” over “Intelligence.” The rule is the same as naming a shared folder in a company: someone seeing the name for the first time should understand what it contains.

Instructions: The most powerful feature

Each project can have its own instructions, and this is where the real value lies. You enter them via the project’s ••• menu, then Project settings. Within the project, these take precedence over your general custom instructions. These instructions apply to every conversation opened inside the project, without you having to repeat them. For our website redesign, they might look like this:

This project covers the redesign of our corporate website.

Context:
- Company: TechNova, B2B SaaS publisher, 30 employees
- Current site: WordPress, migrating to a static site
- Budget: €25,000
- Deadline: September 2026
- Target audience: CIOs and CTOs of French SMEs

Rules for this project:
- Always account for budget and deadlines
- Prioritize open-source solutions
- Deliverables must be in French
- Structure responses with time estimates

Notice what this produces in practice: when you open a conversation tomorrow titled “compare three hosting solutions,” ChatGPT will automatically rule out options over budget and deliver its response in French with time estimates—without you specifying anything. This is the difference between a project and a simple storage folder.

Reference files

The final piece: add the documents ChatGPT needs to consult (PDFs, spreadsheets, documents, images, or pasted text)—specifications, brand guidelines, examples or mockups, reference data (spreadsheets, reports). They will be accessible in every conversation within the project, subject to your plan limits: 5 files per project on Free, 25 on Go and Plus, 40 on Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu. Without them, ChatGPT works on assumptions: it will invent a plausible brand guideline instead of applying yours.

Bring in an existing conversation

Do you already have scattered conversations on the topic? Drag them onto the project, or open their ••• menu and select Move to project. The moved conversation immediately inherits the project’s instructions and files. Two limitations: a conversation held with a GPT cannot be moved, and if the option does not appear, simply start a new conversation within the project instead.

A project in four settings Four steps: New project, with a name, icon, and color; the memory setting, Default or Project-only; instructions, in Project settings; reference files, 5 to 40 depending on your plan. CREATE A PROJECT A project in four settings 1 New project Name, icon, color 2 Memory Default or Project-only 3 Instructions In Project settings 4 Files 5 to 40 depending on your plan Bring in an existing conversation by drag-and-drop or using Move to project.
Based on the article "Projects in ChatGPT" from the OpenAI Help Center (November 2026).

How to organize your projects

There is no single right way to structure them, but three approaches work well. The first is by major professional initiative: one project for “Product Alpha Launch,” another for “Data Team Recruitment,” a third for “CRM Migration.” Each initiative has its context, constraints, and end date. When the initiative is complete, retrieve what you need, then delete the project or leave it dormant.

The second approach is thematic: one project per recurring activity, with no end date. “Blog Writing,” “Customer Data Analysis,” or “Internal Tech Support” are permanent spaces where context refines over months. Your “Blog Writing” project eventually knows your tone, formats, and topics better than any isolated conversation could.

Finally, projects are not reserved for work. “Japan Trip Planning,” “Italian Cooking Class,” or “Personal Finance Management” follow the exact same mechanics: context set once, reference files, and conversations that all benefit from it.

Your turn

Your first project. The best way to understand projects is to create one, even a dummy one. Create a project named “Test — My First Project” and give it these instructions: “This project is for testing ChatGPT’s Projects feature. Always respond concisely with practical examples.” Add any document—a PDF, text file, or image—then open a first conversation and ask a question related to the document. Next, open a second conversation: you will see that the instructions still apply and the file remains accessible, without any action on your part. This persistence is what makes the tool valuable.

Two pitfalls await beginners. The first is a project without instructions: it gives you nothing more than a storage folder, whereas the main benefit is shared context. Vague instructions like “Help me with my project” are hardly better; be specific about context, constraints, and expectations. The second is excessive fragmentation: a project should group several conversations on the same theme. If you create one project per conversation, you have recreated the very problem projects solve.

Official sources: Projects in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center: creation, instructions, files, moving conversations, plan limits) · Uploading files and audio to ChatGPT (files per project)

Key takeaways

  • A project groups conversations, files, and instructions around a theme
  • Project instructions apply automatically to all its conversations
  • Added files remain accessible in every conversation within the project
  • Name your projects descriptively; a well-configured project eliminates re-contextualization
  • Projects are available to logged-in users in unlimited numbers, with 5 to 40 files per project depending on your plan
← Previous lessonMemory vs. Custom Instructions: When to Use WhichNext lesson →Organize Files, Instructions, and Conversations