# How to Use ChatGPT Projects

> ChatGPT Projects group chats around shared files and instructions. Free plans get 5 files per project, Plus 25, Pro and Business 40 — and sharing is free.

- Canonical: https://guides-ai.pages.dev/guides/chatgpt-projects/
- Plate 07.04 · Topic: ChatGPT (https://guides-ai.pages.dev/topics/chatgpt/)
- Published: 02 Sept 2026 · Updated: 06 Sept 2026 · 3 min read
- Source site: guides-ai — https://guides-ai.pages.dev/

A Project groups chats around one piece of work — a client, a codebase, a manuscript — with
files and instructions shared by every conversation inside it. Projects are available on **all
plans including Free**, at no extra cost, which is the change most guides missed.

## 1. Create a project

In the sidebar, choose **New project** and name it. One project per context — per client, per
app — keeps the shared knowledge relevant instead of a junk drawer.

## 2. Upload the files every chat should know

The style guide, the spec, the data export. Chats inside the project draw on them without you
re-uploading anything. The per-project file allowance depends on your plan:

```text
Free                      5 files
Plus, Go, Edu            25 files
Pro, Business, Enterprise 40 files
```

What it does: sets your ceiling. Hitting it usually means the project is too broad — split it
rather than pruning good source material.

## 3. Write project instructions once

```text
This project is our Q3 marketing plan. Audience: small-business owners.
Tone: plain, no jargon. Always give options as a short list, never paragraphs.
Never invent numbers — if a figure isn't in the uploaded files, say so.
```

What it does: standing context every new chat in the project inherits, so you stop pasting
background into each conversation.

## 4. Move existing chats in

Drag an existing chat into a project and it inherits the project's instructions and file
context — the fastest way to rescue a conversation that has drifted.

## Project or a custom GPT?

A **Project** is your own workspace — private by default, instant to set up, best for ongoing
work. A [**custom GPT**](/guides/build-a-custom-gpt/) is a configured assistant with a fixed
prompt and optional API actions, but creating one now requires a Business, Enterprise or Edu
workspace. If you just want to stop re-explaining background, a Project is the answer.

Project sharing is available to everyone, including Free and Go users: collaborators work from
the same files, instructions and history, and everyone sees updates in real time.

## Verify it worked

Start a new chat inside the project and ask about something only the uploaded files cover. If
it answers from general knowledge instead, the file is in the wrong project. Like
[RAG](/glossary/#rag), the answer is only as good as what actually got retrieved. Claude's
equivalent is [Claude Projects](/guides/claude-projects-getting-started/); for account-wide
preferences use [custom instructions](/guides/chatgpt-custom-instructions/).

Source: [Using projects in ChatGPT](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10169521-using-projects-in-chatgpt).