ChatGPT Computer History is OpenAI’s new opt-in activity-history feature for the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS. It records interaction events from apps and websites a user permits, then gives ChatGPT and Codex a timeline of that work. The point is to let the software find recent documents, resume unfinished tasks, and propose automations. The trade-off is obvious: the context comes from a record of what the person did on their computer.
OpenAI said in an August 13 video that the feature is available to ChatGPT Pro, Business, and Enterprise users on Mac. It is off by default. Pro subscribers can enable it themselves; Business and Enterprise users need their workspace administrator to grant access before each individual can decide whether to turn it on.
What does ChatGPT Computer History record?
According to OpenAI’s documentation, Computer History creates an interaction-event stream from allowed apps and websites. That stream can include clicks, typing, keyboard shortcuts, app switches, and context made available through macOS’s accessibility system. This is not a vague record of “productivity.” Typed input and navigation actions are part of the design.
The app periodically converts those events into text summaries and local memory files. Its History view groups the summaries by day and time, and can show the participating apps, a summary title, and a suggested skill or automation. A user can then ask what they worked on before a break, locate a recently used document, or request a work recap. ChatGPT and Codex may use the history to identify a relevant source, then read that source directly, OpenAI says.
OpenAI pitches the automation angle as a way to turn repeated work into reusable skills. That remains a product claim, not proof that every repeated sequence is useful automation material. Users are meant to review a suggested workflow before asking Codex to build it.
What Computer History does not capture
Computer History differs from a screen recorder. OpenAI says it does not take screenshots or screen recordings, and does not collect microphone input or system audio. Private-mode browsing activity is excluded as well. That is a meaningful boundary, but it does not erase the sensitivity of a system that can record typing, clicks, application changes, and accessibility context in approved software.
The company says Computer History replaces Chronicle, an earlier research preview that used screenshots. OpenAI describes the new feature as a rebuilt system rather than a renamed version of Chronicle, with interaction events replacing screen captures.
Who can use it and what controls apply?
- It works in the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS for Pro, Business, and Enterprise users.
- Memories must also be enabled.
- Users choose which apps and websites contribute data, can pause collection from the macOS menu bar, and can inspect or delete history items.
- Business and Enterprise administrators can permit access, but that does not enable the feature for staff. Each person must opt in.
- OpenAI says it is unavailable with an API key or Amazon Bedrock, and is not currently offered in the EEA, Switzerland, or the UK.
The controls are real, but they require active configuration. Anyone considering the feature should treat the app and website allow-list as the actual privacy boundary, rather than assuming the absence of screenshots means the timeline contains nothing sensitive.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
