How to delete multiple ChatGPT chats at once
Updated
ChatGPT gives you two choices: delete chats one by one, or delete every chat you have. There’s nothing in between. You can’t tick twenty old chats and remove just those.
Speed Booster Toolkit adds that. Tick a chat in the sidebar, Shift-click another to take everything between them, and delete, archive, move or export the whole selection from a bar at the bottom of the sidebar.
What ChatGPT can do on its own
One chat at a time: point at the chat in the sidebar, open its ⋯ menu and choose Delete or Archive.
Every chat at once: open Settings, then Data controls, and use Delete all or Archive all. Both take chats inside Projects too.
A deleted chat is gone for good. It disappears from your list straight away, and OpenAI removes it from its systems within 30 days. It can’t be brought back, not by you and not by support. Archived chats are only out of sight: they stay searchable and come back from Settings, Data controls, Archived chats.
How to delete many chats at once
- Install Speed Booster Toolkit for Chrome or Firefox. It’s free.
- Point at a chat in ChatGPT’s sidebar and tick the box that appears.
- Hold Shift and tick another chat further down. Everything between the two is selected.
- In the bar at the bottom of the sidebar, press Delete. It asks before anything is deleted.
Ticking a run of chats and deleting them
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Archive or delete?
Archive when in doubt
An archived chat leaves your sidebar but stays on your account, and ChatGPT’s search still finds it. If you might want it one day, archive.
Delete what you’re sure about
Test chats, half-finished questions, the twentieth “New chat”. Deleting can’t be undone, so it’s for chats you know you won’t miss.
Back up first
Tick the chats and press Export in the same bar before you delete. One PDF, or a ZIP of Markdown files (exporting to Markdown).
Deleting won’t speed things up
A tidier sidebar is nice, but it won’t make a long chat less laggy. That comes from the chat itself (why ChatGPT is slow).
Never paste your access token anywhere
Some guides suggest a script for the browser console, or a website, that needs your ChatGPT access token to delete chats in bulk. Whoever has that token can read and delete everything on your account. You never need it to clean up your chats: the toolkit works inside ChatGPT, as you, with nothing to paste.
Common questions
Can I delete multiple chats in ChatGPT without an extension?
Only all of them at once, from Settings, Data controls, Delete all. To delete a chosen set, you need an extension such as Speed Booster Toolkit, which adds checkboxes to the sidebar.
How do I select many chats at once?
With Speed Booster Toolkit, tick one chat in the sidebar, then hold Shift and tick another. Every chat between the two is selected, and the bar at the bottom of the sidebar acts on all of them.
Can I get a deleted ChatGPT chat back?
No. Deleted chats can’t be restored, and OpenAI removes them from its systems within 30 days. If you might need a chat later, archive it instead, or export it first.
What is the difference between archiving and deleting a chat?
Archiving hides a chat from the sidebar but keeps it, searchable, on your account; you can restore it from Settings, Data controls. Deleting removes it for good.
Is bulk delete free?
Yes. Selecting, deleting, archiving and moving many chats has no limit on any plan.