ChatGPT's Computer History logs your Mac activity into a 48-hour timeline for AI context
OpenAI's opt-in Computer History feature builds a local 48-hour activity timeline on macOS so ChatGPT can pick up where you left off.
OpenAI has shipped a new opt-in feature for the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS called Computer History. It watches what you do across apps and websites, builds a rolling 48-hour local timeline of that activity, and makes that context available to ChatGPT and Codex so you can ask questions like “What was I debugging yesterday?” or “Where did I leave off on that pull request?” without having to re-explain everything from scratch.
Here is what it actually does, what it does not do, and what you should know before turning it on.
What Computer History captures
Computer History creates an interaction-event stream from the apps and websites you permit. That includes clicks, keystrokes, keyboard shortcuts, app switches, and context that macOS surfaces through its accessibility system. Periodically, the app turns those raw events into text summaries and saves them as local memory files in plaintext Markdown on your machine.
What it does not capture is worth noting clearly: there are no screenshots, no screen recordings, no microphone input, no system audio, and no private-mode browsing activity. This is a deliberate architectural choice that distinguishes it from Microsoft’s Recall, which is built around screen capture. OpenAI is processing what you do, not what your screen looks like.
The raw event stream is stored temporarily in an isolated container on your Mac, sent to OpenAI’s servers for processing into summaries, and then deleted within 48 hours. OpenAI says it does not retain those raw event files after processing, and does not use them for model training.
Where the data lives and who can read it
The memory files generated from that processing stay on your local file system as plaintext Markdown until you delete them. They are not encrypted by Computer History, which means other programmes running under the same macOS user account can read them. That is worth factoring in if you share a machine or run software you did not build yourself.
You can inspect everything Computer History has summarised by going to Settings, then Computer History, then History. The timeline groups summaries by day and time. Each entry shows a title, a text summary, the apps that contributed to it, and sometimes a suggested skill or automation when ChatGPT spots a repeatable workflow. From there you can delete individual items, clear the last ten minutes, last hour, last day, or wipe all history entirely.
What this means for you in practice
The most immediate use case is continuity. If you close your laptop mid-task and come back the next morning, you can ask ChatGPT what you were working on and get a useful answer based on your actual activity rather than a guess. OpenAI describes this as particularly helpful for repetitive workflows or tasks that are easier to show than describe, such as configuring a project issue, publishing a video, or downloading a recurring report that always follows the same steps.
For developers using Codex, the timeline gives the agent genuine context about where work was left off across files, terminals, and browser tabs, without requiring you to reconstruct that context manually.
The flip side is a meaningful security consideration. OpenAI’s own documentation flags an increased prompt-injection risk. Because Computer History captures content from apps and websites, malicious instructions embedded in a webpage you visit could, in theory, be picked up and acted on by ChatGPT or Codex. This is not hypothetical; prompt injection is a known and documented attack vector for AI systems that read ambient content. OpenAI advises pausing Computer History or excluding specific apps when working with sensitive health, financial, or personal information, and turning it off during conversations with other people unless you have their express consent.
Who can use it and where
Computer History is available to Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscribers. It also requires the Memories feature to be active. It is not available to API users or through Amazon Bedrock.
For Business and Enterprise workspaces, admins need to explicitly enable the feature before any workspace member can turn it on individually. Enabling it at the admin level does not activate it for anyone automatically; each user still has to opt in personally. This two-layer permission model gives organisations meaningful control over whether the feature is available at all.
Computer History is not available in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland. OpenAI has not stated a timeline for expansion to those regions.
How it compares to what came before
Computer History replaces OpenAI’s earlier Chronicle research preview. The rebuild is substantive rather than cosmetic. Chronicle relied on screenshots; Computer History uses interaction events instead. OpenAI says the new approach uses fewer tokens and comes with stronger privacy controls, though the underlying principle, giving the AI persistent awareness of your recent activity, is the same.
Should you turn it on?
If you want ChatGPT to have genuine awareness of your working context without having to explain it each session, Computer History offers something practically useful. The 48-hour window is long enough to cover multi-day tasks without accumulating an indefinite history.
The privacy considerations are real but manageable if you use the controls thoughtfully. Excluding sensitive apps, pausing it during personal conversations, and understanding that your memory files sit as readable plaintext on your file system are all things worth doing before enabling it. The prompt-injection risk is the least visible but arguably the most important thing to understand: content you encounter online could influence what the AI does on your behalf.
If you are on a Business or Enterprise plan, the feature does not arrive unless your admin switches it on first, which gives organisations a sensible gate before individuals make that choice for themselves.
Computer History is off by default. For now, that is probably the right place to start.