One workspace for a continuing body of work — chats, files, project instructions and memory together.
The full script, word for word — 201 words, about 1 minutes to read. Current as at July 2026. AI tools change quickly; if something looks different when you try it, check the product's own help pages.
If you keep starting new chats by explaining the same work again, make a Project. It gives one continuing piece of work a home: its conversations, files and instructions.
Create one for a recognisable outcome: a job search, a board cycle, a product launch. Give it a clear name, add the reference files that genuinely matter, and move or start the related chats there. Keep unrelated work out.
Add Project instructions for the way this work should be handled: the audience, tone, method, output format and boundaries. These instructions apply inside the Project and take priority over your general custom instructions when they conflict. That is what makes the Project more than a folder.
Memory is different. It is ChatGPT’s evolving summary of useful details from your conversations. Depending on how the Project is set up, memory can draw on your wider ChatGPT context or stay contained within that Project. You can manage memory in Personalization, and Temporary Chat avoids using or creating it.
Build one Project around work you will revisit next week. Add only the context worth carrying forward, then write one good set of Project instructions. You will spend less time re-explaining and more time improving the work.