Setup without the overwhelm

Account, and where to use it

You already made a free account in Lesson 1. That's the setup. ChatGPT lives at chatgpt.com in any browser, and there are iPhone, Android, and desktop apps too. Start in the browser — the walkthroughs here assume it — and know that one account syncs everything, so a chat you start on your laptop is waiting on your phone.

The app is lovely for talking to it out loud while you fold laundry or drive. The browser is better for real work: pasting long text, uploading files, reading side by side. Use both; they're the same account.

The one setting that matters: custom instructions

Remember the intern with no memory from Lesson 1? Custom instructions are how you brief that intern once instead of at the start of every chat. It's a box in Settings where you tell ChatGPT who you are and how you want it to respond — and it quietly applies that to everything, forever.

This is the single highest-leverage two minutes in this entire course. Most people never touch it, then wonder why their results feel generic. Here's the fill-in-the-blank version — copy it, fill your details into the cerise blanks, and paste it into your custom instructions:

To find the box: open Settings → Personalization → Custom instructions (the wording moves around a little as ChatGPT updates, but it's always under Settings and always called something close to this). Paste, save, done. From now on, every new chat starts with ChatGPT already knowing the basics — no more re-explaining your business every morning.

Memory, briefly

ChatGPT also has a memory feature: over time it can remember facts you've mentioned — your business name, your dog, that you prefer short emails — and carry them between chats. It's useful, and you're in control of it: in Settings you can see everything it has remembered, delete individual items, or turn memory off entirely.

Two honest notes. First, don't rely on memory as your system — it's fuzzy and it forgets; the custom instructions you just set are deliberate and dependable, which is why we lead with those. Second, on privacy: what you type may be used to improve the models unless you turn that off (Settings → Data controls) or use a business/enterprise account. Combine that with the Lesson 1 rule — keep truly sensitive data out of the box — and you're on solid ground.

Projects: a folder with a memory

Once you're using ChatGPT for real work, Projects keep it tidy. A Project is a folder that holds related chats plus its own instructions and files — so you can have a "Candle Shop" Project where ChatGPT always knows that context, separate from your "Personal" chats. Upload your brand guide or a few product specs once, and every chat inside that Project can see them.

You don't need Projects on day one, and the feature keeps evolving — so if the menu looks slightly different than described, trust the idea, not the exact button. For now: know it exists, and reach for it when your chat list starts feeling like a junk drawer.