ChatGPT Work Just Dropped, Here's Everything You Need to Know
The new ChatGPT Work application just dropped, and it changes how you work with OpenAI on the desktop. In this quick overview I walk you through what got merged, how chats differ from tasks, what the app can do with your local files, and the features that make it genuinely useful for business: projects, plugins, and scheduled tasks.
What you need
- The new ChatGPT Work desktop application. It replaces both the old ChatGPT application and the separate Codex application, so this is the one app you install.
1. What ChatGPT Work changes (0:00)
The old ChatGPT application got merged with the Codex application, which was another application developed by OpenAI. The new app behaves as a host for the two: hover on the ChatGPT Work icon, click it, and you can switch between ChatGPT Work and Codex. So you are not losing either experience; you are getting both of them inside one shell and choosing which one you want at any given moment. ChatGPT Work is the exact same thing as Claude Cowork, but from OpenAI.
2. Local files and computer actions (0:30)
What does that mean in practice? It is a ChatGPT application that has access to your local files, so it can work with any PDF, Excel, or anything already living inside your computer. This is a huge step up for OpenAI, which was lacking exactly this: a ChatGPT capable of doing things, of actually interacting with what is on your machine. Before, you had to use Codex for that.
3. Chats vs tasks (1:06)
The app gives you two different types of conversations.
Chats are literally just like using ChatGPT: one conversation where you ask questions.
Tasks are actions. Whenever you need something built, a report, an automation, a website, research and planning, you create a task. This is the split that makes the app feel different from the old ChatGPT: questions live in chats, and work that produces something lives in tasks.
And there is a bridge between the two: you can import a conversation into a task. If you were already talking something through with ChatGPT, click the import option and continue that same conversation in the task format. That means a discussion that started as a simple question can graduate into actual work without starting over.
4. Projects, folders, and plugins (2:01)
The features from the old application are still here, so nothing you relied on before disappears in the merge. You keep access to your folders and can create a new project, put files inside it, and work on it. That keeps related documents and conversations grouped around the thing you are actually building.
You also have plugins, which are pretty much the equivalent of the App Store but for ChatGPT. All the applications you would ever want are listed; you simply click Install and ChatGPT gets access to them.
5. Scheduled tasks (2:37)
The last important feature is scheduled tasks. These make ChatGPT Work do things without you really being there, which is where the app stops being a chat window and starts behaving like an assistant that works on a schedule. One critical detail: the tasks are done inside your computer, so your machine has to stay online through the duration of the task. If it is off, the task will not be able to run.
To create one, click the scheduled task button, and I recommend creating it with ChatGPT itself. That way you are sure you do not miss anything when preparing it.
6. Why ChatGPT Work matters for business (3:15)
This new application is fantastic for business use cases. There are still some disagreements in the community, because the Codex application that got discontinued was probably the best application OpenAI ever created. But for people who are really getting into AI and were missing that extra capability on the OpenAI side, this is a no-brainer. My invitation: test the tasks functionality and really push the app with the new GPT 5.6 that came out.
Pitfalls and tips
- Scheduled tasks execute on your machine, not in the cloud. Keep the computer online through the whole run or the task simply will not happen.
- Let ChatGPT create your scheduled tasks with you instead of configuring them by hand; it helps you avoid missing a step in the preparation.
- If you loved the old Codex app, know that its experience now lives inside this host application; switch to it from the ChatGPT Work icon.
Where to go next
- This release was one of three moves that forced Anthropic's hand in the same week: Fable 5 Gets 7 More Days: Here's Why.
- Prefer OpenAI models inside the Claude Code harness? Read Run Claude Code with GPT 5.6 Sol in 5 Minutes.
