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Use ChatGPT for your work

Think of ChatGPT as a new team member who can help with writing, brainstorming, problem-solving, and creative tasks. You can ask it to draft content, suggest ideas, work through questions step by step, or explain complex topics in simple terms. It handles file uploads and maintains conversation context as you work. This page will show you how to:

Assign roles

Direct ChatGPT with focused personas

Choose models

Add documents to conversations

Connect tools

Interact hands-free

Refine outputs

Use follow-ups to improve results

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Direct ChatGPT with roles

Give ChatGPT a clear role to focus its response. Pick one of these three starting points based on your task.
Role + format + word limit = you’re 80% of the way to a great output.

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Context in ChatGPT (what it’s really working from)

ChatGPT doesn’t magically know your work situation unless you give it something to work with.
For beginners, “context” usually means:
  • what you pasted into the chat
  • any files you attached
  • your saved preferences (optional)
  • any tools you turned on (also optional)

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Adding Context to Your Conversation

Paste / Add Files

Chatgpt Guide Plus IconClick the ”+” icon in the chat to access multiple options for adding context:
  • Add photos & files
  • Deep research
  • Agent mode
  • Create image
  • Web search
  • Canvas
  • Study and learn
These features let you enhance conversations with documents, images, or specialized modes for different tasks.

Custom Instructions

Chatgpt Guide Custom InstructionsCustom instructions serve as the foundation for personalising your ChatGPT experience. To access this feature, ensure that “Enable Customization” is activated in your settings.Within the Custom instructions box, you can specify the behaviour, style, and tone you want ChatGPT to emulate when it responds to you. Some examples include:
  • “Use concise, action-oriented responses”
  • “Be brutally honest and critical when responding”
  • “Be a supportive brainstorming and thinking partner”

Voice Mode

Chatgpt Guide Voice ModeSpeak directly to ChatGPT in a natural, conversational way.Voice Mode listens to your words, pauses, and tone, making interactions feel more human than text alone.The button changes to a “breathing” animation when actively listening, and the AI responds out loud while transcribing your conversation.
Simply talk as you would with a colleague—no need for perfect prompts.

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Enabling & managing memories

Once “Reference saved memories” is enabled in settings, ChatGPT will retain important information from your interactions. This allows ChatGPT to build an ongoing knowledge base of the information you have shared in conversations. Chatgpt Guide Memory

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Adding Memories

There are two ways to create or add a saved memory:

Automatic Memory

Adding Memory 1You can share information or a personal preference with ChatGPT. If the model feels this information will be useful in future chats, it shows the “Updated saved memory” notification to identify that this information has been stored.

Manual Memory

Adding Memory 2Ask ChatGPT to manually “save this to memory” after sharing information within a chat. This will also show the “Updated saved memory” notification to identify that this information has been saved.

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Choosing your AI model

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Model switching

The different models within ChatGPT represent the different brains or capabilities available to you. You can allow selection to take place automatically or you can opt to select a particular model yourself.

GPT-5.2 Flagship Model

Chatgpt Guide Choosing ModelGPT-5.2 is the current flagship model (released December 2025). Compared to the older GPT-5 versions, it spends a longer time reasoning and planning its response. This delivers substantially better output, with greater depth and accuracy.

GPT-5.2 Thinking Toggle

Chatgpt Guide Model Toggle1When you select the Thinking or Pro mode, there is an option to pick a default reasoning time. Which model or time to use depends on how deliberate you need the reasoning process to be. A query could take upwards of 30-60 minutes to load.

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When to use reasoning models

Think of reasoning models as turning your ChatGPT into a senior advisor, or expert consultant in any field. The responses you receive from reasoning models will be far more considered and accurate compared to using other foundation models. In ChatGPT, your reasoning models are GPT-5.2 Thinking and GPT-5.2 Pro. Use these when solving particularly complex problems, or analysing large data sets. These models can be thought of as the standard go-to choices when we need to conduct complex research, analysis or problem solving.

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What file types can I upload?

VariableFile Upload Details
Supported File Formats• PDF
• TXT
• Word documents (.docx)
• Excel spreadsheets (CSV, XLSX)
• Data files (JSON, HTML)
• Images (JPEG, PNG, non-animated GIF)
• PowerPoint (.pptx)
Not Supported• Google Doc links
• MP4 videos
• MP3 audio files
File Size Limits• Standard files: 512 MB limit
• Spreadsheets: 50 MB limit
• Images: 20 MB limit
Upload Quantity Limits• Free tier: ~ 3 files per day
• Paid tiers: ~ 80 files per 3-hour window (resets after 3 hours)
Enterprise Exclusive Feature• Non-enterprise (Business, Pro, Plus, free) accounts cannot analyse images embedded within PDFs.
• Enterprise accounts can analyse images embedded within PDFs.
Please note limits and capabilities continuously change and may differ from those stated above.

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Quick checkpoint (you’re done when…)

Assign roles

You can explain role assignment in one sentence

Upload files

You added documents to your conversation

Use voice mode

You tried voice input or Voice Mode for interaction

Refine outputs

You used follow-ups to improve ChatGPT’s output

Ready to practice?

Complete the mini challenge by constructing a propmt with our tool