ChatGPT: Beginner

Beginner

ChatGPT is OpenAI’s assistant app, available in the browser, on Windows and macOS, and on iOS and Android. It is a separate product from the OpenAI API and from Codex: this guide is about the app you chat with. You type a question or a task, it answers, and you keep going from there. This guide takes you from a blank chat to a few habits that make the answers better.

What you need

• A ChatGPT account: Free works for everything here; paid plans (Go, Plus, Pro) add more models and higher limits
• The web app at chatgpt.com, or the desktop/mobile app
• Nothing to install if you stay in the browser

Your first chat

1. Open the app and sign in.
2. Type a request in plain language and send it.
3. Read the reply, then keep refining in the same thread. ChatGPT remembers everything earlier in that conversation.

A few prompts that show what it’s good at:

Explain what a CSV file is to someone who has never used a spreadsheet.

Draft a polite reply declining this meeting, keep it to three sentences.

I'll paste an error message. Tell me in plain words what likely caused it.

The thread itself is the assistant’s working memory. Everything you’ve said so far steers the next answer. That is the context window, see The context window.

Pick the right model

A short menu at the top of the chat lets you choose how hard the model thinks. As of July 2026 the menu runs from a fast default up through deeper reasoning levels:

Option	Use it for
Instant	The default. Fast answers, drafting, everyday questions.
Thinking levels (currently Medium and High)	Harder reasoning: planning, analysis, anything you’ll double-check.
Pro (paid plans)	Slow, research-grade single answers when accuracy matters most.

Note

OpenAI renames these options often; this same menu said “Instant, Thinking, Pro” only weeks before this page was written. Treat the names above as a snapshot and check the menu in your own app. The pattern is stable even when the labels aren’t: a fast default, one or more thinking levels, and a slow high-accuracy tier.

Tip

Start on Instant. If an answer feels shallow or skips steps, switch to a thinking level and ask again: it reasons before it replies.

Work with files

You can attach files and ask about them directly. Use the attach (paperclip) button or drag a file into the chat.

• Images: screenshots, photos, diagrams
• PDFs: contracts, reports, slides
• Spreadsheets and documents: ask for summaries, totals, or a rewrite

Here's a 12-page PDF. Summarize it in 5 bullet points and list any dates I need to act on.

Caution

On Free and Go, pasting a very long block of text is auto-converted into an attached file. That is normal; it keeps your chat readable.

Three habits that make it better

1. Be specific. “Make this better” is weak. “Shorten this to 100 words and make the tone warmer” gives it something to work with.
2. One task per chat. Start a new chat when you switch topics. A focused thread answers better than a kitchen-sink one.
3. Say what’s wrong. If the reply misses, tell it exactly what to change instead of starting over.

You’re done when…

• ✅ You can start a chat and get a useful answer
• ✅ You’ve switched between Instant and a thinking level on purpose
• ✅ You’ve attached a file and asked about it

Next step

Ready to make ChatGPT remember your preferences and keep your work organized?

ChatGPT: Intermediate Custom Instructions, Projects, and Memory.

Foundations Worth skimming first: why these tools behave the way they do.