If you’re new to ChatGPT, we’ve created a great guide on how to use it.
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is an AI-powered language model that engages in human-like conversations, offers quick answers, and efficiently tackles complex problems.
It serves as a search engine, a teacher for explanations, an editor for writing assistance, and more. To make the most of its capabilities, we’ve crafted a concise guide for beginners.
Exploring the ChatGPT Main Screen
Let’s examine the components on the ChatGPT main screen and explore how each one is used.
On Desktop
We can divide the ChatGPT main screen on the browser into three main sections.
- The first section is the textbox of ChatGPT. You can use this area as a textbox to enter your desired prompt and send it to ChatGPT.
- In the second section, located in the left menu, you can view your conversation history with ChatGPT. From here, you can open a new chat window by selecting the “New chat” option. Each conversation window will be stored here unless you delete them. In this section, you can edit the names of your conversation windows, share them, or delete them as needed.
- In the third section, you can access detailed information about your ChatGPT account. From here, you can enter the account settings and manage various settings related to your account. You can view detailed information about your account and also upgrade your account to ChatGPT Plus if desired.
Mobile Application
In the mobile application, we can divide the ChatGPT main screen into two main sections.
- The first section is where you write your questions or prompts for ChatGPT. This section is used to enter and send your queries to the model. In addition, exclusive to the mobile application, on the far right of this section, there is a voice input feature. By clicking the button, you can utilize the Voice Control feature and interact with ChatGPT using your voice.
- In the second section, you can click on the three dots to perform various actions. You can open a new conversation window, view your past conversation history, and access your account settings.
How to start using ChatGPT?
Before you can start using ChatGPT, the only thing you need to do is create a new account. Creating a new ChatGPT account is completely free. After having an account:
- Go to chat.openai.com, and log in. If you’re using the ChatGPT mobile app, simply open it on your phone to get started.
- Type your prompt in the message box on the main screen.
Once ChatGPT sends you a response, you have a handful of options:
- Enter a new prompt and Continue the conversation.
- Regenerate the response.
- Copy the response and share.
- You can send a feedback by liking or disliking the response.
How to ask a question to ChatGPT?
You can type anything you want in the text box located at the bottom of the screen. To send your message, you can press the enter key or click the button on the right side of the text box.
After you submit your prompt to ChatGPT, it will quickly provide you with a response.
The conversation doesn’t end there. After receiving your response, you can continue asking new questions, pointing out any missing information, or transitioning to a different topic.
When you receive a response from ChatGPT, you have several options to consider.
- Regenerate response: Use Regenerate response button to generate a different answer based on the same input.
- Send another message: ChatGPT has the ability to remember your conversation to some extent, allowing you to modify its response without starting from scratch. By referring back to the previous discussion, ChatGPT can provide a more informed response.
- Copy the response: If you find ChatGPT’s answer helpful and want to share it elsewhere, simply click the clipboard icon next to the response to copy it to your clipboard.
- Like or dislike the response: ChatGPT relies on human feedback to learn and improve. If you found the response helpful, click the thumbs-up icon to indicate your approval. You also have the option to share specific feedback to help enhance ChatGPT’s performance.
Crafting better prompts to use ChatGPT effectively
To obtain the best response from ChatGPT, it is crucial to have a well-crafted prompt. Following best practices in this regard can be beneficial.
Prepare your question in a detailed and clearly expressed manner. A well-formulated prompt will facilitate the task for the model and increase the likelihood of fulfilling your request more accurately.
Example of a Bad Prompt: “Summarize the meeting notes.”
Example of a Good Prompt: “Please provide a comprehensive summary of the meeting notes in a single paragraph. Additionally, create a markdown list including the names of the speakers and their key points. Finally, include any suggested next steps or action items mentioned by the speakers, if applicable.”
By providing a clear and detailed prompt like the example above, you can enhance the chances of receiving a more accurate and satisfactory response from ChatGPT.
Experiment and Iterate
ChatGPT learns from interactions, so it’s crucial to experiment and iterate to achieve the desired output.
If the initial response doesn’t meet your expectations, you can refine your prompts, rephrase questions, or provide additional context to guide ChatGPT in the right direction.
It’s important to remember that ChatGPT may not always provide correct answers and it doesn’t give the same response to the same question every time.
ChatGPT remembers the conversation within the same window
When you have a conversation with ChatGPT in the same chat window, it remembers what you talked about. This allows you to refer back to a previous conversation within the same window.
Additionally, the model’s responses in this window are influenced by the preceding conversations. So it tries to be consistent and make sense based on what was previously talked about.
ChatGPT has a character limit
ChatGPT has a character limit on the amount of information it can understand and the size of the response it can provide in one go.
This limit is determined by various factors, and it is estimated to be around 4096 characters, which is equivalent to a few paragraphs of text.
Also read: How to bypass ChatGPT’s character limit?
Therefore, ChatGPT cannot handle infinite-length inputs or produce unlimited-length outputs. The character limit may vary depending on different factors.
Your conversations are saved
To allow you to review and resume your conversations with ChatGPT, they are saved and displayed in the left panel. This way, you can easily pick up where you left off and continue your conversations at a later time.
You can disable the feature of automatically saving the conversation if you wish.
In the left menu on the browser, you can perform the following actions on each conversation:
- Rename: By hovering over a conversation, you can change its saved name to something memorable.
- Share: You can share a conversation with someone you choose.
- Delete: You can delete a conversation window.
These options allow you to personalize the names, share conversations with others, or remove them as needed.
Your chat history is used for training ChatGPT
Your conversations with ChatGPT are used to train the model itself by OpenAI.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has a policy where they use chat history to train the model and teach it new things.
If you don’t want your chat history to be used for training, you can turn this feature off. To do that, follow the steps below:
- Hover over your account in the left menu and click on the “Settings” tab.
- In the window that appears, click on the “Data Control” option.
- In this section, set both the “Chat History & Training” options to the disabled position.
By performing these steps, you will deactivate the use of your conversation history for training ChatGPT.
How to enable dark mode in ChatGPT?
By following these steps below, you can easily switch the theme of ChatGPT to dark mode and enjoy a darker color.
- Go to the homepage.
- Click on your username in the left menu, then select the “Settings” option.
- In the settings popup menu, under the “General” section, choose “dark” from the menu next to the “Theme” label.
- As soon as you select it, the ChatGPT interface, including the writing application, will switch to dark mode.
- Similarly, you can switch back to the previous light mode by selecting the “Light” option.
How to make ChatGPT full-screen?
If you are using ChatGPT on your browser instead of your phone, the screen doesn’t automatically open in full-screen mode.
Instead, you see the chat history on the left menu. To prevent the chat history from appearing and use ChatGPT in full screen, follow the steps below:
- Open your browser and go to the ChatGPT website.
- On the left side of the screen, above the chat history menu, you will see a button located to the right of the “New chat” button.
- The name of this button is “Hide Sidebar”. When you click on it, the left-side menu will disappear, and the ChatGPT screen will expand to fill the entire display, entering a wide full-screen mode.
- You can bring back the left-side menu by simply clicking on the same button again whenever you want.
What is ChatGPT Plus?
ChatGPT Plus is a paid subscription that offers several privileged benefits for a monthly fee of $20.
With a ChatGPT Plus membership, you gain exclusive access to ChatGPT even during peak times.
Using GPT-4 model, web browsing feature and ChatGPT plugins are benefits available to Plus subscribers.