Custom GPTs Are Being Retired on 11 December: How to Keep Your GPT's Instructions Working (Free)

Short answer: OpenAI plans to retire custom GPTs on 11 December 2026, a date expected to apply on all plans (OpenAI). Personal accounts already can't make new GPTs. If you made a GPT, the part worth keeping is its instructions. Copy them out now, and you can keep using them for free in a ChatGPT project, in Claude or in Gemini. OpenAI says its dates may change, so check the notice in your own account too.

What is changing?

• GPTs are scheduled to retire on 11 December 2026. OpenAI says the change "affects all ChatGPT plans". Existing GPTs keep working until then, and your old conversations with them stay accessible afterwards (OpenAI).
• Personal accounts can't make new GPTs now. "New GPT creation and publishing are not available on personal ChatGPT accounts, including Free, Go, Plus, and Pro." GPTs you already have keep working until the retirement date, and you can still edit ones you made if your plan still allows editing (OpenAI).
• OpenAI's replacement is plugins. Skills are work and school plans only: "available to eligible ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Healthcare, and Edu users" (OpenAI). Every plan can see the Plugins directory, but what you can install or use depends on your plan (OpenAI). If Migrate to plugin appears in My GPTs on your account, use it; otherwise follow the steps below.

The key dates

OpenAI says these dates "are subject to change", and that the notice in your account or workspace is the one to follow (OpenAI).

On a work plan? Use OpenAI's migration

If your GPT lives in a Business or Enterprise workspace, use OpenAI's own route: the Migrate to plugin option in My GPTs, which turns your GPT's instructions into a skill inside a new plugin. It uses the latest published version of the GPT (unpublished drafts don't come across), the new plugin starts out private, and the original GPT becomes read-only. Custom actions don't transfer, and the GPT's chosen model doesn't carry over, so test the plugin before the retirement date (OpenAI). In affected Enterprise workspaces, making new GPTs is planned to stop on 26 October, so publish any drafts you want to migrate before then (publishing doesn't mean sharing it publicly). Your workspace admin may have their own plan, so check with them first. OpenAI says migration may not reach every account at the same time; if Migrate to plugin appears on a personal account, you can use it too, but copy your instructions out first either way.

The rest of this guide is for everyone else: people on Free, Go, Plus or Pro who made a GPT, or who rely on one, and want to keep it working.

Step 1: Copy your GPT's instructions

1. On a computer, go to chatgpt.com/gpts and choose My GPTs. Editing only works on the web, not in the phone app.
2. Pick your GPT and choose Edit GPT (this works if your plan still allows editing).
3. Open the Configure tab and copy everything in Instructions. Paste it somewhere safe, such as a note or a document.
4. If you uploaded files to the GPT, make sure you still have your own copies.

No Edit GPT option (for example after changing plan)? Rewrite the instructions from your notes or from memory: what the GPT was for, the steps it followed, how answers should look, and any rules. Don't rely on asking the GPT to show its own instructions.

Using a GPT someone else made? You can't see its instructions, so write down in a few lines what it does for you and how you like the answers. That's all you need for the next step.

Step 2: Tidy them up (free)

GPT instructions are often long and written for one chatbot. If yours are messy, or you only have a description, MakeASkill can turn them into a clean set of instructions written around you. Describe what your GPT did in a sentence, save your old instructions as a .txt file and add it with Add files or screenshots (we read up to 8,000 characters of it), answer a few questions and pick ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. You get a full version, a short version for small settings boxes, and the setup steps for that AI. It's free (up to 10 a month); you need to give your email address, and we send you a copy.

If your instructions already work well, skip this and use them as they are.

Step 3: Put them in a ChatGPT project (free)

In our view, a project is the closest replacement for a GPT on a personal plan, and projects work on the free plan (OpenAI).

1. In the ChatGPT sidebar, choose New project and give it your GPT's name.
2. In the project, open the more options menu (the three dots), then Project settings.
3. Paste your instructions into Instructions and save.
4. Start your chats inside that project. The instructions apply only to chats in it.

If you want the instructions in every chat instead, go to Settings, then Personalization, check Enable customization is on, and paste a short version into Custom instructions. On Free and Go there's room for 1,500 characters (OpenAI).

What you lose: you can share a project, even by link, but people join it as collaborators who can see its chats and files (up to 5 on the free plan), so it isn't a public tool anyone can use the way a public GPT was (OpenAI). Custom actions have no direct replacement on personal plans.

Or use them in Claude (free)

Quickest: paste the instructions at the start of a new chat. To keep them, save them as a skill: Claude skills work on every plan, including Free, but you need to switch on code execution first (Settings, then Capabilities, then Code execution and file creation). Follow our step-by-step guide for Claude, which covers switching on code execution and uploading the skill (Claude Help).

Or use them in Gemini (free)

Gemini is moving from Gems to skills, which you can make for free (Gemini Help). At gemini.google.com, choose Customise in the sidebar (under More if you don't see it), then Skills at the top, then Create and Create manually. Give it a name, add a description saying what it does and when to use it, paste the instructions and choose Create. You need to be 18 or over, signed in, and have Keep activity switched on (US English pages call these Customize and Keep Activity). More detail in how to add a skill and Gemini Gems are becoming skills.

Will the same instructions work everywhere?

Mostly, yes: plain written instructions carry over well between ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. But each app handles them a little differently, so try three or four of your usual requests in the new home before 11 December and adjust anything that comes out wrong. Anything that relied on a GPT's custom actions or connected apps will need a different setup.

Common questions

Will I lose my old chats with a GPT? No. OpenAI says existing conversations stay accessible after retirement (OpenAI).

Can I still use my GPT until then? Yes. Existing GPTs keep working until the retirement date (OpenAI).

Do I need a paid plan to keep my instructions? No. ChatGPT projects, Claude skills and Gemini skills all work on free plans.

What's the difference between a GPT, a project and a skill? See what is an AI skill? for a side-by-side table, or browse ready-made skills you can copy for free.