To remember what you were working on, ChatGPT can now log clicks, keystrokes, shortcuts, and switches between applications. Temporary events can remain on the Mac for up to 48 hours. The memories OpenAI derives from them are stored on the computer as readable Markdown files.
The feature is called Computer History and is available in the ChatGPT app for macOS to eligible users outside the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. It is optional and allows you to exclude applications and websites from collection.
Computer History avoids screenshots, screen recordings, and audio. It reads the events macOS exposes through its accessibility system and the text available in authorised applications. Private browsing remains excluded. OpenAI sends the events to its own servers to turn them into memories and stores the result on the Mac. Those local files are not encrypted by the feature itself.
The idea of turning computer work into a searchable history predates generative models. In 2018 Microsoft added Timeline to Windows 10. Synchronisation for personal accounts ended in 2021.
In 2025 Microsoft introduced Recall on Copilot+ PCs. The feature is optional, protected by Windows Hello, and stores encrypted snapshots locally.
OpenAI has chosen a different trade-off. Computer History collects events and text instead of photographing the screen; to build the memories, however, the data leaves the Mac. Recall stores encrypted images locally. Computer History sends back Markdown files accessible to programmes running under the same user profile.
Collection includes what is typed, but requires user consent, offers visible controls, and allows you to limit which applications are observed. Malware already active in the same account would have access to far more than the Computer History files. What it does add is a new, organised collection of information: projects, research, and conversations previously scattered across different applications become searchable text.
Memory makes the assistant more useful because it reduces the amount of context you need to supply each time. It also shifts a security decision from a single message to an entire working day. The exclusions therefore determine which activities can feed into the local memories.
Before enabling Computer History it is worth looking at the list of included applications, not just the master switch. The second check is even simpler: open one of the memories it has produced and read what the assistant decided to keep.
