Everything in this lesson works on ChatGPT Free. Do not upgrade yet. You will make a much better plan decision after a week of real use than after fifteen minutes of curiosity.
Set-up walkthrough
- 1
Create an account
Go to chatgpt.com and sign up with an email, Google, Microsoft or Apple account. You can use ChatGPT without signing in, but signing in gives you chat history and settings. The mobile apps use the same account.
- 2
Tour the interface
Left sidebar: your chat history, Projects and any custom GPTs. Top: the model picker (on paid plans) and a temporary-chat toggle. Bottom: the composer, with buttons to attach files, enable web search, use voice and switch tools. Each chat is a separate conversation; the model only sees what is in the current chat, plus anything in memory.
- 3
Data controls
Open Settings, then Data controls. Decide whether your conversations may be used to improve OpenAI's models. If you handle anything confidential, turn it off. Temporary chats are not saved to history and are not used for training, which makes them the right choice for one-off sensitive questions.
- 4
Personalisation and custom instructions
Settings, then Personalization. Custom instructions let you tell ChatGPT once who you are and how you want answers. A good starting instruction: "I am a [role]. Answer concisely, use headings for anything over three paragraphs, and ask a clarifying question if my request is ambiguous." This saves you retyping context in every chat.
- 5
Memory
Memory lets ChatGPT carry facts between chats (your name, your projects, your preferences). It is convenient, and it is also a place where stale or wrong facts accumulate. Review what it has stored every few weeks and delete anything out of date.
- 6
Your first real task
Find an email you need to send today. Paste it in and write: "Rewrite this to be shorter and more direct. Keep all the facts. Audience: a client who is busy." Read the result. Then reply: "Make the first sentence the ask." That second turn is the habit that separates useful ChatGPT use from disappointing ChatGPT use.
Habits worth forming on day one
- Start a new chat for a new topic. Long, mixed chats cost more (in the API) and get worse (everywhere).
- Use a Project (on paid plans) or a pinned chat for anything you will come back to; it keeps files and instructions together.
- Attach the source instead of describing it. A pasted document beats a paragraph about the document.
- Verify anything you will act on: numbers, names, citations, prices.
If you are on a paid plan, the model picker becomes part of the routine. Pick a fast model by default and switch to the heavier one only when the answer is not good enough. It is the same routing rule from lesson 2, and it stretches your plan's limits.
Knowledge check
Which setting should you change before pasting anything confidential into ChatGPT?