OpenAI launches Computer History for ChatGPT desktop app
OpenAI has rolled out a new feature called Computer History in the macOS desktop version of ChatGPT. It turns a user's day-to-day actions, clicks, keystrokes, and app activity into a timeline that ChatGPT and OpenAI's coding tool Codex can draw on when the user makes a request. The system learns how a person works, suggests automations, and can pick up a task the user left half finished.
Computer History is opt-in rather than opt-out. Users can exclude specific apps and websites from being tracked and can delete individual entries for finer-grained control. Ari Weinstein, Product and Engineering manager at OpenAI, said on X that the feature automatically ignores anything that happens in incognito or private browser tabs.
The feature invites comparison to Microsoft's Windows Recall, which drew criticism for taking constant screenshots of a user's screen. OpenAI says Computer History does not capture images, video, or audio at all; instead it relies on what the company calls "events." In a demo video, Dominik Kundel, a member of OpenAI's Developer Experiences team, showed the app looking up the last document he had edited, checking whether it had been shared with colleagues over Slack, and generating a recap of how he had spent his morning.
Key facts
- OpenAI added Computer History to ChatGPT's desktop app on macOS, turning clicks and keystrokes into a timeline that ChatGPT and Codex can reference.
- The feature is opt-in, not opt-out, and automatically ignores content in incognito or private browser tabs, according to Ari Weinstein, Product and Engineering manager at OpenAI.
- Users can exclude specific apps and websites from tracking and delete individual entries for finer-grained control.
- Unlike Windows Recall, which relies on screenshots, OpenAI says Computer History captures no images, video, or audio, instead logging what it calls "events."
- In a demo, Dominik Kundel of OpenAI's Developer Experiences team showed the app looking up his last edited document, checking whether it was shared via Slack, and recapping his morning.
Why it matters
Computer History marks OpenAI's most direct move yet to give ChatGPT persistent, cross-app awareness of what a user actually does on their computer, not just what they type into a chat window. That kind of standing context is what makes proactive automation possible: the assistant can act on a half-finished task or suggest a shortcut because it has already seen the pattern, rather than waiting to be told. It also puts OpenAI in the same territory Microsoft entered with Windows Recall, an area that has already proven to be a public-trust minefield for a major vendor.
Who it affects
The feature ships in ChatGPT's desktop app for macOS, so it reaches Mac users running that app, including anyone who also uses Codex, since the two products share the activity timeline. Developers and power users who lean on ChatGPT for coding or day-to-day workflow support are the most likely to feel the automation suggestions Computer History enables. The source gives no indication the feature has reached Windows or other platforms.
How to use it
Computer History is off unless a user turns it on. Once enabled, individual apps and websites can be excluded from tracking, and specific entries can be deleted afterward. Private and incognito browser tabs are excluded automatically, according to Weinstein. The source does not give a rollout date or say how long collected history is retained.
How solid is it
The account rests on a statement from Ari Weinstein, an OpenAI Product and Engineering manager, made on X, plus a demo video from Dominik Kundel of OpenAI's Developer Experiences team; both are OpenAI employees describing their own company's feature rather than independent third parties. The Verge's own reporting draws the comparison to Windows Recall but does not cite outside testing of what Computer History actually stores or how it behaves in practice.
Risks and caveats
OpenAI's framing rests on the claim that logging "events" instead of screenshots is meaningfully less invasive, but the source does not explain how granular those events are or whether they can capture sensitive text a user typed. No information is given on how long history is retained, and the source does not say whether Computer History is available outside macOS. Even without screenshots, a system that reconstructs a user's clicks, keystrokes, and app activity into a searchable timeline still raises the kind of surveillance concerns that dogged Windows Recall, a point The Verge itself makes when it calls the feature "still kind of creepy" despite lacking Recall's screenshot capture.