File Management on KnightLi Blog

What Is ChatGPT File Library? File Storage, Limits, and Privacy Boundaries

Sat, 16 May 2026 17:40:14 +0800

ChatGPT File Library is the file library inside ChatGPT.

Previously, files uploaded to a conversation were mostly useful for that one chat. With File Library, files you upload or files created by ChatGPT can be saved to your account, found later, downloaded, deleted, or referenced again in a new conversation.

This makes ChatGPT feel more like a persistent workspace, not just a temporary chat box.

Latest availability

According to OpenAI’s May 14, 2026 ChatGPT Release Notes, File Library is expanding to Free and Go users, including users in the European Economic Area. OpenAI also added storage management across plans.

One detail matters: the dedicated File storage and Library help page still showed an older availability statement when checked, saying the Library was for Plus, Pro, and Business users outside the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK, and web-only.

Help pages can lag behind release notes. This article follows the newer May 14, 2026 Release Notes: File Library has started expanding to Free, Go, and more regions, but actual visibility still depends on rollout, region, and app version.

What it saves

ChatGPT can save files you upload or create, including:

documents;
spreadsheets;
presentations;
PDFs;
images;
files generated by ChatGPT.

Generated images still appear in the Images tab. File Library is more like a central place to manage uploaded and generated files.

If you often ask ChatGPT to analyze PDFs, organize spreadsheets, create documents, or work with presentations, this reduces repeated uploads and makes reuse easier.

Adding files to a new chat

In supported clients, you can open the attachment or add menu near the composer and choose Add from library, then select a saved file.

The Release Notes also mention Library and Recent files in the composer across Web, iOS, and Android. That means mobile clients can continue using saved or recent files too.

Finding and managing files

On the web, Library is available from the left sidebar. You can review uploaded and generated files, filter by type or source, and manage storage.

The help page lists filters such as uploaded files, generated files, images, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs.

Storage management is available from Settings > Storage, and files can also be deleted directly from Library.

Storage by plan

OpenAI’s May 14, 2026 Release Notes list these capacities:

Plan	File Library storage
Free	500 MB
Go	4 GB
Plus	20 GB
Business	20 GB
Pro	100 GB

This storage includes uploaded files and files created by ChatGPT, such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and images.

For light users, 500 MB is enough for some PDFs, screenshots, and small documents. Heavy users should treat 20 GB or 100 GB more like a real working library and manage it regularly.

Per-file limits

OpenAI’s help page lists these file limits:

files uploaded to GPTs or ChatGPT conversations can be up to 512 MB each;
text and document files can contain up to 2 million tokens;
CSV or spreadsheet files are usually around 50 MB, depending on row size;
images can be up to 20 MB each.

These are separate from account storage. Even if your account has free space, a single file cannot exceed its own limit.

Deleting and downloading

Files stay in your account until you delete them.

In Library, select a file and use delete or the trash icon. OpenAI’s help page says deleted files are removed from the account immediately and scheduled for permanent deletion from OpenAI systems within 30 days, unless they have been de-identified and disconnected from the account or must be retained for security or legal obligations.

Files can also be downloaded from Library. If you often ask ChatGPT to generate documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, download and cleanup will become normal maintenance.

Temporary Chat does not save files

Files uploaded in Temporary Chat are not saved to your account or Library.

This is important. File Library is designed for reuse; Temporary Chat is better for temporary, sensitive, or one-off tasks where you do not want long-term context.

If a file is only for a quick question and should not be kept, use Temporary Chat. If you will reuse it, Library is more convenient.

Data and training settings

OpenAI’s help page says files and chats follow your settings and data controls.

If Memory is enabled, files and chats may help ChatGPT remember useful information across conversations. For consumer services, if Improve the model for everyone is enabled, OpenAI may use content submitted to ChatGPT, including uploaded files, to improve model performance. This can be turned off in Settings > Data Controls.

File Library is not a local folder. It is a cloud account feature, so think carefully about which documents should be uploaded.

Good and bad use cases

Good fits:

analyzing the same PDFs or reports over time;
reusing course materials, meeting notes, or product documents;
continuing to edit files generated by ChatGPT;
reusing the same source material across conversations;
turning ChatGPT into a lightweight knowledge workspace.

Poor fits:

highly sensitive identity documents, contracts, medical records, or financial statements;
using it as a formal cloud backup;
letting old files accumulate without cleanup;
uploading company internal documents without checking data controls.

My take

The value of ChatGPT File Library is not just a file list. It changes ChatGPT from a one-off chat tool into a workspace with persistent materials.

That also creates new habits: clean up old files, watch storage, distinguish normal chats from Temporary Chat, and review data controls.

If you often use ChatGPT for documents, spreadsheets, and research materials, File Library saves time. If you only upload sensitive files occasionally, be more careful.

References

How to Control fdupes Deletion Order: Keep Duplicate Files by Directory Priority

Wed, 06 May 2026 09:23:09 +0800

When using fdupes to delete duplicate files across three directories, such as a, b, and c, and you want to keep a first, then b, and delete duplicates from c first, the key is not a complex rule. It is the order of directory arguments.

In non-interactive delete mode, fdupes keeps the first file it sees in each duplicate group and deletes later duplicates. Therefore, directory arguments should be arranged from highest retention priority to lowest.

In other words, to achieve “delete from c first, then b, and keep a as much as possible”, write the command like this:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN a b c`

The scan order is a -> b -> c. When the same file exists in all three directories, the file in a is found first and kept, while duplicates in b and c are deleted. If only b and c contain duplicates, b is kept and c is deleted.

Parameter Meaning

Common parameters are:

-r: recursively scan subdirectories.
-d: delete duplicate files.
-N: when used with -d, skip interactive confirmation, keep the first file in each duplicate group, and delete the rest.

Therefore, the basic format for automatic duplicate deletion is:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN 目录A 目录B 目录C`

The earlier a directory appears, the higher its retention priority. The later it appears, the more likely its duplicate files are to be deleted.

Preview Before Deleting

Using -dN deletes files directly, so it is better to preview duplicate groups first:

`1`	`fdupes -r a b c`

The output is grouped by duplicate files. In each group, the file shown earlier is the one more likely to be kept in non-interactive deletion mode.

You can also view summary information:

`1`	`fdupes -rm a b c`

If the data is important, save the result and inspect it manually:

`1`	`fdupes -r a b c > duplicates.txt`

After confirming that the order within each duplicate group matches your expectations, run:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN a b c`

How Subdirectories Are Handled

As long as -r is enabled, fdupes recursively scans all files under the directories you pass in. Retention priority is still determined by the order in which paths appear in the command.

For example:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN dir_a dir_b dir_c`

This means:

dir_a has the highest priority.
dir_b comes next.
dir_c has the lowest priority.

If dir_a/sub1/file.txt and dir_c/sub1/file.txt have identical content, the file under dir_a is kept. If dir_a/x/y/file.txt and dir_c/file.txt have identical content, the file under dir_a is still kept first. fdupes compares file content; filenames and directory depth do not need to match.

Precisely Controlling Subdirectory Priority

If you only pass parent directories, the scan order inside subdirectories is determined by fdupes traversal behavior. This is enough in most cases. But if you want a specific subdirectory to have higher priority, write it explicitly before its parent directory.

For example, suppose you want to keep dir_a first, then keep dir_b/special, then process the rest of dir_b, and finally process dir_c:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN dir_a dir_b/special dir_b dir_c`

This makes dir_b/special scan before dir_b. When dir_b is scanned later, files under special have already been recorded, so that subdirectory effectively has higher priority than the rest of dir_b.

This pattern is useful when:

a is the most important baseline directory.
A subdirectory inside b is more important than the rest of b.
c is mainly a low-priority backup directory.

The path order can be extended further:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN a b/important b c/keep-first c`

The rule is still the same: the earlier it appears, the more likely it is to be kept.

Use a List for Many Directories

If there are many directories and subdirectories, manually writing a long command is error-prone. You can write paths into a text file such as folders.txt, ordered by priority:

/path/to/dir_a
/path/to/dir_b/sub_important
/path/to/dir_b
/path/to/dir_c/sub_1
/path/to/dir_c

Then pass them to fdupes with xargs:

`1`	`cat folders.txt \| xargs fdupes -rdN`

If paths may contain spaces, use null-separated input for better safety:

`1`	`tr '\n' '\0' < folders.txt \| xargs -0 fdupes -rdN`

Important Boundaries

First, fdupes compares file content, not filenames. Two files with completely different names can still be treated as duplicates if their content is identical.

Second, if directory a contains duplicates internally, fdupes -rdN a b c may also delete later duplicates inside a. This command means “keep the first file according to the overall scan order”, not “never delete anything under a”.

Third, by default, fdupes does not follow symbolic links. If you need to handle files behind symlinks, confirm whether -s is needed and whether that matches your data-safety expectations.

Fourth, fdupes only deletes duplicate files. It does not clean up empty directories. After deletion, if b and c contain empty folders, you can run:

`1`	`find b c -type d -empty -delete`

Safer Operating Habit

If the directories contain important data, do not start with -rdN. A safer workflow is:

Run fdupes -r a b c first to view duplicate groups.
Confirm that the first file in each group is the one you want to keep.
Then run fdupes -rdN a b c for automatic deletion.
After deletion, check whether empty directories need cleanup.

If you are very worried about accidentally deleting files under a, first clean a smaller range of low-priority directories, or export the results and filter them manually. The directory order in fdupes is useful, but it is not an access-control rule. Once a path is included in the scan, duplicate files inside it may participate in deletion decisions.

Summary

To delete duplicate files with fdupes by priority, put the directories you want to keep earlier and the directories you want to delete from later.

To keep a, then b, and delete from c first:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN a b c`

To give a subdirectory higher priority, write it before its parent directory:

`1`	`fdupes -rdN a b/important b c`

The key sentence is simple: fdupes -dN keeps duplicate files that appear first and deletes duplicates that appear later. Directory order is your retention priority.