ChatGPT adds Library tab for reusable file uploads across conversations

OpenAI's announcement frames this as a retrieval and reuse update, not just another attachment picker. Files you upload or create in ChatGPT are now saved automatically, surfaced in a new Library tab, and available again through Recent files in the composer. The product screenshots [img:0|Library UI] show separate tabs for All files, Files, and Images, plus an Add from Library path inside the chat input.

The rollout details in the release-notes thread and the linked OpenAI help-center notes add the implementation split: Library browsing is on web, while mobile gets recent-file access and file search. That matters because the storage model now sits above any single thread. As one technical summary puts it, file storage is "separated from the original thread," so a PDF, spreadsheet, or generated image no longer has to be re-uploaded just to become usable in a new conversation.

For engineers using ChatGPT as a lightweight analysis surface, the practical change is persistent working context. Historic uploads can be pulled back into later chats for follow-up questions, document review, or cross-session iteration, which turns prior attachments into something closer to a reusable workspace than a one-shot prompt artifact. A supporting walkthrough describes it as a "centralized hub" for documents, spreadsheets, and images, and says you can ask questions about "historic uploads."

The limits still matter. The size-cap breakdown says uploads remain capped at 512 MB per file, with text and document files limited to 2 million tokens, spreadsheets to roughly 50 MB depending on row size, and images to 20 MB each. That means the launch reduces friction around reusing files, but it does not turn ChatGPT into a general-purpose large-asset repository. Early user reaction in one brief practitioner post is mostly about workflow smoothness: having files "right in ChatGPT" makes the flow "move even smoother."