ChatGPT has become an invaluable everyday companion for many of its users. What started as a simple text-based chatbot has evolved into a powerful digital assistant that can answer questions, generate ideas, analyze documents, and even interact with your calendar or favorite apps. However, it’s not that easy to get the most out of ChatGPT.
If you’ve only used ChatGPT to draft emails, brainstorm content, or ask random questions, you’re missing out on some of its most valuable features. Making the AI think deeper really pays off. OpenAI has steadily added tools that make the experience of using ChatGPT more personalized, interactive, and even practical for everyday life. Whether you’re looking to automate repetitive tasks, make your conversations more efficient, or unlock new creative workflows, ChatGPT now has features designed to save you time and effort.
In this guide, we’ll highlight four of the ChatGPT features that are often overlooked. These aren’t gimmicks; these are practical tools that can turn ChatGPT into your go-to productivity planner. From personalization to real-time information gathering, these features will help you get the most out of the AI you already use.
Custom instructions
ChatGPT isn’t a one-size-fits-all tool; it can be customized to match your exact preferences. With Custom Instructions, you can tell ChatGPT how you’d like it to respond, whether that’s writing in a casual, friendly tone or producing structured, highly detailed answers.
Setting this up is simple. Head to Settings > Custom Instructions, and you’ll see prompts asking what you’d like ChatGPT to know about and how you want it to reply. Once saved, these preferences apply automatically across all chats, so you don’t have to include them in your future prompts.
This feature is especially powerful if you’re a student, professional, or content creator who needs consistent results. For example, a marketer can set instructions for SEO-focused outputs, while a teacher may prefer a set of simplified explanations for their students. The result is that ChatGPT feels much less like a generic chatbot and more like a personalized assistant that’s tuned to your style and needs.
Deep research
Many people might think that ChatGPT is limited to its past training data, but that’s not strictly the case anymore. ChatGPT offers real-time web browsing and a Deep Research mode. This means ChatGPT can look up the latest news, fact-check information, and gather sources, which is useful for research, current events, and time-sensitive tasks. This feature is one of the reasons why ChatGPT Plus is still worth it — you get a lot more access to Deep Research on a paid plan.
To use it, ask ChatGPT to search the web, and it will pull in information with citations. Deep Research even goes a step further, functioning like a digital research assistant that’s capable of organizing findings across multiple sources.
This reduces the need to juggle between Google, multiple articles, and your own notes. For professionals, it could mean faster insights and better accuracy. For students, it can help summarize academic materials and point you toward credible sources. Just remember that AI may sometimes hallucinate and provide wrong information. Always double-check your citations for research.
Tasks, reminders, and memory
ChatGPT isn’t just for answering questions; it can also help you stay on top of your daily life. With its Tasks and Reminders feature, you can ask it to nudge you at specific times or update you on recurring schedules. For example, you could ask it to remind you to send a report once a week, and ChatGPT will take care of it.
Another underrated addition is Memory. Instead of treating each conversation as brand-new, ChatGPT can now remember details about you over time. It can recall your writing style, favorite topics, or even ongoing projects, so you don’t have to reintroduce yourself in every chat. You can view, update, or clear this memory at any time from settings.
Using these two features together can turn ChatGPT into something resembling a personal assistant. It can provide you with one place to brainstorm ideas, manage tasks, and keep tabs on ongoing projects.
Voice mode
Typing is fine, but talking is faster and feels more natural. Voice Mode lets you speak directly to ChatGPT and have it respond out loud. This makes it feel less like a chatbot and more like an actual conversation with a virtual assistant. Getting started is easy. On supported devices, you’ll find a microphone icon you can tap to start speaking.
You can also upload images or screenshots and ask ChatGPT to analyze them. For example, you could take a photo of a menu in another language, and ChatGPT will translate it for you. This opens up entirely new ways of interacting with AI that go beyond text alone.
If you’re someone who learns best through conversation, or you want quick answers while on the go, voice mode is a game-changer. If you’re in public, you can turn voice commands into text prompts and get the same response.
