Your Custom GPT Stops Working Dec 11: Do This Now

By James Finley. Published Nov 2, 2026.

OpenAI plans to retire custom GPTs on December 11, 2026. On that date, custom GPTs and their pages become inaccessible. Before then, list every GPT you made or rely on, save its instructions and files, rebuild the ones you need, test the new version, and tell the people who use it. This guide walks you through each step.

What happens to custom GPTs on December 11?

They stop working. OpenAI says standard retirement is scheduled for December 11, 2026, and that on that date custom GPTs and their GPT pages become inaccessible. Your past chats with GPTs stay available, and you don't need to do anything to keep them.

OpenAI is moving this kind of work to plugins. A plugin is a package that can hold skills (saved instructions), reference files and connected apps.

Some workspaces get more time. OpenAI gives February 11, 2027 as the date for FedRAMP workspaces (a US government security standard) and for workspaces with an approved deferral. If you aren't sure which date applies to you, look for OpenAI's notice in your account or ask your ChatGPT admin.

Does this affect your ChatGPT plan?

Yes. OpenAI says the change includes all ChatGPT plans. What you can still do before the date depends on your plan.

Free, Go, Plus and Pro: you can't create or publish new GPTs. GPTs you already have still work until retirement. Editing one still needs an eligible paid plan.
Business, Enterprise and Edu: what you can create, edit and move depends on your workspace settings and permissions. For affected Enterprise workspaces, new GPT creation already ended on October 26, 2026.

Until the retirement date, you can keep using and editing any GPT you haven't moved yet.

Step 1: How do you find every GPT you rely on?

Make a list. Include the GPTs you built and the GPTs you use that someone else built. Your own GPTs are listed under My GPTs › Created by me.

For each GPT, write down a few details:

GPT name:
Who owns it:
What I use it for:
Who else uses it:
Files it uses:
Features it uses (web search, images, data analysis):
Connected apps or actions:
Keep, rebuild or let go:

If you're a workspace admin on Enterprise, OpenAI's guide describes a GPT report in the ChatGPT Admin plugin. It lists owners, usage, migration status and custom actions, and you can export it to a spreadsheet.

Step 2: How do you save a GPT's instructions and files?

Copy them into a document you control. The OpenAI pages we checked don't describe an export button for GPTs, so plan to do this by hand.

If you built the GPT and your plan lets you edit it, open it in the editor.
Copy the full instructions into a document.
Copy the conversation starters and any prompts you use often. OpenAI's guide warns that conversation starters and previous chats may not carry over.
Gather the original knowledge files from your computer or shared drive and keep them in one folder. We couldn't confirm a way to download files back out of a GPT, so don't count on one. If you move the GPT to a plugin, OpenAI says its knowledge files are copied over.
Note which model and features the GPT uses. OpenAI says the model doesn't carry over and feature settings may not match.

If someone else built a GPT you depend on, you don't need to move it yourself, and you can't. Check the notice on the GPT and ask its creator about a replacement.

Step 3: Should you move it to a plugin or a project?

Move it to a plugin if you built it and it's published. Rebuild it as a project if only you use it and it's mostly instructions and a few files. Let it go if nobody has used it in months.

Moving to a plugin. When migration is available for your account, go to My GPTs and select Migrate to plugin. OpenAI says the instructions become a skill, the knowledge files are copied into the plugin's reference files, and connected apps come along. Migration uses the GPT's latest published version, so drafts and unpublished edits don't move. Finish your edits first: after migration, the original GPT becomes read-only, though it still works until retirement.

To see the option, you must be the GPT's creator (or, in an Enterprise workspace, an admin), the GPT must be published, and plugins must be turned on for you. If you don't see it, OpenAI says migration may not be open for your account yet. Check the notice in your account, and make sure you're in the account or workspace where the GPT was made.

Some things don't move over. The GPT's chosen model doesn't carry over. Custom actions have to be rebuilt, usually by someone technical. Sharing doesn't carry over either: the new plugin starts private.

Rebuilding as a project. OpenAI describes a ChatGPT project as a place to keep related chats, files, instructions and sources together. The project's instructions apply to every chat inside it. Paste in the instructions you saved in Step 2 and add your files to the project's Sources. Check that your plan includes projects.

Starting a new skill. OpenAI's guide says to start a chat with @skill-creator and describe the goal, the steps and the format you want. At the time of writing, OpenAI says personal skills in Work are on paid plans except Free and Go.

Step 4: How do you test the new version?

Run real tasks through the old GPT and the new version, side by side, before December 11. OpenAI suggests trying familiar tasks and one harder case.

Try this in the new version:

Here is a task my old GPT used to handle: [PASTE A REAL TASK]. Do the task. Then list which of my instructions and files you used.

Compare the two answers. Check that it uses your files, keeps your format, follows your rules and has the tools it needs. Fix the instructions and test again until the results match.

Step 5: Who should you tell, and what should you say?

Tell everyone who uses the GPT what's changing, the date, and where the new version lives. A moved plugin starts out private, so nobody else can use it until you share it.

In Enterprise workspaces, sharing a plugin needs the "Share plugins" permission. People you share it with install it, unless an admin has already installed it for them.

Copy and change this message:

Heads up: OpenAI is retiring custom GPTs on December 11, 2026. Our [GPT NAME] will stop working that day. I've moved it to [PLUGIN OR PROJECT NAME]. Here's how to get it: [LINK OR STEPS]. Please try it on a real task before [DATE] and tell me if anything looks wrong.

How do admins handle GPTs in a team workspace?

Start early, because some steps need an admin. On Business, Enterprise and Edu, admins manage plugins under Workspace settings › Plugins. They can turn each plugin on or off and choose which roles can use it.

OpenAI's Enterprise guide adds a few points:

Admins can move many GPTs at once through the ChatGPT Admin plugin.
Using a migrated GPT without apps in Instant Chat has no extra cost. Creating and editing plugins through a conversation uses Work or Codex, and actions in Work use credits.
Getting the full list of a workspace's GPTs needs a workspace Owner.
Installing a plugin doesn't grant access to the apps it needs. Those still need their own approval.

Agree on who owns each GPT's move, check that those people have the right permissions, and set a date for testing well before December 11.

Where can you learn more?

Our ChatGPT Plugins and Skills course shows how to package your best work as skills and plugins, including moving from a custom GPT. For projects and other ways to set up your AI workspace, see AI Workspace Building Blocks.