I’d love to see an annotation feature added to ChatGPT conversations—something similar to highlighting and writing notes in the margins of a book.
I’ve noticed a problem when I’m reading longer ChatGPT responses. A sentence or idea will make me think of a question, but I’m still in the middle of reading the paragraph. I have to keep that question in my head while I continue reading. By the time I reach the end, I’ve often forgotten the question or exactly what part of the response caused me to think of it. Then I have to scroll back through the response trying to find that spot again.
It would be really helpful if I could long-press or select part of a ChatGPT response and get options such as:
- Highlight — Keep that section visibly highlighted so I can find it again.
- Add Note — Attach my own question, comment, or thought directly to that section without interrupting what I’m reading.
- Ask About This — Start a question to ChatGPT with the selected passage automatically attached as context.
- Define — If I select a word I don’t know, show a small definition without making me leave the response or start a separate conversation.
- Save Definition — Optionally keep that word highlighted along with its definition so I can return to it later.
The notes could appear as small markers beside the response, almost like margin notes or footnotes in a book. Tapping one would reopen the question, comment, definition, or highlight attached to that exact part of the conversation.
It would also be great to have a Notes/Highlights view for each conversation. Instead of scrolling through an entire long thread, I could see all of the passages I highlighted, questions I wrote, words I defined, and ideas I wanted to remember, with each one linked back to its original location.
The main problem this would solve for me is working memory while reading. When something sparks a question, I wouldn’t have to choose between stopping immediately to ask it or trying to hold the thought in my head while I finish reading. I could simply mark the thought where it happened and keep going.
ChatGPT conversations can become something people actively study, learn from, and return to. Giving users the equivalent of a highlighter, dictionary, and margins of a book would make those conversations much easier to learn from.
In short:
Let us write in the margins of our ChatGPT conversations. 
-Simon