Feature Request: Option to Disable "Enter" for Sending & RTL/LTR Text

ChatGPT Feature requests
1

Dear OpenAI Support Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I would like to suggest an important feature enhancement for the ChatGPT interface. Currently, pressing the Enter key immediately sends a message. However, many users are accustomed to using Enter for line breaks in other applications (such as word processors, text editors, and email clients). This often leads to messages being sent prematurely before they are fully composed, causing unnecessary disruptions and wasted time.

Suggested Feature:

An optional setting to disable sending messages with the Enter key and instead require Shift + Enter (or another combination) for message submission.

Problems with the Current Setup:

  1. Accidental Message Sending: Users frequently hit “Enter” out of habit when trying to create a new line, sending incomplete messages.
  2. Loss of Efficiency: Users have to rewrite or send multiple follow-up messages due to premature submission.
  3. Inconsistency with Other Applications: Many platforms (e.g., Google Docs, Notion, and email clients) allow line breaks with “Enter” and require an explicit action (e.g., clicking a send button) to submit.

Benefits of This Feature:

:white_check_mark: Better User Experience: Users can compose messages more carefully without the risk of premature submission.
:white_check_mark: Increased Efficiency: Reduces the need for follow-up messages due to incomplete thoughts.
:white_check_mark: Customization & Flexibility: Gives users control over their preferred method of interaction.

This small addition would greatly enhance the usability of ChatGPT, especially for users who engage in detailed discussions, write code, or draft long-form messages.

I appreciate your time and consideration of this request. Looking forward to your response!

Best regards,

22 Likes
2

I wouldn’t even flag this a ‘feature request’ but much closer to a bug. It’s just such a bad design decision to make Enter post. 99.99% of my queries to ChatGPT are multiline. Also, considering that someone may have already checked “deep research” it can be a real pain to have something post when you didn’t intend it. And if you do add an option for it the default should be to not post with the enter key. All you need to do is put the keyboard shortcut in a tooltip popup for the ↑ button and people will understand right away. And one thing I noticed in replying is that the enter button right here in the reply box triggers a line break, not a post, so whoever designs your forum software gets it! And they even have the tooltip note about Ctrl-Enter. See, just copy the correct design decisions of others.

3 Likes
3

It sucks because I have always been able to hit enter to start a new line on pc. Now I cannot and there is no solution but shift + enter which is hell for me due to typing speed. Muscle memory doesn’t have it in yet. It has been depressing.

2 Likes
4

You’d think it’s in OpenAI’s best interest to provide this feature given that prematurely sending a message wastes precious compute time. Even if it’s disabled by default, give us this option, please!

4 Likes
5

I couldn’t agree more, this needs to be added as an option!

3 Likes
7

This should be a TOP priority change. A large percent of queries are probably in error solely because of this!

4 Likes
8

I absolutely agree. Adding this feature should be a no-brainer.

2 Likes
9

ABSOLUTELY YES! It’s almost every message where I accidentally hit send where I intended a line break. Please OpenAI, give us this option.

3 Likes
10

EXACTLY! Pls use anoter shortcut (recommended alt-enter)

2 Likes
11

Yes, please. This is a basic feature that is missing. OpenAI is losing compute power due to this—we have to redo or complete the prompts again.

Line breaks are a part of almost all prompts.

2 Likes
12

+1 from me. That’s also how Google is doing it in AI Studio so it can’t be that bad of a design.

2 Likes
13

Disable Enter to Send needs to be an option on Windows desktop app.

2 Likes
14

Agreed. Enter should create new line, Shift+Enter should submit the message. If that isn’t the default, then it at least needs to be a user configurable setting. Such a small change in UX would be a huge win. A really low-hanging fruit improvement that wouldn’t take much to implement. Please do this!

4 Likes
15

I am able to create a new line in the chat by holding Shift and Enter. I suggest try doing this rather than requesting a change, forcing users to hit Shift+Enter to send your message is not necessary.

16

Mr. Hutchinson,

A) You have completely missed the point.

B) The original poster is not suggesting a total change, but an “optional setting”. Those exact words were emphasized in his post.
C) I suggest you read the original post to get an idea of how this sort of option could be useful to various workflows.
As someone who uses a compact keyboard and often writes long messages into ChatGPT, I can say that accidental “enters” happen very often. I get around this by typing everything I need into a different text editor and pasting it later, but this shouldn’t be necessary whatsoever. As jack555 suggested, line breaks are essential for many people and their use should be streamlined for anyone who needs them to be.