Feature Request: Option to Permanently Disable “Show More” and Display Full Chat Messages

Hello :blush:

I would like to suggest a user setting that allows long messages in ChatGPT conversations to remain fully expanded instead of being automatically shortened behind a “Show more” button.

Current problem

In long conversations, some messages are automatically collapsed. Only part of the message is visible until the user manually clicks “Show more.”

At present, I cannot find a setting that allows me to choose one of the following options:

  • Always display messages in full.

  • Automatically collapse long messages.

  • Let the user decide when messages should be collapsed.

  • Permanently disable the “Show more” function.

This becomes especially difficult in very long conversations containing many collapsed messages, because every affected message must be expanded manually.

Why this feature is important for my workflow

I regularly archive older ChatGPT conversations using full-page capture tools such as FireShot and GoFullPage.

I save these conversations as PDF files or image collections so that I can preserve the complete history of a long technical project.

For example, I may have:

  • Chat Number 1 containing the beginning of a technical investigation.

  • Chat Number 2 containing later tests, results, failed solutions and successful solutions.

  • A new Chat Number 3 in which I want to continue the same project.

I then upload the archived copies of Chat Numbers 1 and 2 into the new conversation and use them as reference material. This helps preserve important information such as:

  • Previous tests.

  • Technical findings.

  • Errors that were already investigated.

  • Solutions that worked.

  • Solutions that failed.

  • File names, settings and original values.

  • Decisions made earlier in the project.

  • Detailed explanations and important background information provided by the user.

For this workflow to function correctly, the archived pages must contain the complete text of every message.

The most important reason

One of the most important reasons for this request is the loss of detailed user explanations.

Sometimes I need to explain one or more problems to ChatGPT in great detail. These explanations can become very long because they may include:

  • The complete history of a problem.

  • Exact observations.

  • Previous attempts.

  • Important exceptions.

  • Technical details.

  • Reasons why earlier solutions failed.

  • Information that ChatGPT needs in order to understand the situation correctly.

Because these messages are long, ChatGPT may automatically collapse them behind “Show more.”

If I later archive the conversation with FireShot or GoFullPage, the collapsed part may not be captured. This means that the most detailed and important part of my explanation can be completely missing from the archive.

When I upload that archive into a new ChatGPT conversation as reference material, ChatGPT cannot use information that was never captured.

As a result, I may have to explain the same complex subject again from the beginning, even though I already spent a great deal of time and effort explaining it carefully in the previous conversation.

This creates several serious problems:

  • Important information is lost.

  • Previous work must be repeated.

  • The user must explain the same issue multiple times.

  • ChatGPT receives incomplete project history.

  • New answers may be less accurate because important context is missing.

  • Long-term technical work becomes slower and more frustrating.

  • The user may lose time, patience and confidence in the workflow.

A reliable “Always show full messages” option would make long-term collaboration with ChatGPT much easier and more effective.

It would allow users around the world to preserve their own detailed explanations and continue complex projects without repeatedly starting from the beginning.

The problem with full-page capture tools

Tools such as FireShot and GoFullPage capture what is currently displayed on the webpage.

When several old messages are hidden behind “Show more,” the captured PDF or image does not necessarily contain the complete conversation. Important sections may remain collapsed and therefore be missing from the archive.

In a very long chat, manually finding and expanding every single collapsed message is difficult and time-consuming. It is also easy to overlook one of them.

This can produce an incomplete archive, which then creates problems when that archive is later uploaded as reference material in another conversation.

Suggested solution

Please add a setting such as:

Long message display

  • Always show full messages.

  • Automatically collapse long messages.

  • Ask each time.

  • Use the current default behavior.

An additional option could allow the user to choose the message length at which automatic collapsing begins.

A simple global setting such as “Always expand all messages” would already solve the main problem.

Possible additional improvement

It would also be useful to have a button near the top of a conversation that performs one of these actions:

  • Expand all messages

  • Collapse all messages

This would be particularly helpful before printing, exporting, saving a webpage as a PDF, or capturing a long conversation with a full-page screenshot tool.

Benefits

This feature would improve:

  • Conversation archiving.

  • Printing and PDF creation.

  • Full-page screenshots.

  • Long-term technical documentation.

  • Accessibility and readability.

  • The reuse of old conversations as reference material.

  • Reliability when preserving important project history.

  • Continuity between older and newer conversations.

  • The preservation of detailed user explanations.

  • The efficiency of long-term collaboration with ChatGPT.

  • The amount of time users spend repeating information that was already explained.

Thank you for considering this improvement.

P.S. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my suggestion. I may not always be able to reply immediately, but I truly appreciate every response and will answer as soon as I can. :blush:

Hey Elizabeth-Davies, I agree that would be a convenient option.

I'll pass this request along to the product team so they can review it and decide whether that button should be made optional or disabled.

Avinash