Feature Suggestion – Support for Sub-Projects or Nested Folders

ChatGPT Feature requests
1

I’m a frequent user and really appreciate the ability to organize my work using project folders. One feature that would significantly improve usability—especially for those managing multi-layered or creative workflows—is the ability to create sub-projects or nested folders within existing projects.

This would allow for better organization of related content, cleaner data structures, and an overall smoother experience when juggling different streams of work under the same umbrella. For example, being able to group assets, drafts, or phases of a project inside a master folder would prevent clutter and boost productivity.

I’d love to see this functionality considered in a future iteration. Thanks for continuing to evolve this tool—it’s already a game-changer.

Best,
MRT

24 Likes
2

Did anyone get back to you on this or did you find any other similar threads on this topic in the community as I too would love to see this feature.

2 Likes
3

I have not heard anything back yet.

2 Likes
4

This would be great! Is OpenAI working on this feature?

2 Likes
5

Yes, this would be really great. Still no reaction from OpenAI?

4 Likes
6

We need this feature, it would be a major boost to productivity and organization

1 Like
7

Agree - being able to nest as well as sort the nested projects. Possibly multiple layers.

1 Like
8

I just requested this also

1 Like
9

Agreed. This would be monumentally useful.
I wrote up a quick proposal (using ChatGPT to refine)

Feature Proposal: Hierarchical Projects (Sub-Projects)

Overview
Introduce support for hierarchical projects, allowing projects to contain one or more sub-projects. Each sub-project functions as a fully featured project while inheriting context and resources from its parent project.

Core Functionality

  • A parent (main) project acts as the top-level container.

  • Sub-projects are nested within the parent project.

  • Each sub-project includes:

    • Independent chat threads

    • Dedicated document storage

    • Full project-level capabilities equivalent to a standalone project

  • Context and document access follow an inheritance model:

    • Chats within a sub-project can access:

      • Documents stored in the parent project

      • Documents stored within the sub-project itself

    • Parent project chats do not automatically inherit sub-project documents (one-way inheritance).

Example Use Case: Academic Program Management

  • Parent Project:

    • Stores program-level documentation (policies, requirements, reference materials)

  • Sub-Project 01:

    • Stores specific materials

    • Chats access both Parent Project and Sub-Project 01 documents.

  • Sub-Project 02:

    • Stores specific materials

    • Chats access both Parent Project and Sub-Project 02 documents.

Design Rationale

  • Supports hierarchical workflows common in education, research, enterprise programs, and multi-phase product development

  • Prevents duplication of shared documents across related projects

  • Improves context precision by scoping conversations to relevant sub-domains

  • Scales effectively for long-running or modular initiatives

Additional Potential Enhancements

  • Configurable inheritance controls (e.g., toggle parent document visibility)

  • Role-based access or permissions at the sub-project level

  • Analytics or usage reporting by project and sub-project

Expected Impact

  • Improved organizational clarity for complex projects

  • Reduced cognitive load when managing multiple related workstreams

  • Better long-term maintainability of project context and resources

1 Like
10

it would be a great update…..

I think the simplest useful version would be a single subfolder layer inside a project.

Yes, each subfolder should have its own files and chats.

The cleanest model would be:

  • main project = shared files / top-level context

  • each subfolder = its own local files and chats

  • subfolder chats can access both:

    • shared project files

    • files stored in that subfolder

But files inside one subfolder should not automatically appear in other subfolders.

That would add real structure without the complexity of deep nesting or full hierarchical project logic.

1 Like
11

Any news on this, OpenAI team? - This feature is simple and would be a major boost.