Web Personalization shows contradictory Custom Instructions state depending on navigation path

ChatGPT Bugs
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1

Environment

Bug

ChatGPT Web shows contradictory Personalization state depending on how the same settings page is opened.

Reproduction

  1. On ChatGPT Web, click the user/profile menu → Personalization.
  2. This view shows Enable customization = OFF, and the Custom instructions field is empty/disabled.
  3. Close it.
  4. Open user/profile → Settings → Personalization.
  5. In this view, my saved Custom Instructions are present.
  6. Open the ChatGPT macOS app → Settings → Personalization.
  7. The same saved Custom Instructions are also present there.

Actual behavior

The same account simultaneously shows:

  • Web → Profile → Personalization: customization OFF / Custom Instructions empty.
  • Web → Settings → Personalization: Custom Instructions populated.
  • macOS app → Settings → Personalization: Custom Instructions populated.

The Custom Instructions also continue to be applied in actual conversations, despite the first Web view showing customization as disabled.

Expected behavior

All Personalization surfaces for the same account should reflect the same persisted state.

Impact

This can make users believe their Custom Instructions were disabled or lost and may cause them to change a setting that is actually still active.

Screenshots attached showing all three states.

2

Hi Tfm - could you clarify the exact navigation path you used for screenshots 1 and 2?

I’m also on ChatGPT Plus, and I’ve now tested this in Chrome on macOS.

From the bottom-left account menu, I tried:

1. Account menu → Personalization

and:

2. Account menu → Settings → Personalization

Both routes open what appears to be the same Settings → Personalization panel, with the same saved Custom Instructions. I do not see the “Enable customization” toggle shown in your first screenshot through either route.

Your description says:

“Web → Profile → Personalization”

but in the current UI, Profile is also a separate item in the account menu, so I’m not sure exactly what you mean by that path.

Could you please post:

  • the exact sequence of clicks you use to reach screenshot 1
  • the exact sequence for screenshot 2
  • ideally a full-window screenshot showing the account menu immediately before you click Personalization, or a short screen recording

I’m particularly trying to understand how you reach the view containing Enable customization, because that control does not appear anywhere in my current Personalization screen even on Chrome/macOS.

3

I’ve just encountered a very similar issue, although my case did not depend on using two different navigation paths.

Environment:

  • ChatGPT Plus

  • ChatGPT Web

  • Chrome on Windows 11

  • October 3, 2026

What I observed:

  1. I opened Settings → Personalization → Custom Instructions.

  2. The Custom Instructions field was completely empty.

  3. In an existing ChatGPT conversation, I asked ChatGPT to print my Custom Instructions.

  4. ChatGPT returned the full instructions I had previously configured.

  5. I then manually pasted those instructions back into the empty Custom Instructions field and saved them.

So in my case, the Settings UI showed an empty Custom Instructions field while an existing conversation still had access to the previously configured instructions.

I did not test alternative navigation paths before restoring the instructions, so I can’t confirm whether the field would have appeared populated through another route.

4

Hi @HiMeE , sorry for the delayed reply.

By “Profile,” I meant the account menu opened by clicking my username/avatar.

On September 20, I used these paths:

  1. Username/account menu → Personalization.
  2. Username/account menu → Settings → Personalization.

In my original post, screenshot 1 shows the first path’s result: Enable customization off and an empty Custom instructions field. Screenshot 2 shows the second path’s result, with my saved instructions present. Screenshot 2 is scrolled down and doesn’t show the top of the panel.

For the first route, I clicked Personalization directly in this menu. For the second, I clicked Settings, then Personalization inside Settings.

Update: I checked again today, and I can no longer reproduce the issue. Clicking Personalization directly from the account menu now opens the same screen as Settings → Personalization. The interface has changed a lot since my original report. The issue appears to be resolved on my account, so I believe I should close this report.