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ChatGPT
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How to Use ChatGPT: The Complete Guide to OpenAI's AI Assistant
28 February 2026
chatgpt
openai
platform
Create a free account at chatgpt.com and explore the interface - chat input, sidebar, model selector, and file attachments
Set up Custom Instructions in Settings to personalise every conversation with your role, preferences, and output style
Master iterative prompting: start broad, refine with follow-ups, and ask ChatGPT to critique and improve its own output
Use Deep Research for comprehensive web research that produces cited reports in minutes instead of hours
Try Custom GPTs from the GPT Store for specialised tasks, or build your own for repetitive workflows
Common Mistakes
Vague prompting
Writing prompts like "help me with marketing" instead of specifying your audience, format, tone, and constraints. Specific prompts get dramatically better results.
Not using conversation context
Starting a new chat for every question instead of building on context. ChatGPT gets better the more context it has within a conversation.
Ignoring Custom Instructions
Not setting up persistent preferences means ChatGPT starts from scratch every time. Spend 5 minutes configuring Custom Instructions to save hours.
Treating output as final
Accepting the first response without iterating. The best results come from 2-3 rounds of refinement and feedback.
Tools That Work for This
ChatGPT Plus— Most users - full access to GPT-4o, Deep Research, image generation, and Advanced Voice for US$20/month
ChatGPT Mobile App— Voice conversations, photo analysis, and on-the-go AI assistance with full feature parity
ChatGPT Custom GPTs— Automating repetitive workflows with pre-configured instructions, knowledge bases, and API integrations
Canvas— Long-form writing and code editing in a side-by-side collaborative editor
Getting Started: Your First 10 Minutes with ChatGPT
Head to chatgpt.com and create a free account with your email, Google, or Apple ID. The free tier gives you access to GPT-4o mini with limited messages per day - enough to explore the basics.
The interface is clean: a chat input at the bottom, conversation history on the left sidebar, and model selector at the top. Type your first message and hit Enter. ChatGPT responds in real-time, streaming text as it thinks.
Key things to understand immediately: ChatGPT remembers the full conversation context, so you can build on previous messages. You can attach files (PDFs, images, spreadsheets) by clicking the + button. And you can switch models mid-conversation if you need more capability.
The sidebar organises your chats by date and lets you search past conversations. Pin important chats, create Projects to group related conversations, and use the @ symbol to reference other chats or GPTs within a conversation.
The interface is clean: a chat input at the bottom, conversation history on the left sidebar, and model selector at the top. Type your first message and hit Enter. ChatGPT responds in real-time, streaming text as it thinks.
Key things to understand immediately: ChatGPT remembers the full conversation context, so you can build on previous messages. You can attach files (PDFs, images, spreadsheets) by clicking the + button. And you can switch models mid-conversation if you need more capability.
The sidebar organises your chats by date and lets you search past conversations. Pin important chats, create Projects to group related conversations, and use the @ symbol to reference other chats or GPTs within a conversation.
Prompting Like a Pro: Techniques That Actually Work
The difference between mediocre and exceptional ChatGPT output comes down to how you prompt. Here are the techniques that matter most:
Be specific about format and length. Instead of 'write me an email', say 'write a 3-paragraph professional email to a client in Singapore declining a meeting request, keeping the tone warm but firm'.
Provide context and examples. Tell ChatGPT your role, audience, and constraints. Paste examples of the style you want. The more context you give, the less revision you'll need.
Use system instructions (Settings > Personalisation > Custom Instructions) to set persistent preferences - your name, role, writing style, preferred formats. These apply to every new conversation automatically.
Chain your prompts. Don't try to get everything in one shot. Start broad, then refine. Ask ChatGPT to critique its own output, then improve it. This iterative approach consistently produces better results than single-shot prompting.
For complex tasks, use the Canvas feature (click the pen icon). This opens a side-by-side editor where ChatGPT can write, review, and revise longer content with you in a document-like interface.
Be specific about format and length. Instead of 'write me an email', say 'write a 3-paragraph professional email to a client in Singapore declining a meeting request, keeping the tone warm but firm'.
Provide context and examples. Tell ChatGPT your role, audience, and constraints. Paste examples of the style you want. The more context you give, the less revision you'll need.
Use system instructions (Settings > Personalisation > Custom Instructions) to set persistent preferences - your name, role, writing style, preferred formats. These apply to every new conversation automatically.
Chain your prompts. Don't try to get everything in one shot. Start broad, then refine. Ask ChatGPT to critique its own output, then improve it. This iterative approach consistently produces better results than single-shot prompting.
For complex tasks, use the Canvas feature (click the pen icon). This opens a side-by-side editor where ChatGPT can write, review, and revise longer content with you in a document-like interface.
Advanced Features: Deep Research, Codex, Images, and Voice
Deep Research is ChatGPT's most powerful feature for professionals. It spends minutes (not seconds) actively browsing the web, reading dozens of sources, synthesising information, and producing a comprehensive report with citations. Perfect for market research, competitive analysis, and due diligence.
Codex (formerly Code Interpreter) lets ChatGPT write and execute Python code directly. Upload a CSV and ask for analysis - it'll write the code, run it, and show you charts. This is invaluable for data work, even if you can't code.
Image generation uses DALL-E 3 natively. Describe what you want and ChatGPT generates it. You can iterate ('make the background darker', 'add a logo in the top right') and ChatGPT remembers your preferences across the conversation.
Voice mode turns ChatGPT into a real-time conversation partner. Use it for language practice, brainstorming, or hands-free assistance. The Advanced Voice mode supports interruptions and emotional nuance.
Custom GPTs are pre-configured ChatGPT instances with specific instructions, knowledge files, and capabilities. Browse the GPT Store for thousands of community-built GPTs, or create your own for repetitive workflows. Share them with your team or publish them publicly.
Codex (formerly Code Interpreter) lets ChatGPT write and execute Python code directly. Upload a CSV and ask for analysis - it'll write the code, run it, and show you charts. This is invaluable for data work, even if you can't code.
Image generation uses DALL-E 3 natively. Describe what you want and ChatGPT generates it. You can iterate ('make the background darker', 'add a logo in the top right') and ChatGPT remembers your preferences across the conversation.
Voice mode turns ChatGPT into a real-time conversation partner. Use it for language practice, brainstorming, or hands-free assistance. The Advanced Voice mode supports interruptions and emotional nuance.
Custom GPTs are pre-configured ChatGPT instances with specific instructions, knowledge files, and capabilities. Browse the GPT Store for thousands of community-built GPTs, or create your own for repetitive workflows. Share them with your team or publish them publicly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, ChatGPT has a free tier with access to GPT-4o mini and limited GPT-4o messages. ChatGPT Plus costs US$20/month and gives you more messages, faster responses, and access to all features including Deep Research and Advanced Voice. ChatGPT Pro at US$200/month provides unlimited access to all models and features, plus extended thinking for complex reasoning tasks.
ChatGPT Plus and Pro do not use your conversations to train models (you can verify this in Settings > Data Controls). For enterprise use, ChatGPT Team (US$25/user/month) and Enterprise plans offer additional security guarantees, admin controls, and compliance certifications. Never paste genuinely sensitive data (passwords, API keys, personal identifiable information) into any AI tool.
ChatGPT is the product - the chat interface, mobile apps, and features like Custom GPTs and Deep Research. GPT-4o is one of the AI models that powers ChatGPT. Think of ChatGPT as the car and GPT-4o as the engine. ChatGPT can use different models (GPT-4o, GPT-4o mini, o1, o3) depending on the task and your subscription tier.
Next Steps
Start by setting up Custom Instructions with your role and preferences. Then try Deep Research on a real work question - the quality will surprise you. Build your first Custom GPT for a task you repeat weekly. Join the ChatGPT community forums to discover workflows from other professionals in Asia-Pacific.