If you’re using ChatGPT Plus, you can upload up to 80 files every 3 hours, with a maximum of 20 files per project, and each file can be up to 512MB. Text-based files are limited to 2 million tokens per file.
Free ChatGPT users, on the other hand, can only upload 3 files per day, with the same file size and token restrictions. During peak usage hours, OpenAI may temporarily lower these limits for both Plus and free users.
This makes ChatGPT ideal for analyzing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs, whether you are on the free or Plus plan.
If you want support for more file types, you can try Global GPT. Dozens of models support almost all common formats.
ChatGPT File Upload Limits: Free vs Plus Users
ChatGPT distinguishes between free and Plus subscriptions:
During periods of high server load, OpenAI may reduce these limits to maintain stable performance.
Plan Max Files per 3 Hours Max Files per Project File Size Limit Token Limit Plus 80 files 20 files 512MB 2M tokens per text file Free 3 files per day N/A 512MB 2M tokens per text file s
Supported File Types for ChatGPT Uploads
Both free and Plus users can upload a wide variety of file formats, including:
- Text documents: PDFs, Microsoft Word (.docx), text files
- Spreadsheets: CSV, Excel
- Presentations: PowerPoint files
- Images: PNG, JPG (limited to 20MB per image)
For text-heavy documents, there is a 2 million token limit per file, while spreadsheets are capped at approximately 50MB depending on row complexity.
How to Upload Files in ChatGPT
- Open a new chat or use Advanced Data Analysis (Code Interpreter).
- Click the upload button and select your file(s).
- Once uploaded, you can request ChatGPT to:
- Summarize content
- Compare or contrast multiple documents
- Extract data or metadata
- Perform sentiment analysis
- Transform information into other formats
Files uploaded are accessible as long as the chat or GPT instance exists.
ChatGPT File Usage Caps & Storage Limits
OpenAI enforces usage caps to ensure smooth operation:
Item Limit / Details Per User Storage 10GB Per Organization 100GB File Retention Files are deleted when you remove the chat, custom GPT, or account, usually within 30 days
Projects and File Management of ChatGPT
- Plus users: Up to 20 files per project
- Pro/Team/Education/Business plans: Up to 40 files per project
- Files count toward the 80-file limit per 3 hours for Plus users
Free users can only upload 3 files per day and cannot exceed the file/project limits.
Handling Images and Embedded Media in ChatGPT
- Plus & free users: Only text extraction is supported; images in documents are ignored.
- Enterprise users: Supports visual retrieval from PDFs.
How to Delete Files in ChatGPT
You can delete files from:
- Recent chats
- Custom GPT projects
Deleted files are permanently removed within 30 days, unless legally required to retain.
Summary – ChatGPT File Upload Capabilities
- Plus users: Upload up to 80 files every 3 hours, max 20 files per project, 512MB/file, 2M tokens per text file
- Free users: Upload up to 3 files per day, same size/token limits
- Supports PDFs, Word docs, spreadsheets, presentations, and images
- Ideal for document analysis, data extraction, and AI-assisted content processing
