BUG: Individual Work conversations cannot be deleted – Delete action missing

Summary

In ChatGPT Work on the Windows desktop app, the context menu for an individual Work conversation offers Archive, but no Delete action. Users cannot initiate deletion of that conversation from its context menu.

This is a privacy, data-control, and trust problem: Work conversations can contain documents, source code, research, and confidential business information. Users need a clear way to delete an individual conversation they no longer want retained. Archiving is not a substitute for deletion.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open the desktop app and locate a Work conversation in the sidebar.
2. Open that conversation's context menu.
3. Look for Delete / Löschen.

Actual behavior and screenshot evidence

The user-provided screenshot was inspected while preparing this report. It shows the following German menu entries:

• Umbenennen (Rename)
• Anpinnen (Pin)
• Als ungelesen markieren (Mark as unread)
• Archivieren (Archive)
• Projekt (Project)
• Abschnitt (Section)
• Teilen (Share)
• Kopieren (Copy)
• In neuem Fenster öffnen (Open in new window)

There is no Delete / Löschen entry. The screenshot contains the context menu only; it does not establish the underlying retention behavior or whether a separate deletion route exists. The image could not be uploaded through the GitHub interface available to the reporting assistant, so its visible contents are transcribed above.

Expected behavior

Provide an accessible Delete action for individual Work conversations, with confirmation and a clear explanation of the deletion scope and applicable retention behavior. Users should be able to delete one conversation without deleting their account or unrelated conversations.

If there is already another supported deletion route, please document the exact steps and make that route discoverable from the conversation menu. If deletion is restricted by policy, explain the restriction in the UI rather than silently omitting the control.

Privacy, data control, and trust impact

The ability to create a conversation should come with understandable controls over its continued storage. A menu that offers archiving but no deletion leaves users uncertain about how to remove potentially sensitive work material. This undermines confidence in using Work for confidential tasks and makes consistent data management unnecessarily difficult.

Please treat this as a product defect affecting user control and trust, and clarify whether the missing action is intentional, a rollout limitation, or a bug. This report does not claim a data leak or establish that all deletion mechanisms are unavailable.

Environment

• Product: ChatGPT Work, desktop app
• Platform: Windows
• UI language: German
• Observed: September 17, 2026
• Exact app version and subscription: not captured in the supplied evidence

Scope and related reports

The official desktop troubleshooting documentation directs users to this repository for issues: https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/reference/troubleshooting#feedback-and-logs

Related: #46182 concerns missing deletion controls for archived Codex cloud tasks. This report concerns the context menu of a Work conversation. #40981 concerns a deletion action that exists but fails with a 404, which is different from the missing menu action reported here.

No source file, test, or implementation entry point is identified. Reproduce the issue in ChatGPT Work on the Windows desktop app using the listed context-menu steps, then determine whether an existing deletion route or policy explains the missing action. Done means individual conversation deletion is accessible with clear scope and retention behavior, or the supported route and restriction are documented in the UI.