ChatGPT folders and history search

Why old ChatGPT chats are hard to find

After a couple of months, ChatGPT history turns into a long feed of titles like "Code help" and "New chat". Projects help, but a chat can live in only one project, and the built-in search matches exact words only: "invoice" won't find "invoicing", there are no date filters, and you can't jump straight to the right message in a long conversation.

How Chatsavo fixes it

Chatsavo is a browser extension. It adds the Chatsavo panel on the left side of ChatGPT, with folders, "Pinned", "Recent" and a search box.

• Folders up to 5 levels deep. Create "Work" with "Client A" and "Client B" inside. Nested folders are free, like everything else.
• Drag from the native list. Pull a chat straight from ChatGPT's sidebar into a Chatsavo folder.
• Pinning. Important chats stay on top in "Pinned".
• Search the text of chats opened after install, not just titles. Titles from the site list show up sooner. It understands word forms, forgives a one-letter typo, and handles Russian as well as English.
• Jump to the message. Click a result and the chat opens, scrolled to the match.
• Filters: folder:"Work", before:2026-05-01, after:, role:ai, has:code.
• Full JSON download — "Download everything (JSON)" in the extension settings. A file up to 25 MB can be restored into an empty store.
• Markdown — "Download Markdown" in a chat's "…" menu, or for several selected chats. Settings can download the 20 most recent chats with an Obsidian header.

Across 5,000 chats, search answers in hundredths of a second: in our benchmark on a synthetic set, 95% of queries finish within 9 ms. Chat text stays in your browser only.

How to start

1. Install Chatsavo from the install page. It works in Chrome, Edge, Yandex Browser, Opera, Brave, Arc and Vivaldi; Firefox in test mode.
2. Open chatgpt.com. The Chatsavo panel appears on the left.
3. Click "New folder", type a name and click "Create".
4. Drag a chat from ChatGPT's list into the folder. You'll see "Drop to put into "…"". Or open the chat's menu and choose "Move to…".
5. Open a few old chats: Chatsavo saves the text of every chat you open.
6. Press Alt+Shift+F and type a word from an old conversation.

Questions and answers

Does this replace ChatGPT Projects?

No, it works alongside them. Projects stay as they are. Chatsavo folders live in the extension's panel and change nothing in your ChatGPT account.

Is it free?

Yes: every feature is free, with no trial, no plan limits, no card and no account. Folders nest up to 5 levels. More on the Free page.

Why doesn't an old chat show up when I search its text?

Chatsavo saves a chat's text when you open it. Open the chat once and from then on it's found by any word in it. Titles of every chat in the site's list are picked up right away.

Is it safe for my ChatGPT account?

Chatsavo reads only what the page has already loaded for you and sends no requests of its own to ChatGPT. It doesn't touch your password or session.

Where do my chats go?

Nowhere. Folders and searchable text stay in your browser. The extension sends nothing to our servers.

I have version 0.1.1 and it has a trial. What happens after it?

That is an old build. Replace it with the current build from the install page: the current build has no trial and no plan limits. Chats and folders are not deleted when you replace it. More in Everything is free.

What about Claude and other AIs?

Claude is supported — see Claude folders. The panel on Gemini, Grok, Alice, DeepSeek and Perplexity is in the current build; their support is in testing. GigaChat comes later.