The short answer
OpenAI is retiring Custom GPTs and asking the people who made them to move them to plugins. Its FAQ gives a standard retirement date in December this year, and a later one in February for Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral; after that, GPTs and their pages can no longer be opened. A GPT’s instructions, connected apps and knowledge files move across. Custom actions, the model you picked and the sharing settings do not. List your GPTs now, copy what matters, migrate, test, and share again.
Why it is worth fixing
Plenty of recruitment teams built a GPT for something they do every day: writing job adverts in house style, turning call notes into a candidate summary, or drafting messages in one voice. If nobody owns that GPT, it can simply stop working one morning, and the instructions that made it useful go with it. OpenAI says your past conversations stay accessible, but the tool itself does not.
The move is also a chance to tidy up. A plugin holds the same instructions as a skill, alongside reference files and connected apps, so a well-organised plugin can be more useful than the GPT it replaces.
Step by step
List every GPT and who looks after it
Make a simple list: each GPT your team relies on, what it is used for, who created it, and which account or workspace it was created in. OpenAI says the timeline of the account where a GPT was made is the one that applies, and that only its creator, or an admin in an Enterprise workspace, can migrate it. If a GPT you use belongs to someone else, check its notice and ask its creator about a replacement.
Copy its instructions and files somewhere safe
Before anything changes, copy each GPT’s instructions into a document and make sure you still have the original knowledge files. Save a handful of prompts you use often, with the answers you expect, so you can compare the replacement later. This is your backup if anything goes wrong in the move.
Publish the version you want to keep
OpenAI’s FAQ says migration uses the GPT’s latest published version, so drafts and unpublished edits do not transfer. Finish any essential edits and publish first; publishing does not mean sharing it publicly. After migration the original GPT becomes read-only, so make any later changes in the plugin.
Migrate it when the option appears
When migration is available for your account, go to My GPTs and choose Migrate to plugin. The instructions become a skill in the new plugin, connected apps come across as apps, and knowledge files become the plugin’s reference files. If you do not see the option, it may not have reached your account yet, or plugins may be switched off in your workspace.
Test it against your saved prompts
OpenAI says a migrated plugin may respond differently. Run your saved prompts and at least one harder case. Check that it follows your instructions, uses the right reference files, and gives complete answers in the format you need. Fix any difference that matters before your team relies on it.
Rebuild custom actions, then share it again
Custom actions, which let a GPT talk to another service, do not transfer. Check whether a ready-made app covers the same task; if not, OpenAI says rebuilding the connection may need a custom MCP server and some technical setup. A migrated plugin also starts private, and the GPT’s old users do not get access automatically, so share it again and ask someone to try it.
Checklist
- Every GPT your team relies on is listed, with its creator and workspace
- Instructions, files and sample prompts are copied somewhere safe
- The version you want to keep is published before you migrate
- Each plugin has been tested against your saved prompts
- Custom actions are rebuilt or replaced, and tested
- The plugin is shared again with the people who need it
- Someone has checked the retirement date in your own account’s notice
When it is worth getting help
Most GPTs are instructions plus a few files, and you can move those yourself by following the steps above. It is worth getting help when a GPT relies on custom actions that connect to your other systems, when several teams depend on GPTs nobody quite owns, or when you want the replacement to do more than the original, such as working from your own records.
Rec Int. builds automation for UK recruitment agencies, around the systems they already run.
Questions people ask
Will I lose my old conversations with a GPT?
No. OpenAI’s FAQ says your existing conversations with Custom GPTs will remain accessible after retirement, and you do not need to do anything to keep them.
Do I need to migrate a GPT I only use?
No, and you cannot: only its creator, or an admin in an Enterprise workspace, can migrate it. Check the notice on the GPT and any guidance from its creator about a replacement.
Can the dates change?
Yes. OpenAI says the dates are subject to change and that the notice for your own account or workspace applies, so check it rather than relying on a date you read elsewhere.
Sources
- Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ OpenAI Help Center
- Plugins in ChatGPT OpenAI Help Center
If you would like to talk through which of your team’s AI tools are worth rebuilding properly, book a discovery call.