Do you want to take your ChatGPT skills further and discover the best features that make your life easier? ChatGPT made AI accessible to everyone – no coding degree needed – but keeping up with its growing list of tools and models is tiring…
I’ve spent years in the industry, trying out hundreds of (Gen)AI tools, use cases and features to learn what moves the needle. On this blog, I share those hard-earned insights (jargon-free), so you don’t have to start from scratch. Today, I distilled six of my favorite ChatGPT features into bite-sized “pro tips” you can put to use right away. Also, check out my other article with six more tips.
By the end, you’ll be one big step closer to call yourself a ChatGPT power user – no matter your current knowledge level. Of course, most of these tips can also be applied to ChatGPT’s alternatives (more or less). Without further ado, let’s jump into the first one.
Table of Contents
Chat With Your Data: Upload Files or Connect Drives
Often entering long text walls into the chat just isn’t workable. With file uploads or drive connections, you can drop in PDFs, Words etc. or link Google Drive, OneDrive etc. for ChatGPT to read your files directly. This way you can create your own searchable knowledge base (“RAG”) and make ChatGPT’s answers more relevant.
For example, I uploaded my blog posts as a Word and asked: “Analyze this series of articles and suggest ideas for follow-up articles building on the old ones”. In seconds ChatGPT returned a (somewhat) useful list of ideas. Could I have manually copypasted all that? Yes. Would that be a mess? Yes…
To set this up (easy), just start a new chat, click the “+” icon near the prompt, choose “Add photos and files” and select relevant documents – or “Add from apps” → “Connect Drive”. And that’s it, now you can start asking ChatGPT your questions about the documents. Here you can find more details about File Upload (e.g. restrictions for file sizes).
You can use this for all sorts of use cases, e.g. summarizing slide decks, comparing academic papers etc. Share your use case ideas below. Just be mindful of privacy and the possibility of “hallucinations” (i.e. false outputs) – especially for more complex documents. I personally like the upload functionality, but I don’t feel comfortable connecting it to my drives…
Projects: Files, Instructions & Chats Bundled
Juggling all topics/chats in one sidebar can turn chaotic. The “Projects” feature eases this with dedicated workspaces for related chats, files and instructions. You can use this like a folder system to organize your chat history.
For instance, I created an “Upward Dynamism Blog” Project, where I create a new chat for every new article (for researching, drafting etc.) I also put my writing style guide (“Instructions”) and article archive (“Project files”) there. Now whenever I start a new chat (in that Project), ChatGPT automatically loads all those materials as “context” for my new posts. Time-saver.
Creating a Project is simple. In the sidebar, just click on “New Project” and name it (e.g. “Blog”). It will then pop up in the sidebar. After clicking at the created Project you can add files or instructions and start new chats there. You can also drag and drop existing chats (from your history) into the Project folder.
This feature is helpful if you use ChatGPT also for longer-term work/projects, e.g. for blogging, social media, research projects, collaborations etc. If your chats aren’t related, you may not benefit much from this. Where can you see this feature creating value for you?
Create & Explore Custom “GPT” (No-Code Agents)
Sometimes you need your AI assistant to have extra capabilities (e.g. use special tools or databases). ChatGPT’s “GPT” feature lets you easily create such tailored (mini‑)“agents” – or access others’ creations from the official GPT gallery. You can “equip” GPTs with all kinds of tools, e.g. ChatGPT-native ones like Web Search or external ones like Wolfram Alpha for math.
For example, I once created the (edutaining and quirky) “Quizmaster Hammy” which you can find (and try) here. I configured the GPT’s name (“Trivia Madness”), added step‑by‑step quiz instructions and uploaded a question bank Excel file. Anyone can find, try and rate it in ChatGPT’s “Explore GPTs gallery”, too. Happy quizzing… 😉
To create your own, open “GPTs” in ChatGPT’s sidebar and click “Create”. Use either the intuitive chat‑based builder or switch to the “Configure” tab for full control. There you can set up everything (name, instructions, knowledge base, tools etc.) Then you can use or share it publicly in the gallery. Let me know if you need a more detailed tutorial on this. If you use or publish GPTs make sure to manage risks (e.g. prompt injections etc.)
Custom GPTs are relevant for specific/narrower tasks. For example, SciSpace released one of the most popular GPTs to access their vast database of 200+ million papers inside ChatGPT. To get some inspiration for use cases, scroll through the GPT gallery categories (Productivity, Research, Lifestyle etc.) Feel free to share your favorite GPT below.
Web Search & Deep Research: Grounding Your Answers
By default, ChatGPT’s knowledge is only as recent as the data it was trained on (which is typically a couple of months old). But with Web Search and Deep Research, you can fetch fresher info. This is also one strategy to reduce (although not eliminate) the risk of hallucination.
For example, if you ask ChatGPT to “Summarize this week’s top AI startup news”, you’d get a useless answer without web search (knowledge cutoff). But with it you get a solid roundup incl. source links etc. With “Deep Research” you can take it even further and ChatGPT will search for longer/more relevant websites before answering.
To activate these research modes, just click “Tools” (prompting area) → “Search the web” or “Run deep research”, type your query and let ChatGPT do its “agentic magic”. With “Deep Research”, you can choose if it should just search online or even in connected systems (e.g. your drives, GitHub) Depending on the scope of your query, this can take a couple of minutes.
This feature shines for use cases like news digests, market analyses, quickly getting overviews of topics etc. But be mindful of hallucinations (→ verify critical details) and privacy implications (esp. if you connect it to any system). I appreciate this feature for these uses but find its modus operandi (i.e. searching/prioritizing sources) too random. WDYT?
ChatGPT Canvas: Chat & Create Side by Side
Switching between ChatGPT and your editor (e.g. Word) can slow down your flow. The Canvas feature alleviates this by offering the best of both worlds: your chat conversation AND a live editing workspace next to it. You can draft and refine in one place – be it for writing or coding.
For instance, when I drafted this article’s outline, I highlighted my intro section (in the Canvas) and asked ChatGPT for a better hook. (Did it work?) Then, in real time, the text updates before your eyes inside the Canvas. It feels a bit like an invisible hand doing its magic on the screen…
To try Canvas, click “Tools” (prompting area) and pick “Write or code”. Then enter your prompt and ChatGPT’s answer will appear with the new Canvas. There you can make your edits directly or prompt ChatGPT to make changes – either for highlighted sections or globally. When you’re done, just close the Canvas (→ “x”). (You can later revisit it in the chat history.)
Especially for creatives (bloggers, coders etc.), Canvas is a great (collaborative) feature. To me, it speeds up the drafting stage of my projects and fits my “iterative” writing workflow, too. Be mindful of its limitations: heavy edits sometimes lag (or fail). But you can “undo” faulty steps (with the back arrow – inside ChatGPT / not your browser’s 😉).
Voice Mode: Natural Conversations with ChatGPT
Typing isn’t always convenient, esp. on mobile or “on the move”. It’s not even the most “natural” mode either (which is why voice interfaces are gaining popularity). ChatGPT is no exception: Voice Mode makes it your “hands-free” assistant. Just speak your prompt and hear a natural-sounding reply back.
On my phone, e.g., I like to use this to simulate a “realistic” quiz show experience. As mentioned above: One of my favorite “pastime use cases” is to turn ChatGPT into a quizmaster. And this works even better with voice than text. Try it yourself.
To use this mode, just open a chat and click the headphone icon. This starts the Voice Mode where you can speak to ChatGPT and ChatGPT speaks back. (But if you just want to transcribe your prompt (“speech-to-text”) without ChatGPT speaking, use the microphone icon instead). In your “Speech” settings you can select one of the many (naturally sounding) voices. I currently use “Ember” – and you?
To me, Voice Mode is interesting for use cases like on-the-go chats, accessibility or quick “brain dumps”. BUT – esp. if you saw the movie Her – you may be aware of the darker side of “virtual lifelike besties”. The path from using these tools appropriately to oversharing to developing unhealthy dependencies (or worse) is a slippery one…
Wrap-up: Even More Goodies on the Way!
Now that you’ve added (another) six power tips to your ChatGPT toolkit, pick one and give it a shot today. You may be surprised how a single tweak can shave minutes off your daily routines…
How about a 7th bonus pro tip?
Have ChatGPT run (recurring) tasks on “autopilot” with the “Scheduled Tasks” feature. Just enter your prompt (e.g. “Summarize AI news every Monday at 9 AM”) in the chat. ChatGPT will save the task and then post your AI digest at the set time. You can view and manage (e.g. delete) tasks under profile → Settings → Notifications → Manage tasks. For more use case inspiration for this feature check out this guide.
I’ll keep you posted with even more life hacks. In the meantime, I’d love to hear which of these tips you tried and what other cool GenAI ideas you have. Maybe I also forgot anything (or something new was released) which I should add?
Anyway, drop a comment (or get in touch) with your feedback. Finally, as always, if this resonated, spread the word so your peers can become “AI whisperers” too.
Cheers,
John
What do you think?