ChatGPT has evolved far beyond a simple Q&A tool and is carving out its place as an all-purpose digital assistant. One recent and particularly handy feature is the ability to set up scheduled tasks within ChatGPT itself. From setting up daily routines that support your workflow to sending out helpful reminders, this functionality can be surprisingly useful in automating your routines and boosting your efficiency. This feature is currently only available for users with a paid subscription, such as the Plus package, which is necessary to access this advanced functionality.
Setting Up Your First Scheduled Task
To initiate a scheduled task in ChatGPT, whether you are using the web interface or the mobile application, you must create a clear and specific prompt. This prompt needs to explicitly include both the desired hour and the days when you want the automated action to run.
You can use this feature to establish helpful routines:
- Set important event reminders: For example, you could prompt, “Create a task that runs every day from today at 17:00 pm to remind me of my uncle’s birthday on 21 November.”
- Create regular meal plans: You could ask, “Every Sunday at 13:00 pm provide me with a weekly meal plan for two. Focus on vegetable-based dishes with a small amount of meat.”
- Support daily adherence: A helpful routine reminder could be, “Every day, except Sunday, at 14:00 pm remind me to take my vitamins.”
- Facilitate learning: Try, “Every day, at 16:00 pm provide me with an obscure word and provide the definition.”
- Stay updated with financial data: Prompting, “Show me stock prices for Samsung every day at 12:00 pm,” keeps you informed.
Ensure that you explain exactly what you want ChatGPT to do, including all necessary details. The AI bot should then recognize the scheduled command and respond by confirming the task and providing an overview of its details. When creating the first task, ChatGPT will ask for permission to send you notifications; you should enable this option to receive alerts when the task is executed.
It is important to note that voice chats and file uploads are not supported for creating these tasks, and the tasks will execute even if the user is not actively online.
Editing and Pausing Tasks
After reviewing the task description, you may need to adjust it to ensure it provides the exact output you desire. Editing the task is possible, although this feature is currently only supported in the web version of ChatGPT, not the mobile application.
To edit a task, click the three dots on the task card and select the option to Edit. A pop-up window will allow you to rename the task, revise and modify the prompt details, or adjust the scheduled hour and frequency. Once your changes are complete, press Save. Alternatively, the three-dot menu also provides options to Pause the task temporarily (which is available in the mobile app as well) or Delete the task entirely.
Managing Your Scheduled Tasks
To get a comprehensive view of all your active scheduled tasks, you need to access ChatGPT via the web version. Click on your name in the lower right corner of the display and select Settings. In the pop-up window, look for the Schedules option and click Manage.
You will see all your tasks listed there. Hovering your mouse over any task will make the Edit option appear. You can also click the three-dot icon associated with each task to quickly Pause or Delete it. Keep in mind that ChatGPT enforces a limit of 10 active tasks at any given time. If you hit this cap, you must delete an existing task to create room for a new one. Additionally, you can manage your notification settings for tasks—including enabling email alerts—by going back to Settings and selecting Notifications.
Troubleshooting Tasks That Are Not Running
If you find that your scheduled tasks are not running when they should, try the following troubleshooting steps:
- Ask ChatGPT directly to verify that your scheduled tasks are active and that notifications are turned on within the system.
- If you don’t receive a notification or email, check your ChatGPT session directly when the task was supposed to run to confirm if the task executed, but the notification failed.
- Attempt to close and reopen a new session in ChatGPT.
- Clear your browser’s or app’s cache.
- Finally, log out of ChatGPT and then log back in with your paid account credentials.
