OpenAI quietly expanded a feature called Scheduled Tasks — ChatGPT can now “run on a timer.”

Sounds technical, but the concept is dead simple: you tell ChatGPT “from now on, every Monday at 9 AM, help me summarize last week’s work highlights,” and it will actually run on its own at 9 AM every Monday, then push the results to you. No need to open the app, no need to re-paste your prompt — nothing.

According to OpenAI’s official announcement, Tasks first launched in beta in January 2025, using a model called GPT-4o with scheduled tasks to let ChatGPT handle scheduling and reminders [Source: https://openai.com/index/introducing-tasks-in-chatgpt/]. The feature is a bit hidden, and many people don’t realize they already have access.

How This Feature Differs from Regular ChatGPT

Normally when you talk to ChatGPT, it’s “you ask — it answers — done.” You close the page, and that conversation just sits there — it doesn’t do anything on its own.

Scheduled Tasks are different. It’s “you set it up once — it repeats itself — results get pushed to you.” It’s kind of like hiring an intern, telling them to compile a weekly report and put it on your desk every Monday, and they actually do it every Monday. The difference is this intern is on call 24/7, never forgets, never calls in sick, never complains.

A closer analogy is automation tools like Zapier or Make — but the difference is, Zapier “connects different software,” while Scheduled Tasks “tells AI to think on repeat.” The former is good for fixed workflows (auto-generate invoices for every order), the latter is good for tasks that need judgment (picking out 3 news stories relevant to your industry every day).

Eligibility and Where to Find It

Let’s get the requirements out of the way. According to OpenAI’s official announcement, Tasks is available to Plus, Pro, and Team users, with Enterprise and Edu rolling out in phases. The free plan doesn’t include this feature [Source: https://openai.com/index/introducing-tasks-in-chatgpt/].

Where to find it: Go to ChatGPT’s web version or app, and in any conversation, just ask for something like “from now on, do X every day/every week at Y time.” The model will detect your intent and pop up a scheduling suggestion window for you to confirm the frequency and time. You can also go to the “Tasks” tab in the left sidebar to view, pause, or delete any schedules you’ve set up [Source: https://openai.com/index/introducing-tasks-in-chatgpt/].

You don’t need to write cron expressions — just use plain language. “Every Monday at 9 AM,” “every day at 8,” “the 1st of every month” — ChatGPT can handle all of that.

An Important Concept: Each Task Runs Independently

Before we dive into examples, let me clarify something many people misunderstand.

Every time a Scheduled Task triggers, it runs as a brand-new execution — it doesn’t naturally pick up the context from your previous conversation in the same chat window, like when you keep chatting in one window. This means: **any info you don’t include in your prompt, the Task usually won’t know about