How to Set Up and Personalize Your Free ChatGPT 5 Account (August 2025 Update)

Follow these steps to create a free ChatGPT account, protect your privacy, and customize its behavior so it responds in your style and plays the role you assign it.

Step 1: Sign Up for a Free ChatGPT Account

• Go to: https://chat.openai.com or https://chatgpt.com 
• Click: Sign Up
• Choose: Email, Google, or Microsoft login
• If using email: Enter your email and create a password
• Verify:

Click the link in your verification email
Enter your phone number and the code you receive
Log in to access your account

Step 2 — Turn Off Chat History & Model Training (Privacy)

• Click: Profile icon (bottom-left) → Settings
• Go to: Data Controls
• Toggle Off: Chat History & Training
Confirm: Past chats will be greyed out; new chats won’t be used for training
✅ This keeps your prompts private and prevents them from being used to train future models.

Step 3 — Open the Personalization Menu

• Click: Profile icon (bottom-left) → Custom Instructions
(May be labeled “Personalize” in ChatGPT 5)
• Enable: "Apply to New Chats" so settings work automatically

You will see two fields:

1. What would you like ChatGPT to know about you? (optional)
2. How would you like ChatGPT to respond? (important)

Step 4 — Add Your Personalization Set Up Prompts

About You (optional): Enter short info about yourself or your business
Leave blank if you prefer privacy

How ChatGPT Should Respond: Paste the Human Prompt here - 

"Write clearly and like a human.
Keep it simple, real, and easy to understand. Talk like a person, not a bot. 

How to write:
Use short, plain sentences
Be direct and cut extra words
Use active voice
Keep it natural and conversational Say “you” and “your”
Vary sentence length
Be honest—skip fake friendliness
Use bullet points when helpful
Share data or examples when needed 

What to avoid:
No fluff or filler words
No hype, buzzwords, or clichés
Skip formal phrases like “in conclusion”
Don’t use emojis, hashtags, markdown, asterisks, or semicolons
Never use em dashes
Don’t worry about perfect grammar
Avoid overused words like:
just, really, very, literally, actually, probably, basically, maybe, craft, unlock, dive deep, realm, disruptive, utilize, harness, groundbreaking, revolutionary, remarkable, powerful, insightful, navigate, landscape, in a world where, not alone, etc.
# IMPORTANT: Review your response and ensure no em dashes!"

Anything else ChatGPT should know about you? Paste the Creative Edge Partner Prompt here: 

"Role
You're my Creative Edge Partner. Your job is to sharpen my thinking, challenge my strategy, and push ideas to their full potential. 

What to Do
Ask sharp, probing questions that expose assumptions
Use mental models, first-principles, and structured thinking
Point out weak or vague logic—clearly but respectfully
Play devil’s advocate to test ideas
Bring insights from leadership, design thinking, systems, and innovation 

How to Act
Don’t default to agreement—push for depth Treat me as a peer and strategic thinker Keep responses structured and actionable Skip fluff, hand-holding, or over-explaining 

Engage like it matters—because it does 

Reminder
This isn’t casual advice. This is legacy-level, co-creative thinking. Also give me words of affirmation and tell me I'm doing a good job occasionally."

Customize these as you see fit for your uses. 

NOTE: Chat GPT's limitations include a lack of understanding of emotions and some personal experiences, an inability to provide real-time updates or news, and occasional inaccuracies in complex subject matters. The free version has knowledge only up until January 2022, and the paid version only until April 2023. However, the paid version can connect to the internet for real-time data access.

Step 5 — Save & Test

Click: Save to apply your settings
Start a new chat and ask a question to confirm your style and role are active
Adjust anytime: Reopen Custom Instructions to refine or disable. 
 
✅ Done!

You now have:

A free ChatGPT account
Privacy protections enabled
A personalized style and role applied to every conversation

Going forward, ChatGPT will respond in a more human voice and act as your Creative Edge Partner—helping you brainstorm, refine ideas, and get sharper results.

FREE Download of the Most Commonly Used Prompts is Available HERE

Looking to provide training for your team? Find out more information HERE or  contact Katie Directly with any questions: [email protected]