The Interface

Now that you have an account, let us take a guided tour of the ChatGPT interface. Knowing where everything is will help you work faster and avoid confusion. This lesson walks through every major element of the screen.

The Layout at a Glance

When you log into ChatGPT, you will see a simple layout with two main areas:

1. The sidebar on the left
2. The chat area in the center

That is the entire interface. ChatGPT is intentionally minimal, which makes it easy to learn. Let us break down each piece.

The Sidebar

The sidebar on the left side of the screen is your conversation history. Every time you start a new conversation with ChatGPT, it gets saved here with an auto-generated title.

Here is what you can do with the sidebar:

• Browse past conversations. Click any conversation title to reopen it and continue where you left off.
• Search conversations. Use the search bar at the top of the sidebar to find a past chat by keyword. This is useful when you remember writing a listing description last week but cannot remember which chat it was in.
• Rename conversations. Hover over a conversation title and click the pencil icon to give it a more descriptive name. We recommend renaming important chats so you can find them later --- for example, “123 Oak St Listing Description” is easier to find than “Chat from Tuesday.”
• Delete conversations. Hover over a conversation and click the trash icon to remove it permanently.
• Create folders or organize chats. Depending on your version, you may be able to group conversations. This is handy for separating listing work from marketing work.

Pro tip for agents: Start a new chat for each distinct task. If you are writing a listing description, start a new chat. If you then want to draft a follow-up email for a different client, start another new chat. This keeps your conversations organized and prevents ChatGPT from getting confused by mixing unrelated contexts.

The Chat Area

The center of the screen is where the conversation happens. This area has a few key elements:

The Message Input Box

At the bottom of the chat area, you will see a text box where you type your prompts. This is the primary way you interact with ChatGPT. Type your message, then press Enter (or click the send arrow) to submit it.

A few things to know about the input box:

• It expands. You can write long, multi-paragraph prompts. The box will grow as you type.
• Shift + Enter creates a new line without sending the message. Useful for formatting longer prompts.
• You can paste text from other sources. This is great for pasting a rough listing description or client email that you want ChatGPT to improve.
• Attachments. You can attach images or files (with a Plus subscription) using the paperclip icon. This is useful for uploading documents you want ChatGPT to analyze.

The Conversation Thread

Above the input box, you will see the conversation thread --- your messages and ChatGPT’s responses alternating back and forth. Each of your prompts appears on the right side, and ChatGPT’s responses appear on the left. The entire conversation history within a chat is visible by scrolling up.

Editing and Regenerating

Two useful features within the conversation thread:

• Edit a message. Hover over any of your previous prompts and you will see an edit icon. Click it to modify your prompt and resubmit it. ChatGPT will generate a new response based on your revised input. This is great when your first attempt did not get quite the right result.
• Regenerate response. If you do not like ChatGPT’s answer, click the regenerate button (a circular arrow icon) to have it try again. You will often get a different and sometimes better result.

The Model Selector

At the top of the chat area, you will see a model selector dropdown. This lets you choose which version of ChatGPT to use:

• GPT-3.5 --- Available on the free plan. Fast and capable for most tasks.
• GPT-4 --- Available on the Plus plan. Smarter, more nuanced, and better at complex tasks.
• GPT-4o --- The latest model. Fast and powerful, available in different amounts on free and paid plans.

For now, do not worry about which model to use. The free default works fine for learning. We will cover the differences in the “Free vs Plus” lesson.

Settings

Click your profile icon in the top-right (or bottom-left of the sidebar) to access Settings. The important options include:

• Custom instructions --- Tell ChatGPT about yourself so it remembers your preferences across all conversations. We will cover this in a later lesson.
• Data controls --- Manage whether your conversations are used for training.
• Theme --- Switch between light and dark mode.

Starting a New Chat

To begin a fresh conversation, click the “New chat” button at the top of the sidebar (or use the keyboard shortcut). This clears the conversation area and gives you a blank slate. Remember: new task, new chat.

Try It

Log into ChatGPT and explore the interface. Start a new chat, type “Hello, I’m a real estate agent” and press Enter. Then find that conversation in the sidebar and rename it to “Interface Test.” Finally, try editing your message to say “Hello, I’m a luxury real estate agent” and notice how the response changes.

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