Not Just Chat: 10 Hidden ChatGPT Features & Tools You’re Probably Ignoring

Most people interact with ChatGPT in the most boring way possible: they open the app, type a question, get an answer, and close the tab. It’s like buying a Ferrari and only using it to drive 20 mph in a school zone. You’re technically using the car, but you’re missing the point entirely.

If you think ChatGPT is just a text generator, you’re operating on 2023 logic. By late 2024 and early 2025, OpenAI quietly rolled out a suite of features that turned this chatbot into a full-fledged operating system. It can now run code, see the world, memorize your preferences, and even "talk" to other AI agents inside the same conversation.

I’ve spent thousands of hours pushing this tool to its breaking point. In doing so, I found that the real power isn't in the "chat"—it's in the settings menu, the hidden icons, and the advanced capabilities most users never click.

Here are the 10 hidden features and tools that will move you from "Casual User" to "Power User" immediately.

1. Advanced Data Analysis (The Excel Killer)

Formerly known as "Code Interpreter"

This is, without exaggeration, the most powerful feature in the entire OpenAI ecosystem. Yet, I see data analysts sweating over Excel formulas while this feature sits unused in their sidebar.

What it does: It doesn't just write code; it runs Python code in a secure sandbox. You can upload an Excel file, a CSV, or even a messy PDF, and ask ChatGPT to clean it, analyze it, and visualize it.

Real-World Use Case: Don’t ask: "How do I calculate the average in Excel?" Do this instead: Upload your unformatted sales report (CSV) and prompt: "Clean this data, remove rows with missing values, and create a trend graph showing our month-over-month growth. Then, give me a downloadable Excel file with the cleaned data." It will do the work of a junior data analyst in 30 seconds, providing you with a chart and a file download link.

2. The "@" Mention Feature (Multi-Agent Workflow)

Did you know you can summon different AI experts into a single conversation? This feature, borrowed from tools like Slack or Discord, allows you to tag specific Custom GPTs right in the chat bar.

Why it matters: You no longer need to switch chats to use different tools. You can create a "Super-Thread."

The Workflow:

Start a chat with standard ChatGPT to brainstorm a blog post idea.
Type @ and select Canva to generate a banner image for that post.
Type @ and select Consensus to find academic papers backing up your claims.
Type @ and select ScholarAI to read those papers.

All of this happens in one continuous timeline. It’s seamless context sharing between specialized bots.

3. Vision: The "Fix My Fridge" Feature

We often forget that ChatGPT has eyes. The multimodal capabilities (GPT-4V) allow it to analyze images with startling accuracy. But don't just use it to describe photos—use it to solve physical problems.

The "Hidden" Utility:

Tech Support: Take a photo of your confusing TV remote or the back of your router. Ask: "Which cable goes where?"
Cooking: Open your fridge, take a snap of the random ingredients you have left. Ask: "What can I cook with this? Give me a recipe that takes under 20 minutes."
Handwriting to Text: Take a picture of your whiteboard notes after a meeting. Ask: "Transcribe this into a bulleted list and email it to me."

Pro Tip: You can use the "Markup" tool on your phone to circle a specific part of the image before sending it, directing ChatGPT’s attention exactly where you need it.

4. Custom Instructions (The "No Fluff" Switch)

Are you tired of typing "Please don't use the phrase 'In the ever-evolving landscape'..." every single time? Custom Instructions are the solution, but most people leave them blank.

This setting consists of two boxes:

What should ChatGPT know about you? (e.g., "I am a Python developer," "I am a busy mom.")
How would you like ChatGPT to respond?

The "Power User" Setup: Paste this into the second box to instantly upgrade your quality of life:

"Be highly concise. Do not lecture me on safety or ethics unless specifically asked. Do not start responses with 'Certainly!' or 'Here is the answer.' If you are writing code, give me the code block immediately with comments explaining the 'why'. If you don't know the answer, say 'I don't know,' don't guess."

This global setting applies to every new chat, saving you millions of tokens of wasted pleasantries over a year.

5. Memory Management (Bio-Hack Your AI)

In 2025, ChatGPT has "Memory." It learns details about you over time. If you mention your daughter is named "Lily" and she loves dinosaurs, it remembers that three weeks later when you ask for birthday gift ideas.

The Hidden Control: Many users find this creepy, or worse, annoying (when it remembers the wrong thing). You can actually edit the brain.

Go to Settings > Personalization > Memory.
Here, you can see every specific fact it has stored about you.
The Hack: You can actively teach it. Tell it: "Remember that I prefer all meeting summaries to be in Markdown format." Then check the Memory tab to ensure it locked that preference in.

6. Temporary Chat (Incognito Mode)

Sometimes you want to ask a stupid question, or research a sensitive medical topic, or analyze confidential data that you don't want used for model training.

Click the model name at the top left (GPT-4o), and toggle "Temporary Chat."

Why use it?

Privacy: These chats are not saved to your history and (crucially) are not used by OpenAI to train their models.
Clean History: Keeps your sidebar from getting cluttered with "How to boil an egg" or "What is that song that goes na-na-na."

7. Voice Mode (The Commute Companion)

I’m not talking about the old "speech-to-text" feature. I’m talking about the Advanced Voice Mode (the little headphone icon on the mobile app).

This isn't just Siri; it’s a latency-free conversation partner. It understands interruptions, tone of voice, and breathing.

How to use it for productivity:

The "Mock Interview": Put on your headphones while walking the dog. Tell ChatGPT: "Act as a hiring manager for a Senior Product Manager role at Google. Grill me on my resume. Interrupt me if I ramble."
The "Brain Dump": Rambling your thoughts while driving is often easier than typing. Ask it to "Just listen to me vent about my project for 5 minutes, then summarize my key blockers."

8. "Edit Image" with DALL-E (In-Painting)

Generating images with AI is hit-or-miss. Usually, you get a perfect image, but the hands are weird, or there's a random text blob in the corner. Most people regenerate the whole image hoping for a better result.

The Hidden Tool: Click on the image DALL-E generated. Look for the Select / Edit tool (usually a paintbrush icon). You can now "paint" over just the bad part (e.g., the weird hand) and type a new prompt: "Fix the hand to be holding a coffee cup." It keeps the rest of the image identical and only regenerates the selected area. This "In-painting" capability turns DALL-E from a toy into a professional design tool.

9. Archive vs. Delete (The Folder System)

If you are a heavy user, your sidebar is a mess. You probably scroll endlessly to find that one prompt from last month.

The Fix: Stop deleting chats. Use Archive.

Delete: Gone forever.
Archive: Removes it from the sidebar but keeps it searchable.
Search: The search bar (Command+K or Ctrl+K) is powerful. It searches inside the content of your chats, not just the titles. If you Archive your work, you are essentially building a searchable "Second Brain" of everything you’ve ever brainstormed.

10. The "Read Aloud" Button (For Content Proofing)

This is a tiny button below every response that looks like a speaker. It seems trivial, but for writers, it’s a secret weapon.

The Writer's Hack: When you use ChatGPT to draft an email or an article, don't just read it. Hit the Read Aloud button. Hearing the AI read the text back to you reveals clunky phrasing, robotic sentences, and weird rhythm that your eyes skimmed over. If it sounds like AI when read aloud, it is AI. Rewrite it until it sounds human.

Conclusion: You Are The Bottleneck

The gap between an "average" ChatGPT user and a "pro" isn't about coding skills or expensive subscriptions. It's about curiosity.

The features listed above—Advanced Data Analysis, Vision, Memory, Custom Instructions—are the difference between having a chatty encyclopedia and having a tireless executive assistant.

So, here is your homework: Pick one feature from this list that you haven't used before. Maybe it's setting up your Custom Instructions to stop the fluff. Maybe it's uploading a spreadsheet to analyze your finances. Try it today. Stop chatting, and start operating.