What’s Happening and Who Needs This Guide
This guide to ChatGPT data export explains how to save ChatGPT conversations, Atlas browser data, and DALL-E image downloads before announced shutdown dates so your AI work, files, and images remain safely available for future use and reference across new tools and browsers.
Two deadlines matter here: the ChatGPT Atlas browser stops working on August 9, 2026, which means its bookmarks, open tabs and browsing history will no longer be available if you do nothing. At the same time, the official DALL-E GPT for image generation is being retired on August 30, and users are told to download any images they want to keep before then. This article is for anyone who relies on ChatGPT for research, visual work, or managed AI setups at work. You need access to your ChatGPT account, Atlas (if you still have it installed), and a place to store exported files. The one big caveat: cookies and session files are sensitive, so you must treat them like passwords when you export them.
One Timeline: From Atlas Shutdown to DALL-E Retirement
Think of this as a two-stop journey. First, you deal with the Atlas shutdown; then you rescue your images. The Atlas browser is scheduled to stop working on August 9, 2026, leaving users little time to preserve browser data and test a replacement. That means your AI browsing agent, stored bookmarks and browsing history tied to Atlas won’t follow you automatically. Meanwhile, the official DALL-E GPT will disappear on August 30, and the advice is clear: “download any images you want to keep before August 30”.
One common mistake is assuming bookmarks transfer themselves when you move to the ChatGPT desktop app or another browser; they do not. Another is thinking images tied to chats will survive forever; deleting a conversation deletes the images that live inside it. The goal of this guide is to help you schedule a single, calm migration session instead of dealing with scattered emergencies as features disappear.
Step-by-Step: Export Atlas Data and Download DALL-E Images
Here is the practical walkthrough. Set aside an hour, grab a notepad, and move through this sequence once. The idea is to walk out with your bookmarks, cookies where needed, and every image you care about backed up on your own device.
- Export your Atlas bookmarks as an HTML file, following OpenAI’s Atlas migration guidance, then import them into another browser so your key links survive the shutdown.
- Review Atlas browsing history and any important open tabs, and either bookmark those pages or record them elsewhere because open tabs and history may not carry over.
- Use Atlas’s cookie-export options where they are available, treating cookie and session files as sensitive because they may provide access to authenticated accounts, and expect to sign in again later since cookies cannot be imported into another browser.
- Open ChatGPT in your chosen app or browser, go to the Images section, open each DALL-E image you want to keep, and select Save to download it to your device before August 30.
- Search for older conversations that contain images, remembering that deleting a ChatGPT conversation deletes the images stored with it, and download artwork tied to those chats before removing any conversation.
The real gotcha is order: export and verify everything before you uninstall Atlas or clean up old chats. A verified export, successful workflow test, and controlled removal will reduce disruption when Atlas stops working. On the image side, OpenAI has not explained exactly what happens to stored DALL-E GPT images after retirement, so you should assume “once the retirement takes effect, there may not be another chance” to recover them.
Guard Rails for IT Teams and Shared Workspaces
If you run an IT team or manage shared ChatGPT workspaces, your to-do list is broader than a single user’s. You need to know where Atlas is installed, what data lives there, and which workflows depend on browser-based agents. Guidance states that IT teams should identify Atlas installations, tell affected users to preserve necessary data, confirm that replacement tools are enabled for the correct workspace, and update internal documentation.
AI browser migrations also require a security review, because research has shown how malicious web content can trick browsing agents into exposing credentials when they have access to logged-in accounts. Before removing Atlas, a workflow owner should sign in to the correct workspace, open an existing Project, confirm that prior conversations and files are present, and complete a representative task before deployment. IT should also document missing data, unsupported actions, login failures and permission changes before approving the replacement. In practice, that documentation becomes your post-migration checklist and helps avoid giving agents broad permissions without oversight.
What You End Up With and What to Watch For
If you follow the steps above, you end up with your Atlas bookmarks imported into a supported browser, your most important history captured, and your DALL-E images safe on devices you control. That preparation matters because Atlas should be removed only after those checks are complete. On the conversational side, ChatGPT conversations are separate from Atlas browser data and should remain accessible, subject to your plan, workspace settings and account access.
For images, the core experience of creating pictures in ChatGPT continues through ChatGPT Images, which uses newer models; for most people, creating images in ChatGPT will not change much once the official DALL-E GPT is gone. The catch is historical work: you must check your Image Library and save older images you still care about. In short: the migration work is worth it. You avoid last-minute scrambles, keep your AI workflows intact, and give yourself room to test new tools without losing what you have already built.
