# GPT-4.5 Retires from ChatGPT June 26 2026

> Published 2026-06-27 · https://www.promptzone.com/quinn_kovac/gpt-45-retires-from-chatgpt-june-26-2026-24dj

GPT-4.5 retires from ChatGPT on June 26, 2026. The change was flagged on [Grok AI News](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notes) and follows an earlier announcement from OpenAI.

Existing conversations that used GPT-4.5 will continue automatically on GPT-5.5. The retirement applies only to the ChatGPT consumer product and does not affect the OpenAI API.

## Retirement Scope and Timeline

GPT-4.5 becomes unavailable for new chats and for building or running custom GPTs after June 26, 2026. OpenAI stated the cutoff date in its release notes and confirmed it applies platform-wide within ChatGPT.

Users who open old threads will see the model switch to GPT-5.5 without manual action. No data loss occurs during the transition.


![GPT-4.5 Retires from ChatGPT June 26 2026](https://andcable.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Server-Rack-Typical-Components-1024x683.jpg)

## Migration Path for Existing Users

OpenAI routes ongoing GPT-4.5 threads to GPT-5.5 at the next message. Custom GPT owners must update their GPTs to a supported model before the cutoff to keep them functional.

Developers running batch evaluations or saved prompts should test GPT-5.5 output on the same inputs ahead of June 26.

## API Status Remains Unchanged

The OpenAI API continues to serve GPT-4.5 after the ChatGPT retirement date. Only the ChatGPT web and mobile interfaces lose access.

Teams that rely on the API for production workloads face no immediate change from this announcement.

## Comparison with GPT-5.5

| Feature              | GPT-4.5 (until June 26) | GPT-5.5 (after switch) |
|----------------------|-------------------------|------------------------|
| ChatGPT availability | Ends June 26 2026      | Active                 |
| Custom GPT support   | Ends June 26 2026      | Active                 |
| API access           | Continues              | Continues              |
| Conversation continuity | Manual switch required | Automatic              |

Early internal benchmarks shared by OpenAI show GPT-5.5 improves reasoning accuracy over GPT-4.5 on standard evaluation sets while maintaining similar latency.

## Who This Affects Most

Power users and teams that built custom GPTs around GPT-4.5 must migrate before the deadline. Casual users with saved threads experience only the automatic model swap.

API-only customers and researchers using the developer platform see no disruption.

## Practical Next Steps

- Export any custom GPT configurations before June 26.
- Run side-by-side tests of GPT-5.5 on representative prompts.
- Update documentation that references GPT-4.5 model IDs.

> **Bottom line:** The retirement forces ChatGPT users to adopt GPT-5.5 while leaving API access intact.

OpenAI has not announced further consumer-model retirements beyond this date.