ChatGPT's 3 Modes: 15 Tasks To Try

You did not imagine it. ChatGPT looks different, and the story going around is backwards.

It did not break into three pieces. On July 9, 2026, OpenAI merged its Codex app back into ChatGPT (their launch announcement has the full story). Two apps became one, so ChatGPT now has three modes under one roof, not three apps. It feels like a split only because the three really do behave like different products.

Here is the one line that sorts all of it. Chat gives you thinking. Work gives you a finished file or a real action inside an app you connected. Codex gives you something that runs. Name which one you want before you type, and you are ahead of most people.

Below are fifteen, five per mode, each a copy-paste prompt to fill in with your own details. They work whether you have a 9-to-5, run your own thing, or just want your life more handled. Steal them.

The Menu Is Nested, Not One Switch

This trips up almost everybody. There is a product selector with two options, ChatGPT and Codex. Then, inside ChatGPT, a Chat / Work toggle sits right above the box you type in. Codex is not a third spot on that toggle. It lives one level up. So "switch to Codex" means leave ChatGPT, not flip the toggle.

The map first. The last column is the whole decision: what kind of thing do you want handed back?

Mode	Where you find it	What comes out
Chat	Left side of the toggle inside ChatGPT	Thinking. Answers, arguments, drafts, a second opinion.
Work	Right side of the same toggle	A finished file, or a real action in a connected app.
Codex	The other option in the product selector, one level up	Something that runs. A site, a script, a change to your files.

Work and Codex are two faces of one engine. You are not picking a smarter tool, you are picking the shape of the result: a document, or something that runs.

Plugins Do Not Work In Plain Chat

This is the single most common reason a request quietly fails. Plugins are what let ChatGPT reach into your other tools like Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, and GitHub, with a whole directory of more. They run in Work and Codex, not in plain Chat. So if you ask Chat to read your inbox, it cannot, and it will not always tell you why. When a request does nothing, this is usually it.

Chat is for what happens in your head. Nothing gets saved or sent, and that is the point. This is where you think out loud with something that actually pushes back.

Chat · Task One

The decision you keep flip-flopping on

Make it argue every side and name the risk you are underrating, instead of rubber-stamping what you already want. A job move, a big purchase, a business call.

Copy-paste prompt

I keep going back and forth on a decision, and I want you to think it through with me, not just agree with me. The decision: [WHAT YOU'RE DECIDING] What matters most to me here: [YOUR PRIORITIES / CONSTRAINTS] What I'm leaning toward, and why: [YOUR CURRENT LEAN] Do this: 1. Lay out the real options, including any I haven't named. 2. Give the strongest honest case FOR each one. 3. Tell me the biggest risk I'm underweighting. 4. Ask me up to 3 questions if something important is missing. 5. Then give me your recommendation, how confident you are, and what would change your mind. Push back if my reasoning is weak. I would rather be challenged now than wrong later.

Chat · Task Two

The message you are nervous to send

The hard email or awkward text you have rewritten five times and still might send wrong. Get it clear and kind in one pass.

Copy-paste prompt

Help me write something I'm nervous to send. The situation: [WHO IT'S TO AND WHAT'S GOING ON] My rough draft or bullet points: [PASTE / NOTES] The tone I want: [e.g. warm but firm, kind but honest, short and professional] Give me: 1. A clean version that says the hard part clearly, with no passive-aggression and no over-apologizing. 2. A softer version and a more direct version, so I can choose. 3. One line I could add if they push back. Keep it in my voice. Do not make it sound like a corporate template.

Chat · Task Three

Rehearse the high-stakes conversation

A raise, a client negotiation, a hard talk with someone you love. Have the bad version first, with nobody watching.

Copy-paste prompt

Role-play a conversation with me so I can practice before the real thing. The conversation: [WHAT IT IS, e.g. asking for a raise, renegotiating a contract, a hard personal talk] Who you're playing: [THE OTHER PERSON AND THEIR LIKELY MINDSET] What I want to walk away with: [YOUR GOAL] Play them realistically and a little resistant. Raise one objection at a time and wait for my answer. Do not go easy on me. After about 6 exchanges, stop and tell me: where I was convincing, where I got weak, and the two lines I should actually use on the day.

Chat · Task Four

Empty your head and get a plan

Dump everything you are carrying and get back a sorted, prioritized week. A job, a business, or just life.

Copy-paste prompt

I'm overwhelmed and it's all in my head. I'm going to dump it, and I want you to turn it into a plan. Everything on my plate right now: [BRAIN DUMP, MESSY IS FINE] Do this: 1. Sort it into: do this week, can wait, and should probably drop. 2. Flag anything that's actually urgent or has a real deadline. 3. Tell me the 3 things to do first, and why those three. 4. Point out anything I'm treating as one task that's really several. Be honest about what I'm overcommitting to.

Chat · Task Five

Understand something confusing, fast

Turn any intimidating topic, a contract clause, a health term, a new tool, into the one idea it hangs on.

Copy-paste prompt

Teach me [TOPIC / THE THING I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND] like I'm smart but completely new to it. Do it in this order: 1. The single most important idea, the one everything else hangs on. 2. A plain, real-world analogy. 3. How it actually works, step by step, no jargon (or define any term you have to use). 4. The most common mistake beginners make. 5. One thing I could do or try today to make it click. If I've given you something specific to react to, use my real example: [PASTE ANYTHING RELEVANT]

Work is the one to actually learn. It is on every plan and it hands you a finished thing, not a wall of text. The test for whether a task belongs here: would you have opened another app to finish it?

Work · Task One

Research it, hand me a finished document

Not notes you turn into a doc at 11pm. The actual brief, deck, or report, with sources and a recommendation.

Copy-paste prompt

Research this and give me back a finished document I could actually use or send, not just notes. What I need researched: [TOPIC / QUESTION / LIST] Who it's for and what they care about: [AUDIENCE] What I want at the end: [e.g. a one-page brief, an 8-slide deck, a comparison table] Rules: - Put a short summary and your recommendation at the very top. - Cite your sources so I can check them. - Flag anything you're unsure about instead of guessing. - Export it as [.docx / .pdf / slides] so it's ready to use.

Work · Task Two

Clean up a messy file

The export nobody wants to touch. Get back an editable spreadsheet you can trust, with every change explained.

Copy-paste prompt

Here's a messy [spreadsheet / export / list]: [ATTACH OR PASTE] Clean it up and give it back to me usable: 1. Remove duplicates and fix the obvious formatting problems (dates, capitalization, blank rows). 2. Tell me exactly what you changed, so I can trust it. 3. Add [a summary at the top / totals / a simple breakdown by [CATEGORY]]. 4. Give it back as an editable spreadsheet with real formulas, not a picture of a table. If something looks wrong or inconsistent, point it out instead of silently fixing it.

Work · Task Three

A recurring update that runs without you

Set it once. Every week it pulls what matters and hands you a one-page summary. Needs one app connected.

Copy-paste prompt

Set this up to run on a schedule so I don't have to remember it. Every [DAY AND TIME], I want you to: 1. Pull [SOURCE, e.g. a channel, folder, or sheet you've connected]. 2. Summarize [what changed / what needs my attention / the numbers that matter]. 3. [Email it to me / drop it in a doc] as a short one-page update. Keep it skimmable: the 3 things I actually need to know at the top, details below. Tell me now if you need me to connect an app first.

Work · Task Four

Combine scattered pieces into one deliverable

Six files and a notes doc into one clean proposal, in your format, ready to send. The 11pm assembly job, gone.

Copy-paste prompt

I have a bunch of scattered pieces and I need one clean [proposal / report / summary / plan] out of them. Everything I have: [ATTACH FILES / PASTE NOTES] The format and tone I want: [e.g. our house style, formal, friendly] Who's going to read it: [AUDIENCE] Do this: 1. Pull it into one coherent document. 2. Where there are gaps, fill them with clearly-labeled assumptions I can check. 3. Flag anything that contradicts itself across the pieces. 4. Export as [.docx / .pdf] so it's ready to send.

Work · Task Five

Triage your inbox with replies drafted

Sorting is the easy half. The value is the urgent replies, already drafted in your voice, waiting for you to hit send.

Copy-paste prompt

Go through [my inbox / messages] from [this week] that I haven't dealt with. 1. Sort them into: needs a real reply, can wait, and ignore. 2. For the ones that need a reply, draft a response in my voice, short and human. 3. Flag anything time-sensitive, or anything that could quietly become a problem. Do not send anything. Just leave the drafts ready for me to review and send.

Before drafts and actions work: writing to your apps is off by default, and even once on, it defaults to asking you every time. On Business and Enterprise, an admin enables it per app in Workspace settings. If your drafts never appear, that is why.

Codex sounds like it is for engineers. It is not, but it has two gates to clear first, so read these before you try anything. You can download Codex and its desktop app here.

Gate One: Sites Needs Plus Or Above

Sites, the flagship Codex feature for people who do not code, requires Plus or above. It is not on Free or Go, and it is unavailable in the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK. Check before you plan around it.

Gate Two: The Read-Only Folder Trap

The failure almost everyone hits in the first hour. Normal folders like Documents default to read-only. Codex can read your files, then quietly fail to change a single one. You have to grant write access when it asks. If it "did the work" but nothing changed, this is it.

One honest note: OpenAI itself points non-coders toward Work, not Codex. Open Codex anyway for one reason: it gets you far enough to prototype something and learn whether it is worth paying a pro to finish.

Codex · Task One

Clean up a folder of files

The 400 files you were never going to rename by hand. Renamed, sorted, done, no code required.

Copy-paste prompt

Open this folder: [FOLDER]. I have a mess of files I was never going to fix by hand. What I want: 1. [Rename / reorganize / convert] everything by this rule: [YOUR RULE, e.g. rename to YYYY-MM-Description, sort into subfolders by year]. 2. Show me your plan first and let me approve it before you touch anything. 3. Then do it, and tell me exactly what changed. Grant write access when it asks, or nothing will actually change on my computer.

Codex · Task Two

Turn a boring monthly task into a button

The same tedious hour every month, built into something you re-run in one click. The lowest-risk way in.

Copy-paste prompt

Every [WEEK / MONTH] I do this by hand and I'm tired of it: [DESCRIBE THE TASK, STEP BY STEP]. Build me something I can re-run that does it for me: 1. It takes [INPUT, e.g. this kind of file or export] and produces [OUTPUT, e.g. this formatted summary] the same way every time. 2. Explain in plain English how to run it, like I've never done this before. 3. Make it easy to tweak later when the inputs change. Start by telling me what you'll build and what you need from me.

Codex · Task Three

Build a simple tool people can actually use

A tracker, checklist, or calculator, published to a link your team, a client, or your family can open. Sites needs Plus.

Copy-paste prompt

Build me a simple [tracker / checklist / calculator / dashboard] for [PURPOSE, e.g. tracking projects, chores, orders, a budget]. 1. Let me [add / update / check off] things easily, no spreadsheet skills needed. 2. Keep it clean and obvious to use. 3. Publish it so [only me / my team / my family] can open it in a browser with a link. Ask me what fields or columns it should have before you build, if that would help.

Codex · Task Four

Build and publish a one-page site

A real page, live, for your service, an event, or a portfolio, with a form built in. Sites needs Plus.

Copy-paste prompt

Build me a clean one-page [website / landing page / event page] for [PURPOSE, e.g. my new service, an event, a portfolio]. Include: [e.g. a headline and short description, an email sign-up form, a simple pricing section, an RSVP button]. Style: [e.g. minimal, warm, bold; match my colors: [COLORS]]. When it's ready, publish it to a link I can share, and walk me through anything I need to do on my end.

Codex · Task Five

Understand something you own, then improve it

Codex doubles as a tutor. Have it explain your own setup in plain English, then fix one thing.

Copy-paste prompt

Open [this folder / these files]: [WHAT IT IS]. First, before changing anything: explain in plain English what each part does and how it fits together, like you're teaching me my own setup. Then make this one improvement: [SPECIFIC CHANGE, e.g. make it work on phones, fix the thing that's broken, add this feature]. Go one step at a time and tell me what you're doing as you go, so I actually learn it instead of just getting a result.

Work and Codex share one usage pool. They are the same engine, so they draw from the same allowance. A long Codex session on Tuesday can quietly eat the budget you were saving for Friday's report, and nothing warns you at the time.
Free and Go are real, just small. Work is on every plan, but Free and Go get a small shared allowance, and the desktop app is the most reliable place to find the toggle. If you cannot see it on the web, check the desktop app before deciding you do not have it.
The agent tasks are paid-only. Agentic browsing and heavier automations work on every paid plan, not on Free or Go. If you are on Free, that is not where to start.
Computer Use on Windows takes over your screen. It runs on your active desktop, so it cannot work quietly in the background. You watch the cursor move. On a Mac, grant Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions first.

If you use Claude too, the shapes line up almost exactly. Same three jobs, different logos.

The job	OpenAI	Anthropic
Thinking with you	Chat	Claude
Office work, finished files	Work	Cowork
Building things that run	Codex	Claude Code

The twist worth carrying: Work is on every ChatGPT plan including Free, while Claude's Cowork is paid-only. OpenAI is handing agentic work to everybody; Anthropic is charging for it. I go deeper on the two in ChatGPT Work vs Claude Cowork.

If You Only Do One Thing This Week

Pick one Work task from Part Three and run it today. Not all five. Work is on every plan, it needs no setup beyond connecting one app, and the difference is obvious fast. Once one lands, the other fourteen stop feeling like homework.

The mistake is not picking the wrong mode. It is doing all three jobs in Chat because that is the one you know, then deciding the new stuff is overhyped. Ask for the file. Ask for the action. Ask for the thing that runs. Different question, different tool, completely different afternoon.

ChatGPT's Three ModesAnd 15 Tasks To Try

ChatGPT's Three Modes
And 15 Tasks To Try