By ChatGPT usage limits and when they reset
Each ChatGPT limit runs on its own clock. See the reset window for every plan and allowance, and learn where to read the exact time for your account.
ChatGPT usage limits do not share one reset time. Each allowance runs on its own clock, so the answer to "when do I get it back" depends on which limit you reached. The OpenAI pages we opened list no fixed reset hour, so the exact time for your account is the one shown in Settings > Usage.
When do ChatGPT usage limits reset?
These are the main clocks, from OpenAI's pages as of 4 November 2026:
- Work and Codex on Plus and Business Standard: a five-hour window and a weekly window. You need allowance left in both.
- Work and Codex on Pro: a weekly allowance. Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit.
- Work and Codex on Go: a monthly allowance. The pages we opened give no reset day for it.
- Voice in Chat: a rolling 24-hour period.
- File uploads: a rolling quota of up to 80 files every 3 hours. Free users have a lower limit of 3 uploads per day.
Everyday text chat on Free and Go has no count to wait for. Both plans have unlimited everyday text chats, subject to abuse-prevention safeguards.
Work is the agent feature inside ChatGPT, and Codex is OpenAI's coding agent. They matter here because they draw from one shared allowance. If you want the plan details behind that allowance, read how Codex usage works on a ChatGPT subscription.
The reset table: every plan and allowance
Each row shows one allowance on one plan. "Not published" means the OpenAI pages we opened give no window for that row. It does not mean the limit has no window. The last column names the page we relied on, and the links are further down.
The data behind this chart
[
{
"plan": "Free",
"allowance": "Everyday text chat",
"resets": "No reset needed. Unlimited, subject to abuse-prevention safeguards.",
"page": "Using ChatGPT's Free plan"
},
{
"plan": "Free",
"allowance": "File uploads",
"resets": "Daily limit of 3 uploads. Reset hour not published.",
"page": "Uploading files and audio"
},
{
"plan": "Free",
"allowance": "Work and Codex",
"resets": "Window not published. Read the time in the product.",
"page": "Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan"
},
{
"plan": "Free",
"allowance": "Voice in Chat",
"resets": "Rolling 24 hours. Limited access, and limits may change.",
"page": "ChatGPT Voice"
},
{
"plan": "Go",
"allowance": "Everyday text chat",
"resets": "No reset needed. Unlimited, subject to abuse-prevention safeguards.",
"page": "What is ChatGPT Go"
},
{
"plan": "Go",
"allowance": "Work and Codex",
"resets": "Monthly allowance. Reset day not published.",
"page": "How resets work in Codex"
},
{
"plan": "Go",
"allowance": "Voice in Chat",
"resets": "Rolling 24 hours, with 3 hours of use.",
"page": "ChatGPT Voice"
},
{
"plan": "Plus",
"allowance": "Work and Codex",
"resets": "Five-hour window and weekly window.",
"page": "How resets work in Codex"
},
{
"plan": "Plus",
"allowance": "Voice in Chat",
"resets": "Rolling 24 hours, with 3 hours of use.",
"page": "ChatGPT Voice"
},
{
"plan": "Business Standard",
"allowance": "Work and Codex",
"resets": "Five-hour window and weekly window.",
"page": "How resets work in Codex"
},
{
"plan": "Business Standard",
"allowance": "Voice in Chat",
"resets": "Rolling 24 hours, with 3 hours of use, then credits.",
"page": "ChatGPT Voice"
},
{
"plan": "Business Premium",
"allowance": "Work and Codex",
"resets": "Included. Window not published.",
"page": "Managing usage with GPT-6 Astra"
},
{
"plan": "Business Premium",
"allowance": "Voice in Chat",
"resets": "Rolling 24 hours, with 15 hours of use, then credits.",
"page": "ChatGPT Voice"
},
{
"plan": "Pro $100, $200, $500",
"allowance": "Work and Codex",
"resets": "Weekly allowance. No five-hour limit.",
"page": "How resets work in Codex"
},
{
"plan": "Pro $100, $200, $500",
"allowance": "GPT-6 Pro in Chat",
"resets": "Weekly message limit, separate from Work and Codex.",
"page": "Pro plan article"
},
{
"plan": "Pro $100",
"allowance": "Voice in Chat",
"resets": "Rolling 24 hours, with 15 hours of use.",
"page": "ChatGPT Voice"
},
{
"plan": "Pro $200",
"allowance": "Voice in Chat",
"resets": "Unlimited, subject to abuse guardrails.",
"page": "ChatGPT Voice"
},
{
"plan": "Enterprise and Edu, flexible pricing",
"allowance": "Work and Codex",
"resets": "No fixed rate limits. Usage scales with credits.",
"page": "ChatGPT Learn pricing"
},
{
"plan": "Enterprise and Edu, no flexible pricing",
"allowance": "Most features",
"resets": "Same per-seat limits as Plus.",
"page": "ChatGPT Learn pricing"
},
{
"plan": "General rule",
"allowance": "File uploads",
"resets": "Rolling quota of up to 80 files every 3 hours.",
"page": "Uploading files and audio"
},
{
"plan": "General rule",
"allowance": "Thinking and other models in Chat",
"resets": "Window not published. ChatGPT shows the time when it is available.",
"page": "GPT-6 and other models"
},
{
"plan": "General rule",
"allowance": "Image generation in Chat",
"resets": "Own limit and reset period. Length not published.",
"page": "Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan"
}
]The voice table has no row for Pro $500, so we do not state a voice limit for that plan. Business Premium has no window in the table because the page that lists the five-hour estimates names Standard Business only, and the banked reset page does the same.
How do you read the reset time in ChatGPT?
The time in the product is more reliable than any table, including this one. Use the place that matches the limit you reached.
- Work and Codex: open Settings > Usage. OpenAI says this page shows which limit you reached and when it resets. In the desktop app the setting is under Settings > Usage & billing.
- Codex CLI: type
/statusduring an active session. - Chat models: read the notice in the conversation. OpenAI says ChatGPT shows the reset time "when that information is available", so some limits may show no time.
- File uploads: read the error message. ChatGPT does not show how much of the rolling upload quota remains. If the error shows a retry time, wait until that time.
Check Settings > Usage again after any reset, because a reset can move your schedule. OpenAI's words are: "When a reset restarts a usage period, the new schedule replaces the old one."
OpenAI Support will not change this for you. Its Codex page says Support does not reset ChatGPT or Codex usage limits.
How the five-hour and weekly windows work
The five-hour window does not run on clock hours. A new window starts when you send your first message in Work or Codex after the previous window ends. This means a window can start at any time of day, and your reset time moves with your own use.
You can also reach the limit early. The five-hour limit controls how much work fits in one window, so you can use it up before five hours have passed. This can happen while you still have weekly usage left. The reverse is also true. Where both limits apply, you need allowance in both, so an empty weekly allowance stops you even when a new five-hour window is open.
The pages we opened state no general start day for the weekly window. They give one clear case. After a purchased reset, the new weekly period starts with your first Work or Codex request, and the next automatic reset is 7 days after that request. Do not assume the same rule for a week that did not start with a reset. Read the date in Settings > Usage.
If you reach a limit during an active turn, the agent can continue working on that turn, subject to fair-use limits.
What fits in a five-hour window on Plus
OpenAI publishes estimates for Plus and Standard Business on its pricing page. The figures are local messages per five-hour period, and they are the same for both plans. They are ranges, and OpenAI says they are not fixed message limits.
The data behind this chart
[
{
"label": "GPT-6 Astra",
"low_estimate": 5,
"high_estimate": 45
},
{
"label": "GPT-6.1 Sol",
"low_estimate": 15,
"high_estimate": 160
},
{
"label": "GPT-6.1 Terra",
"low_estimate": 35,
"high_estimate": 285
},
{
"label": "GPT-6 Sol",
"low_estimate": 15,
"high_estimate": 150
},
{
"label": "GPT-6 Luna",
"low_estimate": 350,
"high_estimate": "3,000"
}
]GPT-6.1 Terra shows 35 to 285 messages. GPT-6 Astra shows 5 to 45, so your choice of model changes how fast the window empties. For what each model is for, see how GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna differ in ChatGPT.
Image generation also changes the speed. The same page says image generation counts toward these general limits, and uses them 3 to 5 times faster on average than similar turns without images. The Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan page says ChatGPT image generation has its own limits, reset periods and banners. Your banner tells you which one you reached.
Can you get your usage back before the reset?
Sometimes, and the options depend on your plan. OpenAI lists these choices at a limit: wait for the reset, use a saved reset, or continue with eligible credits.
Banked resets
A banked reset is a free, one-time reset saved to your account for later use. It is a promotion. OpenAI calls free banked and automatic resets "discretionary promotional benefits, with no guaranteed availability or schedule". So do not plan around getting one. It is not cash, API credits or a transferable balance.
A full banked reset restores each covered allowance that is below 100%:
- Go: the monthly allowance.
- Plus and Business Standard: the 5-hour and weekly allowances.
- Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500: the weekly allowance.
At least one covered allowance must have less than 80% remaining. If every covered allowance is at 80% or higher, the reset stays saved. Redeem it in the desktop app under Settings > Usage & billing, on the web in Usage settings, or in the Codex CLI with /usage and "Redeem reset", if your version shows that option. You cannot redeem it in the mobile app. Use it before the expiry time shown in your account or offer.
A banked reset does not touch image generation, file uploads or regular Chat Voice, because those limits are separate.
Automatic resets
An automatic reset, which OpenAI also calls a global reset, is applied directly to the accounts and limits selected for an offer. You do nothing, and it is not saved to your balance.
Paid resets
Customers on Plus and Pro can buy an instant reset, though availability varies by account. Free, Go, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans cannot. It restores 5-hour and weekly usage as soon as checkout succeeds, and it cannot be saved for later.
A paid reset gives you no extra usage. It "pulls your normal weekly allowance forward rather than adding a separate usage entitlement". OpenAI shows the price at checkout and prints none on the help page, and it says it generally does not offer refunds for these purchases.
Credits and upgrades
If you reach a Codex limit on Plus or Pro, you will see an option to add credits. After the limit, usage draws from your credit balance. Only a limited group of Free and Go users can buy credits, and credits do not raise a Free or Go plan's included limit. Business, Edu and Enterprise plans with flexible pricing can buy workspace credits.
A Free user who reaches a limit has one more route. OpenAI's Free plan page says "your usage rates will reset when you update your account to a Plus plan, a Pro plan, or a Business plan". Before you pay for that, compare what ChatGPT Plus costs and what its limits are.
What changes in December?
OpenAI's help page Understanding ChatGPT and Codex usage limits says: "Starting in December, Plus, Pro, and Business plans' usage allowance will be shared across ChatGPT and Codex". The page gives no day and no year. We read it on 4 November 2026 and found no OpenAI page that shows the change in effect, so the table above describes today.
The same page says usage will be counted in tokens and will vary by model and task. Instant chat will not draw from the allowance. Your combined remaining usage and reset times will appear in Settings > Usage. Check that page again in December, because a shared allowance would change the Chat rows in the table.
Which page says what about Free and Go models
OpenAI's pages name different models for Free and Go, so we name the page for each claim.
- The pricing page lists "GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout" for both plans.
- The Free plan article says Free users have access to GPT-5.6 Luna.
- The Go article says Think uses GPT-5.6 Luna, and that Go does not include GPT-5.6 Sol.
- The models article says Free and Go users can use Think, which runs on GPT-5.6 Luna.
These lines may not conflict, because the pricing line is about the desktop app. Still, the model you see can differ by page and app. Trust the model picker in your own account.
GPT-6.1 Terra is a similar case. The pricing page says it is available in Work and Codex on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. It does not list Terra for Free or Go.
The pages behind this post
We opened each of these on 4 November 2026. OpenAI edits these pages, so treat them as the current word and this post as a dated reading of them.
- Pricing, ChatGPT Learn: plan prices and five-hour estimates. The old Codex pricing address on developers.openai.com now redirects here.
- How resets work in Codex: banked, automatic and paid resets.
- Paid weekly Work and Codex rate limit resets: paid reset rules.
- Managing usage with GPT-6 Astra in Work and Codex: how the five-hour window starts.
- Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan: the shared pool and the separate limits.
- Uploading files and audio to ChatGPT: upload limits.
- ChatGPT Voice: voice limits by plan.
- Pro plan article: weekly GPT-6 Pro limits in Chat.
If you also pay for Claude, whether you can reset Claude usage limits covers that side.
FAQ
When does my ChatGPT limit reset?
It depends on the limit. Work and Codex on Plus and Business Standard use a five-hour window and a weekly window. Pro has a weekly allowance and no five-hour limit. Go has a monthly allowance. Voice in Chat is measured over a rolling 24 hours. The OpenAI pages we opened list no fixed reset hour, so read the exact time in Settings > Usage.
Does the five-hour window start at a fixed time?
No. A new window starts when you send your first message in Work or Codex after the previous window ends. You can also reach the limit before five hours have passed, because the limit controls how much work fits in the window.
Can OpenAI Support reset my limit?
No. OpenAI says Support does not reset ChatGPT or Codex usage limits. Support also does not give courtesy resets or extend the expiry of a free reset. Your options are to wait, use a banked reset if you have one, buy a paid reset if your Plus or Pro account is offered one, or use credits where your plan allows them.
Does a reset also restore my image and upload limits?
No. A banked reset covers the main Codex allowance only. Image generation, file uploads and regular Chat Voice have separate limits, so they stay as they were. Those limits run on their own reset periods, and the banner or error message tells you which one you reached.
How many files can I upload to ChatGPT, and when does the limit clear?
OpenAI's upload page gives a limit of up to 80 files every 3 hours, and it calls this a rolling quota. Free users are limited to 3 file uploads per day. OpenAI may lower these limits during peak hours, and ChatGPT does not show how much quota remains. If the error shows a retry time, wait until that time before you upload again.