For ordinary chats, the ChatGPT desktop app and chatgpt.com are the same ChatGPT. Your chats and Projects sync between them. What the app adds is access to your computer. In Work and Codex it can open a folder and change the files in it, use other desktop apps and run a browser on your machine. A shortcut sends it the window you’re looking at. If you ask questions, draft in a chat and upload a file now and then, the browser is enough.
Three things change the answer:
- Your plan. Chat works on every plan, in both. Work on the web needs Plus or higher. On Free and Go, Work and Codex run only in the app, with GPT-6 Luna, subject to rollout (pricing).
- Your computer. The Mac app needs macOS 14 or later. There’s a Windows app, and a Linux preview that can’t control other apps yet.
- Your employer. In Business and Enterprise workspaces, admins decide whether Work can run locally and which apps ChatGPT may use (Work and Codex help).
Chat is the same in both
If you only use Chat, the app changes little. Chats you start in Chat sync between the web and the app, your Projects appear in both, and cloud Work chats continue across web, phone and desktop.
Codex chats stay in the app. You can follow them from the phone app, but they don’t show up on chatgpt.com. Local Work chats run on your computer.
If your app has no Chat/Work toggle, you’re on the previous app, now called ChatGPT Classic. It still gets updates, but OpenAI says new agent features may only come to the new app.
What the app adds
| chatgpt.com | Desktop app | |
|---|---|---|
| Chat, Projects, file uploads | Yes | Yes |
| Work on files in a folder | No. Upload copies or connect a service | Yes, in Work and Codex |
| Use other desktop apps | No | Yes, with the Computer Use plugin |
| Send the window in front | No | Appshots |
| Chat over other windows | No | Option+Space (Mac), Windows+Alt+P |
| Browser | A cloud browser in Work | A built-in browser on your machine |
| Codex | Cloud tasks only | Local folders, terminals and repos |
| Event-triggered tasks | Create and edit | View only |
Files: folders instead of uploads
On the web, a project doesn’t give ChatGPT access to a folder on your computer. You upload files or connect a service like Google Drive. ChatGPT reads the uploaded copy, so later edits on your disk don’t reach it.
In the app, switch to Work or Codex and open a folder (⌘O on a Mac), or attach several folders to a local project. ChatGPT can read and change files in every attached folder. OpenAI suggests starting with Ask for approval, which keeps ChatGPT inside that folder and pauses before it goes further (permissions). Inside the folder it doesn’t ask first. When I connected one of my own folders to Work, it created files all over it, and I stopped connecting folders. Give it a folder made for the task, or a copy.
Two limits. Your computer has to stay awake and online for steps that use its files (Work guide). And the files stay on your disk, but messages and task context may be stored in the cloud even when the work runs locally.
Other apps and your screen
The app can also see past its own window:
- Appshots send the window in front, as an image plus the text the app exposes. Press both Command keys on a Mac or both Alt keys on Windows. For Google Docs and Gmail, ChatGPT may only get the visible part (Appshots).
- Computer Use lets Work or Codex click and type in other apps. You install its plugin and approve each app. It isn’t offered in every region, can’t operate terminal apps or ChatGPT itself, and on Windows it takes over the screen while it works (Computer Use).
- Floating controls stay above other windows. Option+Space on a Mac or Windows+Alt+P opens Quick Chat without switching apps. Chats started there aren’t in a project (floating controls).
On a Mac, Appshots and Computer Use need Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions.
When the website is the better choice
- You can’t or don’t want to install anything. It works on any computer with a browser.
- The task should run while your laptop is closed. Work on the web uses a cloud browser and keeps going after you close your computer. The app can start cloud tasks too.
- You want a task that starts on an event, like a new Gmail message. You create those on the web or phone; the app only shows them.
- You want ChatGPT in your own Chrome. The browser extension works with chatgpt.com without the app.
The bigger change: AI is moving onto your computer
The app’s main job now is to let ChatGPT’s agents reach your files and tools. Claude and Gemini are moving the same way: see Claude Desktop vs web, and Gemini on a Mac, which works on connected folders through Spark. For AI to work with your files, either the files go to the cloud or the AI comes to your computer, and nobody uploads every file they have.
For files in a folder, the tool behind this is Codex. In the app it works on folders, terminals and repos. Outside the app, the Codex CLI and IDE extension do the same from a terminal or your editor. The Codex guide explains how its sandbox decides what it can touch, and Can ChatGPT access local files? covers every ChatGPT option.
Which one should you use?
| You want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Ask questions, draft in a chat, upload a few files | chatgpt.com |
| Let ChatGPT work on files you keep editing | The app, in Work or Codex |
| Ask about what’s on your screen without copying it | The app, with Appshots |
| Run a task while your laptop is closed | Cloud Work, from either |
| Work on a folder from a terminal or editor | Codex CLI or IDE extension |
If the folder holds your notes, sources and drafts, StashBase is a free app that runs Codex or Claude on it with the subscription you already have, and keeps your documents open beside the chat so you can review each change. It works with Codex, not with the ChatGPT app.