# How does a temporary side chat work in ZeroTwo?

> Open a side chat beside your current chat for quick questions that stay out of your history, and see what ZeroTwo deletes when you close it.

Source: https://help.zerotwo.ai/en/articles/8914046-how-does-a-temporary-side-chat-work-in-zerotwo
Section: ZeroTwo
Last updated: 2026-10-05

ZeroTwo's temporary chat is the **side chat**. It opens as a tab beside the chat you are working in, so you can ask a quick question without cluttering your history. When you close the tab, the side chat is deleted.

## Open a side chat

- In an open chat, click **More options** (the three dots in the top bar) and choose **New side chat**.
- Press the default shortcut, **Option+Command+S** on a Mac or **Alt+Ctrl+S** on Windows and Linux.
- In the side panel, use the **+** menu and choose **Side chat**.
- In Work or Code, in a chat that is already open, type **/side** and choose **Side**, which starts a temporary side chat.

A tab called **Side chat** opens in the panel next to your chat. An empty side chat says "Side chats are temporary and disappear when you close the tab." and its message box says "Ask anything".

## What happens to a side chat

- **It stays out of your history.** A side chat never appears in your chat list or in search.
- **Closing the tab ends it.** ZeroTwo stops any answer still being written and deletes the chat, so reopening a side chat always starts fresh. Copy anything you want to keep before you close the tab.
- **Idle side chats are cleaned up.** If a tab could not be closed properly, for example because the browser crashed, ZeroTwo's cleanup deletes side chats that have been idle for more than 24 hours.
- **Nothing is added to your memory.** A side chat can still use memories you already have, but ZeroTwo does not save new memories from it or learn from it.

## Where it is available

Side chat is part of the web and desktop apps. It is a companion to a chat you already have open, so there is no temporary-chat switch on the new chat screen.