When using ChatGPT, the most frustrating things are often not “not knowing how to use it,” but small glitches like the interface suddenly changing, features not taking effect, or links not opening. Below is a consolidated guide to several high-frequency issues, troubleshot in a “quick first, slow later” order. You don’t need to reinstall the app—usually you can get ChatGPT back to normal in just a few minutes.
What to do if the toolbar disappears or the model selector is gone
If the sidebar or toolbar suddenly disappears in the ChatGPT web version, first try refreshing the page and logging out and back in once. Next, open ChatGPT in an incognito window. If it works normally in incognito, it’s basically certain that a browser extension, cache, or script blocking is causing the display issue.
Temporarily disable extensions such as ad blockers, script managers, and privacy-enhancement tools, then reload the ChatGPT page—this often restores it immediately. If you’re using ChatGPT on a corporate network, content filtering by a proxy or gateway may also cause some components to fail to load; switching networks to test is often the fastest way to pinpoint the cause.
Custom instructions not working: You wrote them but the answers don’t change
When custom instructions seem like they “aren’t taking effect,” it’s often because the conversation context is too long or the request is too scattered, so ChatGPT prioritizes the more specific requirements you gave in the current conversation. It’s recommended to start a new chat to test, and in the very first message clearly say “Please follow my custom instructions” to see whether there’s a difference.
Also check whether the custom instructions were saved successfully: open the settings page and confirm the content is still there, in case it was overwritten by browser autofill or a sync plugin. If the ChatGPT mobile app and the web version behave inconsistently, update the app first, then log out and back in on the same account to sync again.
