How to Install Plugins in ChatGPT (2026): Step by Step

Key Takeaways

• Every ChatGPT plugin installs through the same path: Plugins in the sidebar, select the plugin, Install plugin, then Connect and the provider's own sign-in when the plugin includes an app. Settings > Plugins is a second door to the same flow.
• Installing is not the same as connecting. Account sign-in, workspace approval and role permissions are separate checks, and OpenAI says installation cannot bypass any of them.
• Whether a plugin works for you depends on your plan, workspace, role, region, model and the surface you use. A Desktop only label means the plugin needs the ChatGPT desktop app.
• In Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces, admins decide in Admin console > Plugins whether a plugin is Available or Installed for members. A Disabled by admin message is a question for them.
• For Storyflow: select Install plugin, sign in to Storyflow, then choose All my projects or Only the projects I pick, and whether ChatGPT may create and edit content. There is no server address to type.
• Set your approval level straight after installing, under Settings > Plugins > Permissions: Always ask, Allow read actions or Allow low-risk actions.

Why the Button an Old Guide Describes May Not Be on Your Screen

You follow an install guide, and the menu it names is not where it says. ChatGPT's own naming has moved: OpenAI notes that very old versions of the iOS and Android app show Apps where current ones show Plugins, and that some accounts' Settings still open on Apps (Connected apps in ChatGPT, Managing app permissions). In October 2026 the place is called Plugins, it sits in ChatGPT's sidebar, and OpenAI documents each step in its help centre.

This guide follows those articles and links each one where it is used. Where OpenAI says nothing, the guide says so instead of guessing a menu path. The worked example is Storyflow, our own plugin, because we can show its sign-in screen choice by choice and explain what each choice does on the other side.

A plugin is the package, an app is the connection

OpenAI uses two words, and the difference decides what "installed" means. An app connects ChatGPT to one outside service, such as Google Drive or Slack. A plugin is a package for a job that can hold one or more apps, reusable skills, or both (Connected apps in ChatGPT). According to OpenAI's plugins article, a plugin can carry four kinds of parts:

• Skills: instructions and workflow guidance that need no outside account.
• Connected apps: a link to an external account, its information and its actions.
• App templates: starting points an administrator configures for a workspace.
• Extensions: interactive apps and views, item mentions, file editing, forms and plugin settings.

A plugin made only of skills works the moment it is installed. A plugin built around an app that needs your sign-in is not ready until that account is connected. Installing puts the package in your account; connecting is what lets it touch anything.

Before You Install: Seven Things That Decide Whether It Will Work

The plugin directory is open on every ChatGPT plan. Installing or using a particular plugin is not: OpenAI names your plan, workspace, role, region and the plugin's own capabilities as the factors (Plugins in ChatGPT), and adds the model and the ChatGPT interface you use for the apps inside a plugin (Connected apps in ChatGPT). Check these before you blame the plugin.

Free and Go: you can browse, but extensions are off

OpenAI says that Free and Go accounts can discover plugins in the directory and through recommendations, while plugin extensions (full-screen apps, interactive views and similar features) are not offered on those plans (Troubleshooting plugins and apps). OpenAI does not publish a table of which plan each plugin needs; that detail lives on each listing and in its setup requirements. For Storyflow, availability depends on your ChatGPT plan, workspace and region, in OpenAI's own wording.

Know which account and workspace you are in

People who use ChatGPT for work often have two identities: a personal account and a company workspace. They see two different directories, because the directory lists what your current plan and workspace allow. OpenAI's first check for a connection that uses the wrong account is to confirm which ChatGPT account and workspace you are in. It also notes that adding a second app account does not switch your ChatGPT account, and that connecting a work Microsoft account does not turn your ChatGPT space into a managed workspace (Connecting and managing app accounts).

Read the labels on the listing before you select anything

Two labels change what happens next. Desktop only means the plugin needs the desktop app, and such plugins cannot run in ChatGPT on the web. OpenAI Verified means OpenAI reviewed the plugin for quality, reliability and usefulness; OpenAI adds that the badge does not replace your organisation's own privacy, security or vendor review (Plugins in ChatGPT). Admins can see verification status in Admin console under Plugins.

How to Install a Plugin in ChatGPT, Step by Step

These steps follow OpenAI's Plugins in ChatGPT article and apply on web, desktop and mobile. Menu names are written exactly as OpenAI writes them.

Step 1: Open Plugins in the sidebar

Select Plugins in ChatGPT's sidebar. On the web you can also go straight to chatgpt.com/plugins, the address OpenAI's developer guide uses for the directory. If your sidebar or settings say Apps rather than Plugins, you are on a very old version of the iOS or Android app (Connected apps in ChatGPT); update the app first, because the steps below use the newer names.

An illustration of ChatGPT with Plugins in the sidebar; the + button in the composer is the one you use later to call an installed plugin.

Step 2: Find the plugin

The directory has four sections (Plugins in ChatGPT):

• Public: plugins anyone can browse.
• Your workspace: plugins in your workspace's own directory.
• Personal: plugins you created or that someone shared with you.
• Installed: plugins already in your account.

You can also browse categories such as Popular and New & Noteworthy, or open a plugin that ChatGPT suggests during a conversation. Search for the plugin by its name rather than by the job you want done. OpenAI does not document how directory search ranks results, so a vendor's direct listing link is the most reliable route when you know which plugin you want. Storyflow's is the Open in ChatGPT button near the top of this guide.

Step 3: Read the description, skills, apps and setup requirements

OpenAI's instruction is to select the plugin and review its description, skills, apps and setup requirements before installing. Three things on that page predict the rest of the process:

• Does it include an app? Then you will connect an account in Step 5.
• Does it include an app template? Then an administrator has to configure it before anyone can use it, and installing does not finish that work.
• Which apps are required and which are optional? If an optional app is turned off, the plugin's other capabilities can still run; if a required app is unavailable, the capability that depends on it cannot.

Step 4: Select Install plugin

Select Install plugin if it is shown. Installing may start the app's setup or authorization flow straight away. If the button is missing, check the Installed section: in a managed workspace an administrator can set a plugin to Installed, which installs it for eligible members automatically (Plugins in ChatGPT).

Step 5: Select Connect and sign in to the right account

If you are prompted, select Connect for the app that needs account authorization, then sign in to the provider. OpenAI adds that you should sign in only when individual authorization is required: some apps need no sign-in at all, and others use a connection your workspace administrator set up. Choose the account that already has access to what you need. A personal account will not reach files, channels or records that only your work account can see (Connecting and managing app accounts).

Step 6: Review what it asks for, then approve

The provider's authorization screen lists the services and permissions it requests for that account. Some providers let you include related services in one flow; check each one before approving. Two messages have documented fixes (Connecting and managing app accounts):

• All permissions are required: select Reconnect and approve every permission for the apps you selected.
• ChatGPT needs all requested permissions (Google apps): select Try again, then Select all on Google's screen. To connect fewer Google apps, select Select fewer apps in ChatGPT; you still approve every permission for the apps you keep.

A provider administrator, for Google, Microsoft or another service, may also need to approve access. That person may not be your ChatGPT workspace administrator.

Step 7: Confirm it installed and run one small task

Open the Installed section, or open Settings > Plugins and select the plugin to see its Connection or Connected accounts. Then start a new chat and ask for one specific, supported task, such as finding a document by its title, which is the test OpenAI itself suggests when an app is connected but unused. OpenAI also warns that a successful connection does not prove every later step will work (Troubleshooting plugins and apps), so a real task is the only proof. How to call it with @ or the + menu is covered in how to use plugins in ChatGPT.

The Second Door: Installing From Settings > Plugins

The directory is for finding something new. Settings is for managing what you have, and it can start the same install. OpenAI's steps (Connected apps in ChatGPT):

1. Open your profile menu, select Settings, then Plugins.
2. Select the app, or the plugin that includes it.
3. Select Install plugin if shown.
4. If prompted, select Connect or continue the app's setup flow.
5. Sign in to the account that already has access to the information you want.
6. Review the requested services and permissions, then complete the provider's authorization.

Which door to use depends on the task:

Sources: Connecting and managing app accounts and Managing app permissions.

If Settings shows Apps instead of Plugins

OpenAI covers this case directly: if Settings shows Apps, open Apps to see the permission controls available to your account, and expect that the same account-wide selector may not be there (Managing app permissions). If you cannot find an app at all, its troubleshooting article says to check the other entry point, Apps or Plugins, whichever your account shows.

Worked Example: Installing the Storyflow Plugin

Storyflow is our product, so this is the one plugin we can describe from both sides: the ChatGPT steps from OpenAI, and Storyflow's own sign-in screen as it ships. The whole install happens inside ChatGPT and one Storyflow sign-in window. You need a Storyflow account first. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from Plus at $7.99 a month billed annually (pricing), and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. Without one, selecting Approve on Storyflow's sign-in screen ends with: There's no Storyflow account for this sign-in. Sign up in Storyflow first, then try again.

Open the listing and select Install plugin

The Storyflow listing shows the name Storyflow, the developer Storyflow LTD, the category Productivity and the subtitle Plan projects on visual boards. Select Install plugin. There is no server address to type, and Storyflow needs no Developer mode. A server address belongs to custom MCP servers that are not in the directory, which developers add through a separate flow (the plus button in Plugins, then Add custom MCP server) with its own risk warning (OpenAI developer guide).

Sign in to Storyflow

A Storyflow window opens with ChatGPT's tile and Storyflow's side by side. Choose Continue with Google, or enter your email and password and select Log in. Use the account that owns or belongs to the projects you want ChatGPT to work in. The screen then shows a heading, This app will be able to, with the first line always present: Read your projects, boards and documents.

Choose which projects ChatGPT may use

Under On which projects there are two options. All my projects is selected when the screen opens; Only the projects I pick shows a list to tick. With all projects chosen, the screen warns that the app can read and edit (or only read, if you untick changes) every project you are a member of, including ones others share with you. Only a grant over all your projects lets ChatGPT create a new project for you. For a first week, pick one project: you can widen the grant by reconnecting, and a narrow grant makes every answer easier to check.

Decide whether ChatGPT may make changes

Allow this app to create and edit content is ticked by default. Leave it ticked and ChatGPT can build on your boards: notes, to-dos, tables, documents, walls, mind maps, diagrams, charts, slide decks and more. Untick it and ChatGPT can only read. Granting changes needs a Storyflow sign-in no older than five minutes, so if more than five minutes pass between signing in and selecting Approve, the screen asks you to sign in again.

Decide on documents outside projects

The last box reads Also my documents outside projects (private, and shared with me). It is ticked while All my projects is selected, and Storyflow unticks it when you switch to picking projects; you can set it either way. Tick it when your briefs and notes live as loose documents rather than inside a project. Then select Approve to return to ChatGPT, or Deny to cancel.

Check that it worked with one read and one build

Start a new chat, type @, pick Storyflow, and ask for a read first: "List my Storyflow projects and the boards in the Spring Launch project." If the project is missing from the answer, it was not in your grant. Then ask for one small build: "Add a wall called Open questions to the Spring Launch board with five to-dos for this week." Open the board in Storyflow to see the result.

A launch board of this shape is a good first build to ask for: phase walls across the canvas and one status wall that ChatGPT can read back later.

What the connection costs and how long it lasts

• Plugin actions use no Storyflow AI credits, because ChatGPT does the work on its own model and your ChatGPT plan.
• An invited free Storyflow account can make 25 plugin actions a week, reset every Monday (UTC). Plus, Pro and Max have no weekly limit.
• Each connection ends after 30 days by design, and ChatGPT then asks you to sign in again. Storyflow's sign-in screen tells you why you are back.
• In Storyflow, Settings > MCP & Apps > Connected apps lists every assistant connected to your account, with Revoke for one and Revoke all for every one.

The same account also works in Claude, Gemini and Grok through a custom connector; the Storyflow MCP page has the steps for each, and the ChatGPT connector page shows what ChatGPT can build once you are in.

What Installing a Plugin Does Not Do

Most confusion after an install comes from expecting the install to have done more than it did. Four limits come straight from OpenAI's articles.

Installing is not authorizing

A plugin can be installed while its app is still waiting for your sign-in, your admin's approval or a provider administrator's consent. OpenAI says a plugin may be listed or installed before its app is ready, and that you still need access to the app, the correct connected account and any provider approval (Connecting and managing app accounts).

Listed is not installed, and installed is not working

A plugin you can see in the directory might not be installed, and an installed plugin can include an app that is disabled, disconnected or missing provider authorization. OpenAI's advice is to open the plugin details and refresh before trusting a status you saw in the directory (Troubleshooting plugins and apps).

An app template is not an app yet

An app template needs an administrator to configure the provider connection, publish a workspace app and assign access. Installing the plugin that carries it completes none of those steps (Plugins in ChatGPT).

A permission setting never widens access

App permissions only change when ChatGPT asks before using access the app already has. They do not grant new access; what an app can reach is set by the app, the access granted at connection and your workspace controls. To remove access you disconnect the app, or an admin disables it (Connected apps in ChatGPT).

Installing on Web, Desktop and Mobile

OpenAI places the directory in the sidebar on all three surfaces, then lists the exceptions. The table holds only what the articles state; blanks are left as "not stated" rather than filled in.

Does an install on one device show up on the others?

OpenAI's articles do not say so in as many words. The one case they spell out is negative: saving a plugin with local apps to your account does not make those local tools available on web or mobile (Plugins in ChatGPT). If a plugin you installed on the web is missing on your phone, confirm you are in the same ChatGPT account and workspace, update the app, then look in Installed.

Installing in a Business, Enterprise or Edu Workspace

In a managed workspace you are not the only person who decides. Plugin installation settings decide whether a plugin is available, workspace app settings decide whether its app can be used, role controls decide who can reach it, and the provider decides which account connects (Managing app permissions). The full admin walkthrough is in the ChatGPT plugins admin guide; the essentials are below.

If you are a member

Read the exact message, because each has a different next step (Troubleshooting plugins and apps). Admin approval required means ask your administrator to review the plugin and its app; OpenAI notes that the message does not mean a request was already sent. Requires workspace setup means an administrator has to configure the app. Disabled by admin means workspace settings, your role or an included app is blocking access, and a plugin can stay listed in the directory while it is disabled.

If you are the admin

The decision that matters at install time is the installation policy. In Admin console, select the ChatGPT workspace, open Plugins and select the plugin: Available lets eligible members install it, and Installed installs it for them, or for the selected role where role-based controls exist (Plugins in ChatGPT). Neither policy overrides provider permissions, and each required app keeps its own access settings. Defaults differ by plan: in Business, apps are enabled by default; new Enterprise and Edu workspaces start with a selected set, and new plugins and apps are generally disabled there until an administrator changes them (Admin controls, security and compliance). Roles, action controls, domain restrictions and bulk changes are covered step by step in the admin guide.

Set Your Approval Level Right After Installing

Once a plugin with an app is installed, decide how often ChatGPT should stop and ask. For an eligible personal account, the path is your profile menu > Settings > Plugins > Permissions (Managing app permissions). OpenAI notes the overall setting can appear only after you install a plugin that includes an app, and that not every app supports the same settings.

Some menus shorten these to Allow read, Allow low-risk or Allow all. For Storyflow, Allow read actions is a sensible start: reading boards needs no click, and every build waits for your approval until you trust the pattern. What each approval button does in a chat is covered in how to use plugins in ChatGPT, and how these settings compare across assistants is in the connector permissions guide.

Which Plugins to Install First, by Job

Install for a job you have this week, not for a category. Storyflow is listed first because the job here is planning a project on one board that a team and a client can open; the rest follow by job. Storyflow is our product. Every name below is in ChatGPT's plugin directory as captured on 28 October 2026, and the one-liner is the directory's own.

Setup notes come from Admin controls, Connected apps, Notion app and setup and Plugins in ChatGPT. If you are moving off a custom GPT, OpenAI is retiring them in favour of plugins, with the standard retirement scheduled for 11 December 2026 (Creating and editing GPTs); plugins vs custom GPTs vs Projects compares the three.

A two-plugin starter set for project teams

Start with one source and one destination. Install the plugin where your source material lives (Google Drive, Slack or Notion), then Storyflow as the place the plan is built. A chat can then read the brief from one and lay the project out on a ChatGPT whiteboard or a kanban board in the other. Add a third plugin only when a real job needs it: every connected app is one more set of permissions to review.

How to Uninstall a Plugin or Disconnect an Account

Disconnecting and uninstalling are different actions with different reach. OpenAI's steps to disconnect one account (Connecting and managing app accounts):

1. Open Settings > Plugins.
2. Select the plugin or app.
3. If Connected accounts appears, open that account's more options menu (•••). Otherwise use Connection or the plugin's own ••• menu.
4. Select Disconnect.

What each action removes

Disconnecting stops future access through that account while other connected accounts stay active, and disconnecting the last account can also drop some plugins from your installed list. Uninstalling a plugin can disconnect every account connected through it, so read the warning before you confirm. Disconnecting does not delete existing or archived conversations, saved files or memories; review those separately.

Ending access from Storyflow's side

You can also end a connection where the data lives. In Storyflow, open Settings > MCP & Apps and the Connected apps tab, then choose Revoke on one connection or Revoke all. Every assistant revoked loses access at once and has to connect again. Doing both, ChatGPT side and Storyflow side, is the cleanest way to close an assistant's access after a project ends.

When an Install Fails: Fast Fixes

Use the exact message on screen to choose the fix. The full diagnosis, including the Storyflow cases, is in ChatGPT plugin not working: fixes.

Mistakes That Waste the Most Time

Each of these costs more time than the install itself, and each is avoidable at the moment you make it.

Signing in with the wrong provider account

The connection succeeds, the plugin answers, and it cannot find anything you expected. You signed in with a personal Google, Microsoft or Notion account while the files live under your work account. Check the account name on the provider's screen before you approve; fixing it afterwards means Connect another account or a disconnect and reconnect.

Reinstalling in a loop

When a feature is missing on your plan or surface, reinstalling changes nothing. OpenAI explicitly advises against repeatedly reinstalling or reconnecting a plugin when the feature is unavailable on your account or surface (Troubleshooting plugins and apps). Read the availability message instead.

Granting everything on day one

Storyflow's screen starts on All my projects with changes allowed, which suits a solo owner whose projects are all their own. If you hold client projects or projects others share with you, that default reaches all of them. Pick the projects for this job; you can widen the grant by reconnecting.

Reading Disabled by admin on a personal account as a block

On a personal account with no workspace administrator, OpenAI says the message does not by itself mean an administrator blocked the app. Check your plan, region, provider account, app version and surface, then contact OpenAI Support if it continues.

Adding a directory plugin the developer way

If a plugin is in the directory, install it from the directory. The custom MCP server path in ChatGPT is for servers that are not listed, and it brings its own risk warning and workspace policies (OpenAI developer guide). For Storyflow, the listing is the only route you need.

When You Do Not Need to Install Anything

A plugin earns its place when ChatGPT has to read or change something that lives outside the chat, more than once. If you need a file read one time, uploading it to the chat is simpler. If the job is a long piece of writing, Canvas, the writing and coding pane beside the chat, may be enough (Canvas in ChatGPT). If you want related chats, files and instructions kept together, a ChatGPT Project does that without any outside account (Projects in ChatGPT).

Storyflow is the wrong install in some cases too, and it is better to know before you connect it. It has no Gantt chart, dependencies or calendar view, so a dated schedule with dependencies belongs in a project management tool. It runs in a browser with no native desktop or mobile app. Its plugin cannot generate images or read board comments, and a photo you attach in the ChatGPT chat does not reach Storyflow; ChatGPT hands you an upload link for the board instead. Decks export as PDF, not PPTX.

The Bottom Line

Installing a ChatGPT plugin is quick once you know that it happens in two parts: the install, which ChatGPT owns, and the connection, which the provider and your workspace own. Open Plugins, select Install plugin, connect the account that really holds your work, and set Permissions before your first request. If something stops, the message on screen names the part that failed.

Storyflow is our pick for the first install when the job is a project a team and a client will open: a campaign, a shoot or a launch planned in a chat and built on one board. Install it, give it one project, and ask for a single wall before you ask for a whole plan.