ChatGPT Canvas is gone? How to get a side-by-side editor back

Updated October 6, 2026 · By Otter Potter, the maker of Side Canvas (not neutral; we say where it matters).

Canvas opened your document in a panel next to the chat. You could select a sentence and ask ChatGPT to change just that part, use the shortcut menu (adjust the length, change the reading level, final polish, add emojis, review code), and step back through earlier versions. OpenAI retired Canvas at the end of May 2026. In its place, ChatGPT now puts writing and code in blocks inside the conversation. Your old chats are still there; what's missing is the document that stays put while you talk about it.

1. Writing blocks in the chat

Ask ChatGPT for a draft and it appears as a block you can copy. It's built in and free. The catch is that every change produces a new block further down the chat, so the document scrolls away, there's no way to edit only the sentence you selected, and comparing versions means scrolling back and forth.

2. Keep the document somewhere else

Many people now keep the draft in a word processor or notes app and paste passages into ChatGPT one at a time. You get a stable document and your own version history. The cost is the copying: paste the passage in, copy the answer out, paste it back over the right sentence, every time.

3. Side Canvas (we make this)

Side Canvas for ChatGPT is a browser extension that brings the Canvas way of working back. Your document stays open in the browser's side panel next to ChatGPT. Select a sentence or paragraph, pick one of the old shortcuts or type your own request, and it asks ChatGPT in your own tab to change only that part. You see every change before it lands (removed words in red, new in green), suggestions are highlighted right in your text, and each accepted change goes into version history. It uses your own ChatGPT account and plan, so there's no API key, and your documents stay in your browser. Free for 10 edits a day; Pro is $9.99 once.

What it can't do: it isn't built into ChatGPT, so it works on chatgpt.com in a desktop browser, not in the ChatGPT apps.

Questions

Were my Canvas documents deleted?

The chats that used Canvas are still in your history. The side panel that showed the document is what was removed.

Is there a setting to turn Canvas back on?

No. It was retired for everyone, along with the older models that still offered it.

Is Side Canvas made by OpenAI?

No. It's made by Otter Potter and is not affiliated with OpenAI.