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OpenAI Prism shuts down on January 1, 2027: what is deleted and where to go

OpenAI's notice gives January 1, 2027 as the day Prism shuts down, and its migration guide says all Prism data is deleted after that and cannot be recovered. Here is what that means for a project, and where people are taking theirs.

Open your export in Splitlight

The timeline

OpenAI Prism, 2025 to 2027
WhenWhat happened
January 27, 2026OpenAI launches Prism, built on Crixet, a web LaTeX editor it bought, as a free workspace for anyone with a personal ChatGPT account.
April 17, 2026OpenAI for Science, the group behind Prism, is folded into other research teams as OpenAI drops side projects.
October 2026The shutdown notice: Prism closes on January 1, 2027. OpenAI publishes a Prism to Codex migration guide.
January 1, 2027Prism shuts down. OpenAI says all Prism data is deleted after the shutdown.

What is lost, and what you can keep

The project files survive if you export them: Settings > Data Controls > Export all projects (zip). Project history, inline comments, collaborator permissions and the live Zotero connection do not come with the export, by OpenAI's own list. The last compiled PDF is not in the export either; download it from Prism's viewer while you can.

Where to go next

The main options for a Prism project
OptionGood forWatch for
OverleafWriting with co-authors in the browser, as in Prism50 MB and 180 files per upload; 10-second compiles on the free plan. How to move a project
CodexOpenAI's own suggestion; editing the files with Codex on your computerIts built-in compiler takes single .tex files; most multi-file projects need a TeX installation. Prism to Codex
A TeX installation and an editorWorking offline, large theses, no compile limitsTeX Live or MacTeX is a few gigabytes; co-authors need their own copy or Git.

Other web LaTeX editors have invited Prism users since the notice. Whatever you pick, start from the exported ZIP and compare the first build with the last PDF from Prism: title, authors, figures, equation numbers, citations and page count.

This week, in order

  1. Export all projects, and each shared project you rely on (ask its owner if you cannot).
  2. Open the ZIP in Splitlight and fix what the check reports: missing files, letter case, export errors.
  3. Download the last PDF of each project from Prism.
  4. Move the projects you are still writing; keep the ZIP of the rest as an archive.

Before January 1: open your Prism export here and see every project, what it needs, and where it can go. Nothing is uploaded.

Open your export in Splitlight

Splitlight Pro, $8 paid once: the whole export sorted in one ZIP, with every project ready for Overleaf, every document as one .tex, every chat as Markdown and a spreadsheet of the projects. Get Pro on Gumroad or see what is free.

Questions

Is OpenAI Prism shutting down?

Yes. OpenAI says Prism shuts down on January 1, 2027, and that all Prism data is deleted after that.

Will my Prism projects be deleted?

Yes, after the shutdown, according to OpenAI's migration guide, and deleted data cannot be recovered. Export them with Settings, Data Controls, Export all projects (zip).

What is the best alternative to Prism?

For writing with co-authors in the browser, Overleaf is the closest. For working on your own computer, a TeX installation with an editor, or Codex as OpenAI suggests. The exported ZIP opens in all of them.

Why is Prism shutting down?

OpenAI gives no reason in its notice; its migration guide points users to Codex. In April 2026 OpenAI folded OpenAI for Science, the group behind Prism, into other research teams.

Sources

Last checked: October 30, 2026.

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