An old invitation therefore will not admit a new teammate. Sending it again does not restore joining. Decide where the group will continue its work, while using the existing history to recover the decisions you need.
Check what your existing group can still do
In the UK, group chats are read-only. Elsewhere, participants can send messages while messaging remains enabled. After a chat becomes read-only, its existing messages, files, and images remain available for review, but you cannot add messages. Individual ChatGPT conversations are unaffected. History and messaging conditions
If you are using a US account and can still reply, treat that as the current state of that group. It does not establish a future messaging deadline or make new invitations work.
Carry forward the decision, its condition, and its source
For an illustrative planning group, suppose the last discussion selected Room B only if the venue confirms wheelchair access. A handoff saying “Room B is booked” would lose both the condition and the difference between selection and booking.
Read the relevant exchange and write a small continuation note:
Decision being carried forward: Room B is the preferred room.
Condition: the venue must confirm wheelchair access.
Booking status: not established by the discussion.
Next action: [person] will obtain confirmation by [agreed date].
Continue the conversation in: [team's chosen location].
Source: [group title and the relevant message date].
Replace brackets only with details the group actually agreed to. If no person or date was assigned, leave that unresolved and ask the group to decide. A new conversation should not silently turn missing details into commitments.
Bring only material that belongs with the new audience. An internal group history may contain side discussions or attachments a newly invited colleague does not need.
Keep history available without making an unnecessary move
OpenAI says no action is required to preserve existing group history. You can request an optional separate copy through ChatGPT or the Privacy Portal. Retention and optional export If you need that copy, follow the ChatGPT data-export steps and inspect the delivered archive.
A shared conversation link serves a separate purpose: showing permitted content to a recipient. It does not reopen group membership. Keep the old discussion as a reference, and tell the existing participants where the next decision will be made.