Best Custom Instructions Template for ChatGPT in 2026
After months of testing different custom instruction setups, I’ve landed on a template that consistently gives me better outputs. Sharing it here because I think it could help others.
For the “What would you like ChatGPT to know about you” section, I structure it as:
– Role/profession
– Key tools I use daily
– Communication style preference
– Common tasks I need help with
For the “How would you like ChatGPT to respond” section:
– Default output format (markdown, plain text, etc.)
– Level of detail (concise vs. thorough)
– Whether to include caveats/disclaimers
– Code style preferences if applicable
The key insight: be specific about what you DON’T want. Telling ChatGPT “don’t add unnecessary caveats” or “skip the preamble” saves more time than telling it what to include.
What does your custom instructions setup look like?
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I've been working as a prompt engineer for about 8 months now and the single biggest thing I can tell people is to stop treating ChatGPT like Google. You don't need to type keywords. Write like you're talking to a person who's really good at their job but needs context about YOUR specific situation. That shift in mindset changes everything.
One thing thats helped me is creating a template doc with my most used prompts organized by category. Marketing prompts, coding prompts, analysis prompts etc. When I need something I just grab the template and customize it slightly. Saves a ton of time.
i had the opposite experience tbh
lmao i spent 20 minutes writing the perfect system prompt and then forgot to save it. dont be like me, keep a doc with all your prompts
gotta disagree on the Claude comparison tbh. for my use case (data analysis) ChatGPT still blows everything else out of the water
the thing that people miss is that this isnt a one size fits all situation. what works for coding might not work for creative writing and vice versa