ChatGPT is already well-known for generating content and code. Examples include drafting a blog post, writing a short story, or helping with Python scripts. However, generating is only half the battle. Editing and refining can often be more time-consuming. ChatGPT wants to solve that with the Canvas feature—a dedicated user interface for efficiently editing and managing content or code.
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What Is ChatGPT Canvas
Canvas is a new split-pane or dual-pane UI designed to refine your writing and coding skills. In the standard ChatGPT interface, you can ask to generate content or code and provide additional prompts to tweak things. But let’s face it, the regular chat interface isn’t always the best for polishing things efficiently.
In contrast, Canvas presents your content or code in a full-page layout. So you converse with ChatGPT on the left window-pane and the code will be generated on the right. You can also manually edit it if required as if you are working alongside the AI. You still have the option to provide additional prompts from the left sidebar, but the key advantage is that you can make inline edits by selecting a specific section and asking ChatGPT to modify only that part.

Additionally, Canvas includes built-in tools to streamline the content or code creation process, which we’ll explore further below. Overall, the feature is quite similar to Claude’s Artifacts feature, where you can edit text or code collaboratively with the AI.
Using Canvas for Coding
When you ask ChatGPT to generate or modify code, it automatically activates the Canvas layout. Your code appears on the main pane, and you can interact with ChatGPT through the sidebar on the left. In this view, you can directly edit the generated code yourself, you can also highlight specific parts of the code and ask it to make changes. This is helpful especially when working on large codebases or making incremental updates.

At the bottom right corner, you should see a floating button to access coding tools. Currently, there are five tools:
- Review Code: ChatGPT thoroughly analyzes your code and suggests improvements, such as optimizing performance or enhancing readability.
- Add Logs: This tool inserts print statements strategically throughout the code, making debugging easier by allowing you to track variable values and program flow.
- Add Comments: Automatically add comments that explain specific sections of your code, which can be especially useful when collaborating or revisiting the code later.
- Fix Bugs: ChatGPT identifies problematic areas in your code and then rewrites the buggy parts to resolve errors.
- Port to a Language: With this tool, you can instantly convert your code into other programming languages, such as JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, or PHP, making your project more flexible.

Once the changes are made, Canvas also allows you to switch between versions. In case ChatGPT results are not satisfactory, you can switch back to the previous version quickly.
Using Canvas for Writing
Just like with coding, Canvas also enhances your writing experience by providing a structured and interactive workspace. Your text appears on the main pane, while the sidebar lets you consult with ChatGPT. You can directly edit the text or highlight sections to request improvements, making it an excellent tool for large documents or precise revisions.

Similar to the coding tools, the writing section offers five key tools, accessible via a floating button in the bottom right corner:
- Suggest Edits: ChatGPT provides inline suggestions and feedback, making it easy to refine specific sections of your text.
- Adjust the Length: You can either shorten or expand the document length, depending on your needs, whether it’s for meeting word limits or adding more detail.
- Change Reading Level: Modify the reading level of your content, from Kindergarten to Graduate School, to tailor it to your target audience’s comprehension.
- Add Final Polish: This tool ensures your writing is polished by checking for grammar, clarity, and consistency, delivering a professional finish.
- Add Emojis: Automatically includes relevant emojis to highlight key points, adding emphasis and a touch of color to your writing.

Once you’ve used these tools, you can seamlessly switch between sections to further refine your document. Whether it’s tweaking a line or polishing an entire draft, Canvas gives you flexibility across both writing and coding tasks.
Who Can Access Canvas and How
Currently, Canvas is in beta and available to ChatGPT Plus and Team users. Accessing the feature is straightforward: Just change the AI model to GPT-4o with Canvas. Now when you ask it to generate the code or text, it will automatically trigger the canvas.

Next time, when you hop on the same chat, you can see the code or the content in this ChatGPT Canvas section. Click on the expand icon on this to open the Canvas layout again.

ChatGPT will decide which content it needs to trigger. For example, I asked it to generate a small story and it launched Canvas, however, when I asked to write an email, it did not. If you need Canvas in such situations, try using a different prompt like ‘Draft me an email’, or ‘Let’s work on this email together’, etc.
What’s Next For ChatGPT?
Canvas is a good addition to ChatGPT which can help you fine-tune the ChatGPT’s code and content in a way that you prefer. We can manually edit or ask ChatGPT to edit only specific parts. Also, we have a set of writing and coding tools that help in the creating and perfecting process.
However, Claude’s Artifacts feature can also show the output of the javascript code inside the chatbot itself. So you can check results and proceed with further adjustments which is not possible on the Canvas currently. Also, you cannot use Canvas inside your GPTs, it can be implemented as an option in the Settings similar to Claude rather than a completely different AI model. But Canvas alone makes using ChatGPT a better tool than Gemini, especially for coding and content creation tasks.