ChatGPT Suddenly Hit by Account Ban Wave, Even $200 Pro Users Affected
Multiple users have reported on Reddit and OpenAI's official developer community that their ChatGPT accounts were suddenly suspended, including Pro users who pay a $200 monthly subscription. Some received no notice before their accounts were banned, and they are unable to access their chat histories and work materials. OpenAI Support said it cannot handle appeals in the public community and that users must submit them via the link in the ban notification email or the official appeal form, but it did not explain the specific reasons for the bans. OpenAI has not yet issued a unified explanation or disclosed the number of people affected, and whether any accounts were mistakenly banned remains to be confirmed.
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ChatGPT Accounts Suddenly Hit by Wave of Bans, Even $200 Pro Users Affected
2026-11-08 11:55 Phoenix Tech - Yu Lei
Beijing time, November 8 — Recently, multiple users have reported on Reddit and OpenAI's official developer community that their ChatGPT accounts were suddenly deactivated, including Pro users who pay a monthly subscription fee of $200 (IT Home note: approximately 1,338 yuan RMB at current exchange rates). Some users said they received no notification before their accounts were banned, and their long-accumulated chat histories and work materials were therefore inaccessible.
On November 7, a user posted on OpenAI's official developer community saying that their ChatGPT Pro account was suddenly deactivated that day, with the system displaying the error code "account_deactivated," but they received no advance warning or ban notification email.
The user said they were not only a ChatGPT Pro subscriber but had also joined an OpenAI cybersecurity-related access program, and their account had advanced security settings enabled that required verification with a physical security key. They suspect the ban may be related to their recent access to ChatGPT and Codex through VPN nodes in different regions. However, this is only the user's personal speculation.
The OpenAI Support account subsequently replied under the post, stating that because specific account information is involved, account deactivation appeals cannot be handled in the public community forum. Users should file an appeal through the link in the ban notification email; if they did not receive the email, they can contact customer service through the official appeal form or help center. The reply did not explain the specific reason why the user's account was banned.
Similar complaints have also appeared on the Reddit platform. On November 7, a ChatGPT Pro user posted saying that their paid account was suddenly deactivated, with the reason given being that the account was suspected of being associated with another account that had previously been closed. But the user denied owning or using any other account, and said that about an hour after submitting an appeal, they received a reply upholding the ban decision.
Other users reported that after their accounts were permanently deactivated, their appeals were unsuccessful, and materials such as notes and diaries originally saved in ChatGPT could no longer be accessed. Previously, users on Reddit had posted threads compiling recent account ban cases, involving disputes over different types of usage policies.
Regarding account bans, OpenAI's official help center lists a variety of possible reasons, including violating usage policies, bypassing security or access restrictions, improperly sharing accounts and API keys, abnormal account security, and failure to complete necessary identity verification.
Regional access restrictions are also one of the risks explicitly listed by OpenAI. According to official statements, accessing ChatGPT or the OpenAI API from unsupported countries or regions may result in account bans or suspensions. However, using VPN nodes in different regions does not necessarily mean violating regional access restrictions, and it is currently not possible to determine whether the users involved were banned for this reason.
As of press time, OpenAI has not published a unified explanation for the recent concentrated reports of account deactivations by users, nor has it disclosed the specific number of people affected. Existing cases cannot prove that these accounts belong to the same concentrated ban action, and whether mistaken bans exist remains to be further confirmed.