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Codex Issues / #19352

codex apps windows Blank

Open 💬 7 comments Opened Apr 24, 2026 by adi805
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

lates

What subscription do you have?

go

What platform is your computer?

PS C:\Users\acer> "$([Environment]::OSVersion | ForEach-Object VersionString) $(if ([Environment]::Is64BitOperatingSystem) { "x64" } else { "x86" })" Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

<img width="959" height="539" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/22aed5a5-e988-4e1b-8eeb-cad51c6d7bc9" />

please Fix, apps stuck, blank

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Apps Bug, when open

What is the expected behavior?

<img width="959" height="539" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d4cdf36e-39ba-4cd3-a24a-037ee2849cbf" />

Additional information

_No response_

View original on GitHub ↗

7 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 4 months ago

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

  • #17818
  • #19075
  • #19295
  • #19279

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smaccoun · 4 months ago

Got this also this morning. Temp fix for me was just open the cli instead, forced me to re-login, then desktop app worked again

anton88vlc · 4 months ago

Same issue here. What helped was disabling old thread loading in the Desktop App. It launched, but I lost half of my threads

zaigebimiludexiyangyang · 4 months ago

I’m getting the exact same thing on Windows. App just sits on that blank loading screen and never actually opens, while CPU goes crazy for no reason. Just started happening today.

claell · 4 months ago

Potential duplicate of #19075

Brokkonaut · 4 months ago
Potential duplicate of #19075

No, I have the same issue here and the suggested fix mentioned in the other ticket (to remove auth.json) does not fix this issue here.

Edit: Found out I had a hanging codex process, after killing that and relogin it is now working again

AnalyticsInAction · 4 months ago

II’m seeing a related issue on Windows 11, but with a more severe failure mode than what is described here.

Environment:

  • OS: Windows 11 (x64)
  • Codex Desktop Version: 26.422.8496.0
  • Install method: Microsoft Store / winget (msstore)
  • Occurs consistently on multiple machines (desktop + laptop)

---

Observed behaviour (two-stage failure)

Stage 1 – blank screen / flicker (matches this issue)

Initially, I hit the same issue described here:

  • App launches
  • UI briefly appears (or flickers)
  • Transitions to blank screen / spinner
  • Logs show repeated:

unsupported feature enablement workspace_dependencies

This was reproducible and fixable via: Remove-Item "$env:USERPROFILE.codex.codex-global-state.json"

After doing this, the app successfully loaded onboarding.

---

Stage 2 – complete startup failure (current state)

After updating (same version 26.422.8496.0), the app now fails more severely:

  • No UI appears at all
  • App does not open
  • Process may appear briefly or show as “Suspended” in Task Manager
  • In many cases, no Codex process remains alive
  • Launch attempts silently fail

Windows Event Viewer shows:

  • Source: Windows Error Reporting
  • Event ID: 1001
  • Type: AppHang
  • Signature:

OpenAI.Codex_26.422.8496.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0+App

Additionally, attempting activation results in: The application is exiting and cannot service this request

---

Reproduction

  1. Install Codex desktop via Microsoft Store or winget
  2. Launch application
  3. Observe:
  • Stage 1: flicker → blank screen (fixable)
  • Stage 2: no UI / suspended / AppHang (not fixable)

Occurs on clean installs as well as upgraded installs.

---

Troubleshooting performed

I’ve tried all of the following:

State resets

  • Deleted:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\.codex-global-state.json

  • Quarantined entire:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex

Cache resets

  • Cleared:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\OpenAI.Codex_*\LocalCache\Roaming\Codex

Reinstall

  • Removed:

Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex | Remove-AppxPackage

  • Reinstalled via:

winget install --id 9PLM9XGG6VKS -s msstore

  • Also used wsreset and winget source reset

Process cleanup

  • Killed all Codex processes before launch

Environment isolation

  • Tested with fresh profile state
  • Attempted alternate CODEX_HOME
  • Ensured no lingering processes

None of these resolve the Stage 2 failure.

---

Key observations

  • CLI version works correctly (same account, same machine)
  • Backend connectivity is fine
  • Issue appears isolated to desktop app startup/runtime
  • The Stage 1 issue (workspace_dependencies loop) is recoverable
  • The Stage 2 issue is not recoverable via user-side fixes

---

Interpretation

This appears to be:

  1. A recoverable UI/state bug (workspace_dependencies)
  2. Followed by a separate startup/runtime failure in the same build

The second issue occurs before:

  • UI initialization
  • user state load
  • or feature flag handling

Suggests failure in:

  • Electron app initialization
  • AppX activation pipeline
  • or runtime/feature mismatch during early startup

---

Impact

  • Desktop app is unusable
  • Reinstall does not resolve
  • Affects multiple machines
  • Requires fallback to CLI

---

Request

Could you confirm whether:

  • This is a known regression in 26.422.8496.0
  • There is a workaround beyond state reset
  • A patched build is being rolled out

Happy to provide additional logs if needed.