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Codex Issues / #23815

Codex Desktop language setting changes localeOverride but UI remains English

Open 💬 3 comments Opened May 21, 2026 by gunlox
💡 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)?

26.519.2081.0

What subscription do you have?

Not sure

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Desktop language setting does not apply to the UI.

The selected language changes in Settings, and the config files are updated, but the visible app UI remains English.

Environment:

  • App: Codex Desktop
  • Version: 26.519.2081.0
  • OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0 x64
  • Locales tried: zh-CN, es-419

Observed:

  • Settings > Language can be changed to Chinese or Spanish.
  • C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\config.toml updates correctly:

[desktop]
localeOverride = "es-419"

  • C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\computer-use\config.json also updates:

"locale": "es-419"

  • After restarting Codex, the UI still renders in English.
  • Clearing UI cache under %APPDATA%\Codex did not fix it.
  • This affects multiple languages, not only Chinese.

Expected:
The app UI should switch to the selected language after changing Language and restarting Codex.

Attachments:
Screenshot showing Settings > Language set to español / 中文 while the UI remains English.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Open Codex Desktop.
  2. Go to Settings.
  3. In General > Language, change the language from English to another locale, for example:
  • 中文（中国） / zh-CN
  • español (Latinoamérica) / es-419
  1. Restart Codex Desktop.
  2. Reopen Settings.

Actual result:
The Language dropdown shows the selected locale, and config files are updated, but the app UI text remains English.

Expected result:
The app UI should switch to the selected language after changing the Language setting and restarting the app.

Notes:
This reproduces with multiple languages, not only Chinese. Clearing UI cache under %APPDATA%\Codex did not fix it.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 3 months ago

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

  • #22846
  • #23431

Powered by Codex Action

hetavintage · 1 month ago

Sigue y no se ha solucionado este drama, favor den solución a la brevedad.
Haz esta comprobación:
En Codex, abre Settings con Ctrl + ,.
Ve a General → Language.
Selecciona Español.
Cierra Codex completamente y ábrelo de nuevo.
Si ya estaba seleccionado Español, entonces es una limitación/bug de la versión actual de Codex para Windows. No puedo corregir esos textos desde el código ni desde este proyecto: forman parte de la aplicación instalada., luego de mil intentos continúa igual.

ljx4471817 · 28 days ago

I can reproduce this issue on the latest version.

Environment:

  • OS: Windows 11 (zh-CN system locale)
  • Codex Desktop version: 0.144.3 (from version.json)
  • Install source: Direct download (not MSIX/Microsoft Store)

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Open Codex Desktop
  2. Go to Settings > General > Language
  3. Select 中文（中国）/ zh-CN
  4. Restart Codex Desktop completely (full quit + relaunch)

Observed:

  • The Language dropdown shows zh-CN is selected
  • C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\config.toml correctly updates to:
  • - But all menus and UI text remain 100% English — Settings, sidebar, context menus, everything

Additional investigation:

  • I checked the install directory and found that app/locales/zh-CN.pak and the browser extension _locales/zh_CN/messages.json exist, but these only cover Chromium shell elements (right-click menus, file dialogs)
  • The Electron main process UI (Settings, sidebar, all app menus) has no Chinese translation resources bundled
  • This affects all languages, not just Chinese — the language switcher is essentially a no-op right now

Expected:
After selecting zh-CN and restarting, the UI should display in Chinese.

This is a complete blocker for Chinese-speaking users. The language option in Settings gives the impression that localization works, but it actually does nothing. Either the option should be hidden until translations are ready, or the actual translation resources need to be bundled.

Happy to provide more details or screenshots if needed.