Windows 10 desktop app: sidebar background becomes transparent when maximized and focused

Resolved 💬 5 comments Opened Jun 2, 2026 by TzahiM Closed Jun 9, 2026

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Summary

On Windows 10, the Codex desktop app sidebar/titlebar background becomes transparent when the window is maximized and focused. The desktop wallpaper shows through the sidebar area, while the sidebar text and controls still render.

When the same maximized Codex window loses focus, the sidebar background renders normally again. When the window is not maximized, it also renders normally.

Environment

OS: Windows 10
App: Codex Desktop for Windows
Codex version: 26.527.31326

Steps to reproduce

Open Codex Desktop on Windows 10.
Maximize the Codex window.
Focus the Codex window.
Observe the left sidebar/titlebar background becomes transparent and the desktop wallpaper shows behind it.
Focus another window while Codex remains maximized.
Observe the sidebar/titlebar background returns to normal.

Expected behavior

The sidebar/titlebar background should remain opaque in all focus and maximized states.

Actual behavior

The sidebar/titlebar background becomes transparent only when Codex is maximized and focused. Sidebar text and controls remain visible.

Notes

I have screenshots showing both states:

CoxexWithBugCapture.JPG: maximized + focused, bug visible
CodexWithNoBugWhenNotInFofus.JPG: maximized + unfocused, no bug
version.JPG: About dialog showing Codex version 26.527.31326

The issue appears specific to the combination Windows 10 + maximized window + focused Codex window, possibly related to the desktop shell/window compositing layer or active-window transparency/acrylic handling.

View original on GitHub ↗

5 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 2 months ago

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

#25235
#25154
#25605
#25754
#25513

Powered by Codex Action

TzahiM · 2 months ago

Additional confirmation after updating/checking the installed Codex app: the bug still reproduces.

The About dialog still reports:

Codex 26.527.31326
© OpenAI

A new screenshot is available locally as also_in_version.JPG, showing the same About version after the update attempt. The rendering issue remains unchanged: when the Codex window is maximized and focused on Windows 10, the sidebar/titlebar background becomes transparent; when maximized but unfocused, it renders normally.

liulili-ui · 2 months ago

I am seeing the same/similar issue on Windows.

Environment:

Codex Desktop: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_x64
OS: Windows
Display: maximized window

Issue:
When Codex Desktop is maximized, the left sidebar and top menu/titlebar area become transparent.
The desktop wallpaper is visible behind these areas.
The main chat content area still renders white normally.

Important details:

Restored/non-maximized window looks normal.
Manually resizing close to full screen is OK.
Only true maximized state triggers the transparent background.
Changing Windows transparency effects does not fix it.
Restarting Codex does not fix it.
Windows taskbar renders normally, so this looks specific to the Codex app window rendering.
Changing wallpaper only makes the menu text more visible; the Codex shell area is still transparent.

Expected:
The sidebar and top menu area should keep a solid background when maximized.

Attached screenshots:

sagar18marketing-lab · 2 months ago

I’m seeing the same Windows 10 maximized/focused sidebar transparency issue on a newer Codex Windows build.

Environment:

Codex Windows app package: OpenAI.Codex 26.602.4764.0
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.137.0-alpha.4
OS: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19043, 64-bit
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
NVIDIA driver: 32.0.15.8253
Display: 1920x1080, 100% scale

Observed behavior:

Sidebar can be pinned/kept visible, but its background remains transparent/see-through while Codex is maximized/focused.
Desktop/other app content appears through the left sidebar area.
codex doctor --json reports overallStatus: ok.

Tried locally before finding related reports:

Maximize/restore/reposition Codex window.
Disable Windows transparency effects.
Disable Codex Chromium hardware acceleration in Local State.
Clear available GPU/shader caches.
Force repaint/minimize/restore.

I also applied the workaround from #25374 by setting both desktop chrome themes to opaqueWindows = true in %USERPROFILE%\.codex\config.toml. I’ll restart the app to confirm whether that avoids the transparent sidebar on this system too.

ftw66666 · 2 months ago

I can reproduce/observe the same Windows desktop rendering issue on a newer Codex build.

Environment:

Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.602.4764.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
OS: Windows 10 Pro 22H2, build 19045 / UBR 7291
Windows transparency effects: enabled (EnableTransparency = 1)
Theme state observed locally: AppsUseLightTheme = 1, SystemUsesLightTheme = 1

Observed behavior:

When Codex is maximized/focused, the left project/conversation sidebar and the top menu/title area become transparent and show the window/desktop behind Codex.
The main conversation/content area remains opaque and renders normally.
The screenshot shows the blue background/window behind Codex bleeding through the entire left sidebar and top chrome region, while the center Codex content remains dark/opaque.

Diagnostics checked:

Current logs did not show obvious GPU/DWM/DirectComposition crash markers such as GPU process crash, renderer gone, DWM failure, ANGLE failure, etc.
Logs did contain unrelated desktop/app warnings such as computer-use native pipe startup failed and chat process notification JSON parse warnings, but these do not appear to explain the transparent sidebar/titlebar behavior.
The app log also reported Codex Workspace dependencies are not supported on Windows 10, confirming the Windows 10 environment.

This appears to still reproduce in the 26.602.4764.0 Windows desktop package, so it does not look fixed by the newer 26.602 build.