# Bug Report: Windows Codex Desktop Shows Empty Project Chats While Mobile Shows History

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

26.602.3474.0

What subscription do you have?

plus

What platform is your computer?

• Platform: Windows Codex Desktop - Package path observed: - C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex - C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Packages\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0 - App install path observed earlier: - C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.601.2237.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe - WSL distro: Ubuntu-22.04 - Main workspace: - \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu-22.04\home\kim-yj\Projects\2026\NFPT_CCU_RBSL_validation - /home/kim-yj/Projects/2026/NFPT_CCU_RBSL_validation

What issue are you seeing?

Bug Report: Windows Codex Desktop Shows Empty Project Chats While Mobile Shows History

Summary

On Windows Codex Desktop, project chat history is not displayed in the left sidebar. The same account and conversations are visible from the connected mobile ChatGPT/Codex view, so the conversation data does not appear to be deleted. The issue appears isolated to the Windows desktop app's local project/sidebar history index or sync path.

Environment

• Platform: Windows Codex Desktop
• Package path observed:
• C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex
• C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Packages\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0
• App install path observed earlier:
• C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.601.2237.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe
• WSL distro: Ubuntu-22.04
• Main workspace:
• \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu-22.04\home\kim-yj\Projects\2026\NFPT_CCU_RBSL_validation
• /home/kim-yj/Projects/2026/NFPT_CCU_RBSL_validation

Actual Result

• Windows Codex Desktop sidebar lists projects, but most projects show 채팅 없음 / no chats.
• The currently active/new chat may appear, but older project chats do not.
• Reopening the app, resetting local workspace paths, repairing local SQLite data, clearing local cache, and reinstalling the app did not restore the sidebar history.
• Login remains active even after Windows app repair/reset and reinstall.

Expected Result

• Windows Codex Desktop should show the same previous project conversations that are visible on mobile for the same account.
• Project-level histories should be restored from local/session state or synced account state after reinstall.

Strong Evidence That Data Is Not Lost

• The connected mobile ChatGPT/Codex view shows the previous conversations normally.
• Local session files were found under:
• C:\Users\user\.codex\sessions
• /home/kim-yj/.codex/sessions
• Windows and WSL Codex SQLite state files contained historical thread rows during inspection.

Troubleshooting Already Performed

1. Checked Windows user Codex state under C:\Users\user\.codex.
2. Checked WSL Codex state under /home/kim-yj/.codex.
3. Investigated path mismatches among:

• \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu-22.04\...
• \\wsl$\Ubuntu-22.04\...
• /home/kim-yj/...

1. Normalized workspace roots in .codex-global-state.json.
2. Inspected and repaired state_5.sqlite thread rows.
3. Checked threads.cwd, rollout_path, has_user_event, previews, and session file existence.
4. Copied/merged Windows session/state data into WSL-side Codex state because the running app-server appeared to use WSL ~/.codex/sqlite.
5. Cleared local Codex cache directories.
6. Fully terminated Codex-related processes before retrying local repairs.
7. Confirmed closing the window does not necessarily terminate all Codex.exe, codex.exe, WSL, or app-server processes.
8. Backed up relevant Codex state:

• C:\Users\user\.codex
• \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu-22.04\home\kim-yj\.codex
• C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex
• C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Packages\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0

1. Tried Windows app repair/reset.
2. Renamed/isolated local Codex app profile/cache directories.
3. Uninstalled and reinstalled Codex Desktop.

Final State After Reinstall

• Windows Codex Desktop still remains logged in.
• Sidebar still shows projects with 채팅 없음.
• Mobile still shows previous conversations correctly.
• Therefore the issue is likely not simple local data deletion. It looks like a Windows desktop app profile/sidebar sync/index bug, possibly involving account-backed state plus WSL workspace mapping.

Backup Location

Before destructive troubleshooting, a backup was created at:

C:\Users\user\CodexBackups\backup_20260605_141759

Manifest:

C:\Users\user\CodexBackups\backup_20260605_141759\MANIFEST.txt

Backup summary:

• Total files: 21,300
• Total size: about 2.25 GB
• Note: 11 runtime/cache files in the Windows app package were locked while Codex was running and were skipped, but the important .codex data was backed up.

Suspected Area

The likely fault is one of:

1. Windows Codex Desktop project sidebar index is not rebuilding from valid local thread/session state.
2. Windows Desktop is using a different account/workspace history source than mobile.
3. WSL workspace root normalization causes historical threads to be excluded from the project view.
4. App repair/reset/reinstall does not clear the effective WebView/account-backed profile state that controls the sidebar.
5. App-server state under WSL and Windows UI state under the Store app package disagree, and the UI does not recover.

Requested Investigation

Please investigate why Windows Codex Desktop can show an empty project history while the same account's mobile view shows the historical conversations correctly, even after local cache isolation and full reinstall.

The most useful diagnostic would be a supported way to force the Windows desktop app to:

• rebuild the project sidebar index,
• resync account conversation metadata,
• show which local or remote store is being used for project history,
• or export diagnostics showing why historical threads are filtered out.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

<img width="316" height="753" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c63353de-566a-47aa-9192-bce513da11de" />

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_