Windows 11 Codex Desktop missing Chrome backend and Computer Use while same Plus account works on Windows 10

Open 💬 4 comments Opened Jun 6, 2026 by vit450
💡 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)?

26.602.4764.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Pro build 26200

What issue are you seeing?

Feedback ID:
019e9b46-867b-77f1-baa4-a4a0a1699d99

Issue:
On my Windows 11 home PC, Codex Desktop does not show the Chrome plugin / Chrome backend or Computer Use. The same ChatGPT Plus account on my Windows 10 work PC shows them correctly.

Home PC:

  • Windows 11 Pro build 26200
  • Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.602.4764.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • Codex CLI: 0.130.0-alpha.5
  • ChatGPT auth mode: chatgpt
  • Plan claim: plus
  • Chrome installed
  • Chrome Codex extension exists:

hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg
version 1.1.5
description: Control Chrome with Codex.

Problematic home PC state:
C:\Users\user.codex\config.toml contains:
BROWSER_USE_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS = "iab"

Missing:
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json
C:\Users\user.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome
C:\Users\user.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\computer-use\

Earlier registry check also did not find:
com.openai.codexextension

Work PC state:

  • Windows 10 Pro 22H2 build 19045.6456
  • Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.601.2237.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • BROWSER_USE_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS = "chrome,iab"
  • chrome-native-hosts-v2.json exists
  • Chrome plugin and Computer Use appear
  • browser_use_availability_resolved available=true

Feature flags on home PC show enabled:
browser_use = true
browser_use_external = true
computer_use = true
in_app_browser = true
plugins = true

Question:
Why is the Windows 11 home PC resolving only the iab backend and not provisioning the Chrome backend/native host and Computer Use plugin cache, even though the same Plus account works on the Windows 10 PC?

Requested safe repair:
Please provide the official Codex UI/install/repair flow to provision:

  • chrome-native-hosts-v2.json
  • Chrome native messaging host
  • openai-bundled\chrome
  • openai-bundled\computer-use
  • BROWSER_USE_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS = "chrome,iab"

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Install and open Codex Desktop on Windows 11.
  2. Sign in with a ChatGPT Plus account.
  3. Open Codex Desktop and check for Chrome plugin / Chrome backend and Computer Use.
  4. Chrome plugin and Computer Use do not appear.
  5. Check local Codex config:

C:\Users\user\.codex\config.toml

  1. The config shows:

BROWSER_USE_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS = "iab"

  1. Check for the Chrome backend/native host files:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json
C:\Users\user\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\
C:\Users\user\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\computer-use\

  1. These files/folders are missing.
  2. On a Windows 10 work PC, the same ChatGPT Plus account shows Chrome plugin and Computer Use correctly.
  3. On the Windows 10 PC, config shows:

BROWSER_USE_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS = "chrome,iab"

What is the expected behavior?

Expected behavior:

Codex Desktop on Windows 11 should provision and expose the same Chrome backend and Computer Use features that are available on my Windows 10 PC using the same ChatGPT Plus account.

Expected state:

  • Chrome plugin / Chrome backend should appear in Codex Desktop.
  • Computer Use should appear in Codex Desktop.
  • BROWSER_USE_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS should include "chrome,iab" instead of only "iab".
  • chrome-native-hosts-v2.json should be created.
  • openai-bundled\chrome\ should be provisioned.
  • openai-bundled\computer-use\ should be provisioned.
  • The Codex Chrome extension should be able to communicate with Codex Desktop.

Additional information

Additional information:

I already uploaded Codex feedback from the affected Windows 11 machine.

Feedback ID:
019e9b46-867b-77f1-baa4-a4a0a1699d99

I also asked Codex to attempt a read-only guided repair. It did not find any official Chrome / Computer Use install or repair option exposed through the available Codex UI or CLI surfaces. The CLI only showed marketplace add, upgrade, and remove. The plugin install candidate list did not include Chrome or Computer Use.

Codex stopped before making any changes.

I do not want to manually edit config.toml, registry, or copy plugin folders from another PC. I am looking for the official supported repair/provisioning path.

View original on GitHub ↗

4 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 2 months ago

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

  • #26501
  • #25878
  • #26730
  • #26536
  • #26561

Powered by Codex Action

vit450 · 2 months ago

I also checked the COMSPEC workaround mentioned in related issues.

On the affected Windows 11 PC:

$env:ComSpec
C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe

Test-Path $env:ComSpec
True

So COMSPEC appears to be configured correctly and does not seem to be the cause in this case.

The issue remains:

BROWSER_USE_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS = "iab"

Missing:

chrome-native-hosts-v2.json
openai-bundled\chrome\
openai-bundled\computer-use\
pumalife · 2 months ago

yes been having this for 24 hours... it started immedaitely after installing yesterdays update. the released another today (Version 26.602.40724 • Released Jun 5, 2026), installed hoping it would fix, but it did not.

zemeng5208 · 16 days ago

I maintain WinBridge Recovery for Windows Codex Desktop local provisioning/recovery: https://github.com/zemeng5208/winbridge-recovery

This is a useful case because the same account working on another Windows machine makes the local provisioning layers worth checking before assuming an account problem. On the affected PC, chrome-native-hosts-v2.json, the Chrome/Computer Use bundled caches and the Native Host registration are all absent while the relevant feature flags are enabled.

WinBridge v3.1.1 checks the current installed AppX bundled resources first, then the generated openai-bundled marketplace, versioned Chrome/Computer Use cache + latest, CUA runtime, Native Host manifest/registry/v2 state and Browser backend config. If the official package contains the assets but those user-owned layers were never materialized or became inconsistent after an update, the tool can stage and validate them from the already installed package with backups/rollback.

The limitation matters here: if the affected AppX runtime itself intentionally exposes only iab because of a server/account availability decision, WinBridge cannot and should not force chrome,iab or Computer Use eligibility. Its value is to distinguish that gate from the concrete local state where assets exist but provisioning failed.

It does not modify WindowsApps, bypass feature gates, or copy state from another PC.