Image preview does not fit to window when Codex Desktop UI zoom is increased

Open 💬 1 comment Opened Jun 7, 2026 by Frankly-Kim

Summary

In Codex Desktop on Windows, image preview/lightbox does not fit images to the visible window when the app UI zoom is increased. Clicking an inline image preview opens a very large cropped view, so only part of the image is visible. Resetting the app zoom with Ctrl+0 makes the preview behave normally, but that makes the rest of the Codex UI too small to read comfortably on a large display.

Environment

  • App: Codex Desktop
  • OS: Windows
  • Display setup: large monitor / scaled UI usage
  • Relevant condition: Codex app UI zoom is increased above the default

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open Codex Desktop on Windows.
  2. Increase the Codex app UI zoom so chat text is comfortably readable.
  3. In a thread, click an inline image thumbnail or image result, such as an image generated by Codex or an image returned in a web/image search response.
  4. Observe the opened image preview/lightbox.

Expected behavior

The image preview should initially fit the image to the current preview window or viewport. The viewer should remain usable independently of the app UI zoom level, while still allowing manual zoom/pan if needed.

Actual behavior

The image opens overly enlarged and cropped. Only a local region of the image is visible, and the preview appears to be affected by the app UI zoom instead of fitting the image to the available viewer area.

Workaround

Pressing Ctrl+0 to reset the Codex app zoom makes image preview usable again. However, this is not a good workaround for users who intentionally increase the app zoom because the default text size is too small.

Why this matters

The current behavior creates an accessibility/usability tradeoff: users can either keep the UI text large enough to read comfortably, or reset zoom every time they need to inspect an image. Image preview should fit to viewport by default and not require reducing the entire app UI zoom.

Suggested improvement

  • Make image preview/lightbox default to "fit to window" regardless of Codex app UI zoom.
  • Keep manual image zoom controls separate from app UI zoom.
  • Optionally add viewer controls such as fit-to-window, actual size, zoom in/out, and reset.

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