Conversations disappear from sidebar after Windows reboot, but Search still finds and opens them
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.608.12217
What subscription do you have?
ChatGPT Pro
What platform is your computer?
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (Build 26200.8655) x64
What issue are you seeing?
Codex was working normally on June 9, 2026.
On June 10, 2026, Windows installed KB5094126 and rebooted the machine. After the reboot, nearly all conversations disappeared from the sidebar and projects began showing "No chats".
However, the conversations do not appear to be deleted.
Observed behavior:
- Projects are still present.
- Most projects show "No chats".
- Search can still find the missing conversations.
- Clicking a search result opens the full conversation history.
- All messages are intact.
- I can continue the conversation and receive responses.
- Sending new messages does not restore the conversation to the sidebar.
- After closing and reopening Codex, the conversation disappears from the sidebar again.
- One pinned conversation remains visible.
- Web Codex also does not show the conversations in the normal list.
Additional findings:
- session_index.jsonl only contains a small number of older conversations.
- Search is able to find and open newer conversations that are not present in session_index.jsonl.
- Backed up the entire .codex folder before troubleshooting.
Environment:
- Codex 26.608.12217
- Windows 11 Pro 25H2 Build 26200.8655
- Windows Security Update KB5094126 installed on June 10, 2026
This appears to be a conversation indexing/sidebar synchronization issue rather than data loss because the conversations are still searchable and fully accessible.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Codex was working normally on June 9, 2026.
On June 10, 2026, Windows installed KB5094126 and rebooted the machine. After the reboot, nearly all conversations disappeared from the sidebar and projects began showing "No chats".
However, the conversations do not appear to be deleted.
Observed behavior:
- Projects are still present.
- Most projects show "No chats".
- Search can still find the missing conversations.
- Clicking a search result opens the full conversation history.
- All messages are intact.
- I can continue the conversation and receive responses.
- Sending new messages does not restore the conversation to the sidebar.
- After closing and reopening Codex, the conversation disappears from the sidebar again.
- Only pinned conversations remains visible.
- Web Codex also does not show the conversations in the normal list.
Additional findings:
- session_index.jsonl only contains a small number of older conversations.
- Search is able to find and open newer conversations that are not present in session_index.jsonl.
- Backed up the entire .codex folder before troubleshooting.
Environment:
- Codex 26.608.12217
- Windows 11 Pro 25H2 Build 26200.8655
- Windows Security Update KB5094126 installed on June 10, 2026
This appears to be a conversation indexing/sidebar synchronization issue rather than data loss because the conversations are still searchable and fully accessible.
What is the expected behavior?
Conversations should remain visible in the sidebar and under their associated projects after opening, viewing, and continuing them.
If a conversation is found through Search and opened successfully, it should remain listed in the sidebar and project history instead of disappearing again.
Projects should display their associated conversations instead of showing "No chats" when conversations clearly exist and are accessible.
Additional information
Additional troubleshooting performed:
- Verified conversations are not deleted.
- Search successfully finds missing conversations.
- Opening search results loads the full conversation history.
- Conversations can be continued and new messages are saved.
- Conversations disappear from the sidebar again after navigating away or restarting Codex.
- Projects remain visible but most display "No chats".
- Backed up the entire C:\Users\<user>\.codex folder before troubleshooting.
- session_index.jsonl appears incomplete and does not contain many conversations that Search can still locate.
- Issue first appeared immediately after Windows Update KB5094126 and system reboot on June 10, 2026.
- Codex version: 26.608.12217
- Windows 11 Pro 25H2 Build 26200.8655
<img width="381" height="1377" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/680a8369-5fc8-47e7-a51f-9b6e54c5c168" />
<img width="2538" height="658" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b36244af-0619-4f27-a4d7-9eec947a2372" />
<img width="935" height="1033" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/73371ca5-ac58-4b36-98ab-a7b21d679168" />
3 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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Additional reproduction on Windows, July 15, 2026:
This appears closely related to the sidebar/session-index persistence problem described here, but the selective loss of only the newest unread chats may be an important clue. It may also intersect with unread-state persistence bugs such as #14452 and the broader restart-loss report #25397.
Impact is high: parallel overnight work across multiple projects can consume substantial usage and then become inaccessible after a normal system restart. Users should not be required to inspect or repair local Codex state manually to recover paid/limited usage output.
Requested fixes:
Re-index / Recover local conversationsaction.Exact app build was not captured before the restart; it was the latest build offered to this account at the time, and the in-app updater reported no update available.
Same here.
Good job, Codex!