[Windows] Chrome control disabled by org/region while extension shows Connected

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

About dialog version not captured in the open feedback window. Local diagnostics observed the Windows Store package:

OpenAI.Codex_26.608.1337.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

What subscription do you have?

Personal account. Not an organization/team/workspace account. Exact plan name not captured here.

What platform is your computer?

Windows x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Desktop shows Google Chrome as disabled under Computer Use even though the Codex Chrome extension itself shows Connected.

Feedback ID from in-app feedback:

019eb574-2eb0-7d50-9c78-566c12cf2fe8

User location/region:

United Arab Emirates / UAE

Symptoms:

• Chrome extension popup shows Connected.
• Chrome extension version observed: v1.1.5.
• Clicking the extension settings opens Codex Settings > Computer use.
• Codex Settings > Computer use shows Google Chrome disabled with:

Disabled by your organization or unavailable in your region

• This is a personal account, not a managed organization account.
• Restarting Codex and Chrome did not fix it.
• Chrome appears in Codex as a Skill, but the normal Chrome plugin/control surface is not visible.
• Browser runtime only exposes the in-app browser backend; the Chrome extension backend is not available.
• Attempting to get the extension backend fails with:

Browser is not available: extension

Local diagnostics suggest the local Chrome/extension pieces are healthy, while Codex Desktop is gating/filtering the runtime:

• Chrome is running.
• Codex Chrome extension is installed and enabled in the Chrome profile.
• Native messaging host registry/manifest exists and appears correct.
• The extension itself reports Connected.
• Local plugin cache/config repairs do not persist; Codex rewrites state back to in-app-browser-only.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Use Codex Desktop on Windows with a personal account from UAE.
2. Install/enable the Codex Chrome extension.
3. Open the Chrome extension popup and confirm it shows Connected.
4. Click the extension settings gear, which opens Codex Settings > Computer use.
5. Observe that Google Chrome is disabled with:

Disabled by your organization or unavailable in your region

1. Start or continue a Codex thread and try to use Chrome-backed automation.
2. Observe that only the in-app browser backend is available and Chrome/extension backend is unavailable.

What is the expected behavior?

If the Codex Chrome extension shows Connected and the account is not managed by an organization, Codex should either:

• expose Google Chrome as a controllable backend, or
• show a precise reason explaining why the account, region, subscription, or build is ineligible.

The current message makes it impossible to tell whether this is organization policy, account eligibility, region gating, plugin packaging, or a runtime provisioning bug.

Additional information

This appears related to the existing class of Browser/Computer Use availability issues, but this report adds a UAE personal-account case where the Chrome extension itself is connected while Codex still disables Google Chrome in Computer Use.

Related issues found before filing:

• #24438
• #26735
• #26594
• #24188
• #21598
• #22079
• #25253

The user also saw a Bitdefender alert after Codex restarted. Local inspection suggested that alert came from Codex Computer Use inventory/hook behavior, not from the Chrome extension itself, but it may be worth correlating with the feedback bundle if relevant.