Windows Store App crashes on launch when Windows user profile contains Korean characters
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.609.4994.0
What subscription do you have?
pro
What platform is your computer?
_No response_
What issue are you seeing?
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What steps can reproduce the bug?
What issue are you seeing?
The Codex Windows Store app stopped launching after updating to version 26.609.4994.0.
The app starts several Codex.exe processes for a few seconds and then exits without showing any window.
Environment
Platform: Windows 11
Codex version: 26.609.4994.0
Installation: Microsoft Store
Steps to reproduce
Install Codex from Microsoft Store.
Use a Windows account whose profile path contains Korean characters.
Launch Codex.
Example profile path:
C:\Users\서비스지원310
Observed behavior
Multiple Codex.exe processes appear briefly.
No UI window is shown.
Application exits silently.
Crash dump (.dmp) files are generated.
Codex logs only contain:
Launching app
Appshot hotkey inactive
Additional findings
Creating a new Windows account with an English-only profile path fixes the issue completely.
Example working profile:
C:\Users\codexuser
This suggests the issue may be related to Unicode / non-ASCII Windows profile paths.
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
+++++ The issue still occurs on version 26.611.8604.0.
The crash is reproducible when running Codex under a Windows user profile path containing Korean characters. The application launches multiple Codex.exe processes and then exits without displaying any UI.
The problem does not occur when using a Windows account with an English-only profile path, which strongly suggests that the issue is related to handling non-ASCII / Unicode characters in the Windows user profile path. This appears to be a critical issue, as users with Korean Windows profile paths are currently unable to use Codex.
A fix for this issue would be greatly appreciated, as it prevents affected users from launching Codex at all.
4 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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This appears to be caused by the bundled Node.js 24.14.0 runtime. Its native
fs.cpSyncfast path mishandles non-ASCII Windows destination paths, causing__char_to_wide: Illegal byte sequence.Node.js fixed this in [nodejs/node#61950](https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/61950), released with Node.js 24.15.0.
Recommended fix:
What if it stuck at the launching page said there is some sort of error, and won’t do anything even with restart and updating
Adding a related confirmation from a Windows user profile path containing Chinese characters.
I posted the fuller report here: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/27506#issuecomment-4732979342
Summary of the A/B test:
C:\Users\<Chinese characters>→ Codex Windows desktop app fails to launch.C:\Users\codexuser→ Codex launches successfully on the same machine.I also tried reinstalling/updating Codex, killing Codex/OpenAI processes, and redirecting Codex-related home paths with environment variables, but the original non-ASCII profile still failed.
This suggests the issue affects not only Korean profile paths but also Chinese/CJK non-ASCII Windows user profile paths.