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Codex Issues / #28980

Codex Desktop 26.616 on Windows: old sessions still missing and RAM grows to 99% of 32 GB after idle

Resolved 💬 6 comments Opened Jun 18, 2026 by SocialK Closed Jun 19, 2026
💡 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)?

Version 26.616.30709 • Released Jun 18, 2026

What subscription do you have?

Pro / 200

What platform is your computer?

OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0, Architecture: x64 , Asus Zenbook 14, i9-185h , 32 GB RAM

What issue are you seeing?

Critical update after testing Codex Desktop 26.616 on Windows

Current versions:

  • Microsoft Store / Windows package version:

OpenAI.Codex 26.616.3309.0
PackageFullName: OpenAI.Codex_26.616.3309.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

  • In-app About Codex dialog:

Version 26.616.30709 • Released Jun 18, 2026

System:

  • Windows laptop
  • 32 GB RAM

Retest result:

This build improves startup time, but the core regression is still not fixed.

Improved:

  • The app window opens in around 6 seconds.
  • UI details render around 3 seconds after the window appears.
  • Initial responsiveness is better than previous 26.611 builds.

Still broken:

  • Existing projects are visible in the left sidebar.
  • Previous chats/sessions from those projects still do not load.
  • I waited around 10 minutes after opening the app and switching between projects, but previous sessions never appeared.
  • I opened multiple projects, and the old chats/sessions were still missing everywhere.
  • The previous work history remains effectively inaccessible from the Desktop app.

Critical memory issue:

  • After around 5 minutes, RAM usage grew from around 70% to around 96%.
  • After around 30 minutes, RAM usage stabilized at 99% of 32 GB.
  • The laptop became heavily laggy and effectively unusable.
  • Even after closing other applications and temporarily freeing memory, Codex continued consuming memory again until the system reached 99–100% RAM usage.
  • Once memory reaches 99–100%, normal work becomes blocked because there is no usable free memory left.

Current conclusion:

  • 26.616 improves startup speed compared with 26.611.
  • However, it does not fix the critical Windows Desktop regression:
  • old sessions/chats still do not load;
  • project history remains inaccessible;
  • RAM usage grows to 99% of 32 GB;
  • the app becomes unusable even when no real work is being performed;
  • the whole laptop becomes laggy and blocked by memory pressure.

This looks like a critical Windows Desktop local session/history loading, migration, indexing, renderer hydration, or memory management regression.

From the user perspective, the failure mode changed from “very slow startup and unusable UI” to “faster startup, but previous sessions are still inaccessible and Codex eventually consumes almost all system memory.”

Please escalate this to the Windows Desktop / local history / session resume / memory management engineering team.

At this point I cannot safely keep Codex open because it consumes nearly all available memory and makes the machine unusable.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Update Codex Desktop for Windows to:

OpenAI.Codex 26.616.3309.0

  1. Open Codex Desktop.
  1. Confirm the in-app About dialog shows:

Version 26.616.30709 • Released Jun 18, 2026

  1. Do not start any new task.
  1. Observe startup:
  • Window opens in around 6 seconds.
  • UI details render around 3 seconds later.
  1. Open existing projects from the left sidebar.
  1. Wait for previous chats/sessions to load.
  1. Switch between several existing projects.
  1. Wait 10 minutes.
  1. Observe that previous chats/sessions still do not appear.
  1. Keep Codex open for around 30 minutes.
  1. Observe system memory usage:
  • RAM grows from around 70% to around 90%.
  • Then to around 96%.
  • Then stabilizes at 99% of 32 GB.
  1. At 99–100% RAM usage, the laptop becomes heavily laggy and effectively unusable.

Expected behavior:

  • Existing project chats/sessions should load after opening the app.
  • If old sessions cannot be loaded, Codex should show an explicit recoverable error instead of leaving projects empty.
  • Codex should not consume almost all system memory while idle or while only switching between projects.
  • RAM usage should stabilize at a reasonable level and not grow to 99% of 32 GB.
  • The app should remain usable for normal work.
  • The Desktop app should not make the entire laptop lag or become blocked by memory pressure.

Additional context:
This is a continuation of the Windows Desktop regression seen in previous 26.611 builds.

Previous builds had slower startup and severe UI lag. Version 26.616 improves startup speed, but previous sessions/chats are still inaccessible and memory still grows until the machine becomes unusable.

Please escalate this to the Windows Desktop / local history / session resume / memory management engineering team.

At this point I cannot safely keep Codex open because it consumes nearly all available memory and makes the machine unusable.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_

View original on GitHub ↗

6 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 1 month ago

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

  • #28524
  • #28957
  • #28348
  • #27453
  • #28606

Powered by Codex Action

SocialK · 1 month ago

Update after latest Codex Desktop update — issue still reproducible on 26.616.32156

Codex was updated again today.

Current version shown in About Codex:

  • Codex App: 26.616.32156
  • Released: Jun 19, 2026
  • Platform: Windows
  • Plan: ChatGPT Pro / $200
  • Machine: Windows laptop, 32 GB RAM

The issue is still not fixed.

Current behavior after this update:

  1. RAM behavior / performance regression still present

After launching Codex, RAM stays stable only for around the first minute.

After that, memory usage quickly grows to around 95–99% of 32 GB RAM.

Once RAM reaches this level, the whole laptop becomes extremely laggy and Codex becomes impossible to use.

This happens even when I am not doing real work inside Codex.

  1. Old projects / sessions are still broken

Old projects and sessions are still not restored correctly.

The previous history is missing / inaccessible in old projects and sessions.

This happened across several updates already, and work became inaccessible / effectively lost multiple times.

  1. New additional regression: model selector unavailable in old chats

In old projects and sessions, the model selector is now unavailable.

I cannot choose a model in those old chats.

This is a new visible symptom after the latest update.

So the latest update did not fix the core issue and appears to add another session-level / model-selection regression.

Expected behavior:

  • Codex should not grow to 95–99% RAM while idle or shortly after launch.
  • Old projects and sessions should remain accessible after updates.
  • Project/session history should not disappear after app updates.
  • Model selection should remain available in old chats.
  • A paid Pro user should not lose access to work after each Codex update.

Actual behavior:

  • Codex becomes unusable because RAM grows to 95–99%.
  • Old project/session history is missing or inaccessible.
  • Old chats no longer allow model selection.
  • The app is not usable for real work on Windows.

Impact:

This is now a long-running production-blocking issue.

Codex Desktop has been unusable for around 19 days for me.

I am on the highest Pro plan, but I cannot use Codex reliably.

My work/projects became inaccessible or effectively lost three times after updates/relaunches.

Request:

Please escalate this to the Codex Desktop Windows team.

This looks like a serious combination of:

  • Windows desktop memory leak / memory retention;
  • broken old session/project hydration;
  • broken local session index / project history migration;
  • unavailable model selector in old sessions;
  • possible data-loss / inaccessible-history issue after updates.

Please provide:

  1. Confirmation whether this is known internally.
  2. A safe recovery/reindex procedure for old sessions/projects.
  3. Guidance on whether old sessions are still present on disk and how to restore them.
  4. A way to export/recover old threads when the UI cannot load them.
  5. A safe list of logs/files to share, with clarification whether they may contain code, prompts, screenshots, secrets, or private project data.
  6. A temporary rollback or known-good Windows build, if available.
  7. Compensation / credit consideration, because Codex has been unusable on a paid Pro plan for around 19 days. app launch 10 seconds, ui appearance 5 seconds, menu become clickable another 5 seconds!
SocialK · 1 month ago

Short summary for triage:

Latest update tested: Codex 26.616.32156, Released Jun 19, 2026.

Result: issue still reproducible.

Regression still present:

  • RAM grows to 95–99% after launch / idle.
  • Windows becomes extremely laggy.
  • Old project/session history remains missing or inaccessible.
  • New symptom: model selector is unavailable in all old chats and projects.

This is still a production-blocking Windows Desktop issue for a paid Pro user.

SocialK · 1 month ago

in top of that chat gpt 5.5 , 2-3 days ago become very very stupid, I cant believe you destroyed Codex and now destorying web version of chat gpt

SocialK · 1 month ago

Old Sessions and Chats gone, the rest working properly, Model is much more less advanced :(

TangAnNing · 7 days ago
### 你用的是哪个版本的Codex App（摘自“关于Codex”对话框）？ 版本 26.616.30709 • 发布日期：2026 年 6 月 18 日 ### 你订阅的是什么？ Pro / 200 ### 你的电脑是什么平台？ 操作系统：Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0，架构：x64，华硕Zenbook 14，i9-185h，32GB 内存 ### 你遇到了什么问题？ 在 Windows 上测试 Codex Desktop 26.616 后的关键更新 当前版本： Microsoft 商店 / Windows 包版本：OpenAI.Codex 26.616.3309.0 PackageFullName： OpenAI.Codex_26.616.3309.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0 应用内关于Codex对话框：版本26.616.30709 • 发布日期：2026年6月18日 系统： Windows笔记本电脑 32GB 内存 复测结果： 这个版本提高了启动时间，但核心回归问题仍未修复。 改进： 应用窗口大约6秒后打开。 界面细节在窗口出现后大约3秒渲染。 初始响应速度比之前的26.611版本更好。 依然坏掉的： 现有项目可见于左侧边栏。 那些项目之前的聊天/会话依然无法加载。 我在打开应用并切换项目后等了大约10分钟，但之前的会话从未出现。 我打开了多个项目，旧的聊天记录和会话依然各处缺失。 之前的工作记录实际上无法从桌面应用中访问。 关键记忆问题： 大约5分钟后，内存使用率从大约70%上升到大约96%。 大约30分钟后，内存使用量稳定在32GB的99%。 笔记本变得非常卡顿，几乎无法使用。 即使关闭了其他应用程序并暂时释放了内存，Codex 仍然继续消耗内存，直到系统内存使用率达到 99–100%。 一旦内存达到99–100%，正常工作就会被阻塞，因为没有可用的空闲内存。 当前结论： 26.616相比26.611提升了启动速度。 然而，它并未修复关键的Windows桌面回归问题： 旧的会话/聊天依然无法加载; 项目历史无法查阅; 内存使用率增长到32GB的99%; 即使没有实际工作进行，应用也会变得无法使用; 整台笔记本会卡顿，且被内存压力阻挡。 这看起来像是关键的Windows桌面本地会话/历史加载、迁移、索引、渲染器水合或内存管理回归。 从用户角度看，失败模式从“启动极慢且界面无法使用”变成了“启动速度加快，但之前的会话仍然无法访问，Codex 最终几乎占用了所有系统内存”。 请将此事升级到Windows桌面/本地历史/会话恢复/内存管理工程团队。 现在我无法安全地开着Codex，因为它几乎占用了所有可用内存，机器无法使用。 ### 哪些步骤可以重现这个bug？ 繁殖步骤： 1. 更新 Codex Desktop for Windows 为：OpenAI.Codex 26.616.3309.0 2. 打开Codex Desktop。 3. 确认应用内关于对话框显示：版本26.616.30709 • 发布日期：2026年6月18日 4. 不要开始任何新任务。 5. 观察启动： 窗口大约6秒后打开。 UI细节大约3秒后渲染。 6. 从左侧边栏打开现有项目。 7. 等之前的聊天/会话加载完毕。 8. 在多个现有项目之间切换。 9. 等10分钟。 10. 注意之前的聊天记录/会话依然不显示。 11. 保持Codex开启大约30分钟。 12. 观察系统内存使用情况： 内存从大约70%增长到大约90%。 然后降到大约96%。 然后稳定在32GB的99%。 13. 当内存使用率达到99%至100%时，笔记本会变得严重卡顿，几乎无法使用。 预期行为： 打开应用后，现有的项目聊天/会话应该会加载。 如果旧会话无法加载，Codex 应显示明确可恢复的错误，而不是留空项目。 Codex 在空闲或仅在项目间切换时不应占用几乎所有系统内存。 内存使用量应稳定在合理水平，不会暴增到32GB的99%。 应用应该可以正常工作。 * 桌面应用不应该让整个笔记本卡顿或被内存压力阻塞。 补充背景：这是之前26.611版本中Windows Desktop回归的延续。 之前的版本启动更慢，界面卡顿严重。26.616 版本提高了启动速度，但之前的会话/聊天仍然无法访问，内存也会增长，直到机器无法使用。 请将此事升级到Windows桌面/本地历史/会话恢复/内存管理工程团队。 现在我无法安全地开着Codex，因为它几乎占用了所有可用内存，机器无法使用。 ### 预期的行为是什么？ _没有回应_ ### 附加信息 _没有回应_

实际上的问题是codex默认会调用核显和独立显卡，两个卡会混合使用，然后可能是你的独显升级了驱动，但是核显一直没有升级过，只需要把核显驱动也升级即可，我是这么解决的，开codex一小时之后codex直接卡死，升级核显之后就没问题了