Windows 10: Global keyboard shortcuts stop working after Codex extension finishes initializing

What version of the IDE extension are you using?

26.5527.31454

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

Which IDE are you using?

Visual Studio Code 1.125.1

What platform is your computer?

Windows 10 Pro 22H2 x64 (Build 19045)

What issue are you seeing?

Summary

After the Codex extension finishes initializing, several Windows global keyboard shortcuts stop working.

Affected shortcuts include:

• Win + Shift + S (Snipping Tool)
• Win + .
• Ctrl + Shift + Esc

The first invocation usually works after launching VS Code.

After Codex finishes loading, these shortcuts stop responding.

Closing VS Code immediately restores all shortcuts.

Environment

• Windows 10 Pro 22H2 (Build 19045)
• VS Code 1.125.1
• ChatGPT Plus

Reproduction

1. Launch VS Code.
2. Open any workspace.
3. Wait until Codex finishes initializing.
4. Press Win + Shift + S once (works).
5. Press Win + Shift + S again (no response).
6. Other Windows shortcuts also stop working.
7. Close VS Code.
8. All shortcuts work again immediately.

What I already tried

• Downgraded VS Code
• Downgraded the Codex extension
• Disabled all other extensions
• Cleared the .codex directory
• Reinstalled the extension

The behavior is unchanged.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Launch Visual Studio Code.
2. Open any workspace.
3. Wait for the Codex extension to finish initializing.
4. Press Win + Shift + S once (works normally).
5. Press Win + Shift + S again (no response).
6. Win + . and Ctrl + Shift + Esc also stop responding.
7. Close VS Code.
8. All Windows shortcuts immediately work again.

This issue is reproducible every time.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex should not interfere with Windows global keyboard shortcuts.

Windows shortcuts such as Win + Shift + S, Win + ., and Ctrl + Shift + Esc should continue to work normally before and after the extension initializes.

Additional information

Additional information:

• Windows 10 Pro 22H2 (Build 19045)
• VS Code 1.125.1
• ChatGPT Plus
• Codex extension 26.5527.31454

I have already tried:

• Downgrading VS Code
• Downgrading the Codex extension
• Disabling all other extensions
• Clearing the .codex directory
• Reinstalling the extension

The issue still occurs.

One important observation:

The shortcuts work normally before the Codex extension finishes loading.

The problem starts immediately after the Codex panel has finished initializing.

Closing VS Code immediately restores all Windows shortcuts.

I spent several hours troubleshooting this issue.

The problem is reproducible every time on my machine.

The issue only starts after the Codex extension has finished initializing.

Before Codex loads, all Windows shortcuts work normally.

Immediately after closing VS Code, all Windows shortcuts work again.