Persist and restore the complete workspace layout in the ChatGPT desktop app

What variant of Codex are you using?

ChatGPT Powered by Codex & OWL Version 26.707.62119 Released Jul 13, 2026

What feature would you like to see?

Product area: ChatGPT desktop app — Work, Codex, projects, and side panels

Problem

The desktop app currently does not reliably restore the complete workspace state after it is closed and reopened. While the last project or task may remain available, users have to reconstruct their working layout manually.

A typical workflow may include:

• a selected project and Codex task in the main pane;
• the project sidebar at a customized width;
• an in-app browser docked in the right-hand side panel;
• a long-running ChatGPT conversation open in that browser;
• a specific split ratio between the main pane and side panel;
• expanded or collapsed navigation sections;
• active tabs, URLs, and scroll positions.

Losing this state creates repeated setup work and interrupts continuity, especially for users who treat the desktop app as a persistent project workspace.

Example use case

I use Codex for implementation work in the main pane and keep a long-running architecture and review conversation open in the docked browser panel on the right. This separation works very well, but I have to reconstruct it after reopening the app.

Requested behavior

On launch, restore the previous workspace as closely as possible, including:

• the last selected mode, project, and task;
• visibility and width of the left navigation sidebar;
• visibility and width of the right side panel;
• the selected side-panel tool;
• open in-app browser tabs and their URLs;
• the split ratio between panes;
• expanded and collapsed sections;
• scroll positions where practical;
• whether auxiliary content was docked, minimized, or floating.

The expected experience is similar to reopening an IDE: the user should return to the same working context rather than only the same project.

Suggested product requirement

Persist a local workspace-layout snapshot and restore it on the next launch. If an individual resource is no longer available, restore the remaining layout and show a non-blocking placeholder for the missing resource instead of discarding the complete workspace state.

Success criteria

After quitting and reopening the desktop app, the user sees substantially the same workspace arrangement and can continue working without manually reopening and resizing every pane.

Why this matters

Reliable workspace restoration would make Work and Codex feel like durable project environments rather than temporary conversation views. It would reduce setup friction and strengthen workflows that combine implementation, research, browser context, files, and long-running ChatGPT conversations.

Additional information

MacOS Tahoe most recent