›_ Codex Issues
Codex Issues / #32917

Windows desktop renderer reloads and resets active ChatGPT/Codex conversation after latest update

Open 💬 0 comments Opened Jul 14, 2026 by cr763092

Summary

After updating to the latest Windows desktop app, the ChatGPT/Codex page frequently reloads or resets. When switching back to the desktop window, the active conversation sometimes becomes a new/blank conversation, as if the UI refreshed and lost its current renderer state.

This is not only the controlled browser page going black. The main desktop UI itself appears to reload/reset.

Environment

  • OS: Windows 11
  • Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.707.8479.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • App launched as ChatGPT/Codex desktop app from Microsoft Store
  • Embedded Chromium version observed: 150.0.7871.115
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
  • Display environment also includes Microsoft Remote Display Adapter

What happens

The active GPT/Codex page intermittently reloads/resets. The visible result is that the current conversation becomes new/blank or loses its current state after switching back to the app.

Local evidence

Local process inspection suggests this is a renderer reload/recovery rather than a full desktop app restart:

  • The main ChatGPT.exe process stays alive.
  • codex.exe app-server also stays alive.
  • However, ChatGPT.exe --type=renderer child processes are recreated during normal use.

Example observed renderer recreation times:

  • Initial renderers after restart: 2026-07-13 23:43:32 to 23:43:35
  • New renderers later appeared at 23:46:58
  • New renderers later appeared again at 23:52:46

Chromium profile previously recorded exit_type: "Crashed" in Default\Preferences.

Troubleshooting already tried

  1. Fully quit and restarted the desktop app.
  2. Renamed/cleared render caches only:
  • GPUCache
  • GrShaderCache
  • ShaderCache
  • DawnGraphiteCache
  • DawnWebGPUCache
  • GraphiteDawnCache
  • GPUPersistentCache
  • Default\GPUCache
  • Default\Code Cache
  1. Disabled hardware acceleration by setting:
  • hardware_acceleration_mode.enabled = false
  • hardware_acceleration_mode_previous = false
  1. Verified hardware acceleration was disabled after restart.
  2. The renderer/page reset issue still reproduced after disabling hardware acceleration.

Expected behavior

The desktop app should preserve the active conversation/page state when switching back to the app. Renderer recovery, if it happens, should rehydrate the current conversation correctly instead of resetting to a new/blank conversation.

Actual behavior

The UI intermittently reloads/resets and the active conversation becomes new/blank or loses its current state, while the main app process remains running.

Suspected area

This looks related to renderer/UI state rehydration or renderer/main-process conversation state synchronization after renderer reload, rather than a pure GPU/cache issue.

Related public reports

View original on GitHub ↗