ChatGPT for Windows crashes when it detects a Microsoft Store update users can’t install — the updater prevents the entire app from launching

Open 💬 3 comments Opened Jul 15, 2026 by tanej0

💡 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)?

26.707.62119

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The ChatGPT Windows app installed from the Microsoft Store crashes shortly after launch when it detects a newer Store manifest version that is not actually available to install.

Installed package: OpenAI.Codex_26.707.8479.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

The startup log shows:
enableUpdater=true
[windows-store-updater] Checking Windows Store for package updates
buildVersion=26.707.8479.0
manifestBuildVersion=26.707.9981.0
packageIdentity=OpenAI.Codex

The window reaches ready-to-show, but the application crashes a few seconds later without displaying an error message.

Reinstalling from the Microsoft Store temporarily restores the app, but the crash returns when it detects another unavailable Store update.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Install ChatGPT from the Microsoft Store.
Use package version 26.707.8479.0.
Leave the in-app updater enabled, which is the default behavior.
Launch the app while the Store manifest reports version 26.707.9981.0.
The app briefly starts and reaches ready-to-show.
A few seconds later, the entire app exits silently and creates a Crashpad minidump.
Open the Microsoft Store and check for updates. No ChatGPT update is offered.
Launch the app again. The same crash occurs consistently.

I also reproduced the behavior by removing the CODEX_SPARKLE_ENABLED=false workaround.
Restoring that environment variable prevents the crash.

What is the expected behavior?

The app should continue launching normally if checking or downloading a Microsoft Store update fails.
An unavailable update, network failure, staged rollout, or Store catalog mismatch should be treated as a non-fatal updater error. The app should log the failure and retry later instead of terminating the entire application.

Additional information

Environment:
OS: Windows 11 x64, build 10.0.26200
App package: OpenAI.Codex
Installed version: 26.707.8479.0
Detected manifest version: 26.707.9981.0
Distribution: Microsoft Store

The new Crashpad dump confirms:
Exception code: 0xC0000005
Operation: Read
Invalid address: 0x0
Faulting module: resources\native\windows-updater.node
Module offset: 0x16DD3

Timeline from the latest reproduction:
18:58:33 App launched with enableUpdater=true
18:58:36 Store update check detected manifest version 26.707.9981.0
18:58:36 Window reached ready-to-show
18:58:40 Crashpad minidump was generated

The Microsoft Store UI does not offer an update, and WinGet also reports no available ChatGPT upgrade.

Temporary workaround:
CODEX_SPARKLE_ENABLED=false

With this environment variable set, the log reports enableUpdater=false, the native updater module is not triggered, and the app launches normally.

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 1 month ago

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

#32754

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marcgfx · 1 month ago

about 4 hours ago, it also started crashing for me

----- I had chat gpt analyze the dump

This device is a native Windows ARM64 system:

OS architecture: ARM 64-bit Processor
CPU: Snapdragon(R) X 12-core X1E80100 @ 3.40 GHz
Win32_Processor Architecture: 12

The installed Microsoft Store package is:

OpenAI.Codex_26.707.9981.0_arm64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

The application appears to have been updated automatically by the Microsoft Store in the background. After version 26.707.9981.0 was installed, the application began crashing consistently directly after launch.

This device’s newer Crashpad dump appears to show a different crash signature from the previously reported updater crash:

Exception code: 0xC06D007F
Faulting module: KERNELBASE.dll
Package version: 26.707.9981.0
Package architecture: ARM64

In this newer dump, windows-updater.node was not identified as the faulting module.

------

CODEX_SPARKLE_ENABLED=false

does nothing for me

tanej0 · 1 month ago

Thanks for sharing these details. It looks like version 26.707.9981.0 has already been released to at least some users, possibly through a gradual rollout or specifically to ARM64 devices. However, Microsoft Store still does not offer this version on my x64 system. Even after uninstalling and reinstalling the app, I still receive version 26.707.8479.0. That said, your crash appears to have a different root cause: your dump shows exception 0xC06D007F on ARM64 and disabling the updater has no effect, whereas my crash is 0xC0000005 inside windows-updater.node and is prevented by setting CODEX_SPARKLE_ENABLED=false. So the timing and symptoms are similar, but these are likely two separate crashes.