[Windows] ChatGPT.exe uses 15–25% CPU while idle due to repeated executable relocation and plugin sync failures
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.715.7063.0
What subscription do you have?
Plus
What platform is your computer?
_No response_
What issue are you seeing?
On Windows, the Codex desktop app continuously uses around 15–25% CPU while idle, even when no task is running.
Task Manager shows that the main ChatGPT.exe process is responsible for most of the CPU usage. In one sample, the main process consumed 14.69 CPU seconds during a 15-second interval. The ChatGPT process group contains multiple child processes, but codex.exe itself uses very little CPU.
The app repeatedly logs failures related to bundled executable relocation and bundled plugin marketplace synchronization:
- bundled_executable_relocation_failed
- plugin_marketplace_folder_write_failed
- bundled_plugins_marketplace_resolve_failed
- plugin_marketplace_folder_remove_failed
- EPERM when trying to remove staging directories
- bundled_plugins_reconcile_started with reason=focus
The app repeatedly tries to copy bundled files such as codex.exe, rg.exe, and cua_node from the protected WindowsApps installation directory into the per-user Codex runtime directory. It also tries to copy bundled plugins into the .codex temporary marketplace directory.
The staging directories are empty or incomplete, and the same failures recur after restarting the app. Removing the staging directories only helps temporarily; they are recreated immediately after the app starts.
This issue has persisted across multiple app updates, including versions 26.715.3651.0, 26.715.4045.0, and 26.715.7063.0.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Install or update the Codex/ChatGPT Windows desktop app from the Microsoft Store.
- Launch the app.
- Do not submit or run any task.
- Leave the app open and idle, or switch focus to/from the app window.
- Open Windows Task Manager.
- Observe that the ChatGPT process group uses approximately 15–25% CPU.
- Check the Codex logs and observe repeated executable relocation and bundled plugin marketplace errors.
- Fully exit and restart the app. The same behavior occurs again.
- Remove only the temporary staging directories and restart the app. The directories and errors are recreated.
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
2 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
Powered by Codex Action
I maintain WinBridge Recovery for Windows Codex Desktop local recovery/state validation: https://github.com/zemeng5208/winbridge-recovery
This report is also a good example of why the project has a performance-oriented “healthy fast path.” The repeated idle CPU here is tied to the same local failure classes WinBridge checks: bundled executable relocation failing, incomplete plugin marketplace staging, EPERM cleanup/rename failures, and reconcile being retried again on focus.
WinBridge v3.1.1 detects the current AppX package and content hashes, keeps a verified user-owned official-resource mirror, validates marketplace/cache/runtime state, and skips repair entirely when those layers are already healthy. When they are inconsistent, it stages/verifies once and performs an atomic switch with rollback instead of repeatedly rebuilding partial state in place.
That can help recover the local condition that keeps triggering relocation/sync failures, but it cannot permanently fix an upstream Desktop loop that chooses to run expensive reconcile work on every focus or retries too aggressively after failure. If the local state is healthy and ChatGPT.exe still spins at 15–25% CPU, that remaining performance bug belongs in the Desktop reconcile/scheduler itself.
The tool does not modify WindowsApps ownership/ACLs or patch the installed package.