Windows ChatGPT Desktop fails to relaunch after first successful launch in the same session (0x800701C0)

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.721.3996.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Home 25H2 OS Build: 26200.8894 Architecture: x64

What issue are you seeing?

The behavior appears to be affected by Windows session state.

Observed behavior:

• A fresh Windows boot may allow Codex to launch successfully.
• After closing Codex, launching it again in the same session may fail.
• Before the latest Codex update, restarting Windows frequently reproduced the issue.

Restarting Windows or signing out of Windows and signing back in has previously restored the ability to launch Codex once. After closing the app again, the same issue may return.

Reproduction

1. Sign in to Windows.
2. Launch Codex Desktop.
3. Codex launches successfully.
4. Close Codex normally.
5. Launch Codex again without restarting or signing out of Windows.
6. Codex fails to start.

Troubleshooting performed

I have already tried:

• Reinstalling the latest Microsoft Store version of Codex.
• Checking Task Manager to confirm no remaining Codex processes after closing the app.
• Verifying the Microsoft Store AppX package status.
• Verified that WebView2 runtime files are present.
• Checking for Codex crash logs (no logs/crash/Crashpad/reports folders were found in the application package directory).
• Checking Windows Event Viewer and Process Monitor.

The issue was not permanently resolved by reinstalling Codex or restarting Windows.

Diagnostic information

Windows Event Viewer shows:

AppModel-Runtime

LaunchProcess error:

0x800701C0

Process Monitor shows that the Codex process creation is attempted, but the launch does not complete successfully.

Additional observations

• The issue existed before the latest Codex update.
• The behavior appears to depend on Windows user session state or application lifecycle.
• A full shutdown and power-on previously had a higher chance of restoring Codex launch functionality compared with restarting Windows.
• Launching Codex shortly after Windows startup appeared more likely to succeed than waiting several minutes before the first launch attempt.
• However, after updating Codex to version 26.721.41059 (released on 7/25), the restart behavior became less consistent. The issue still occurred once after the update, but a later restart successfully launched Codex.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Sign in to Windows.
2. Launch Codex Desktop from Microsoft Store installation.
3. Codex launches successfully.
4. Close Codex normally.
5. Launch Codex again without signing out of Windows.
6. The second launch fails.

Temporary workaround observed:

Launching Codex shortly after Windows startup has a higher chance of success.

Delaying the first launch attempt after login may result in failure.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex Desktop should launch normally every time after being closed.

Additional information

• Reinstalling Codex did not permanently resolve the issue.
• No remaining Codex processes were found in Task Manager after closing the app.
• Microsoft Store installation was verified.
• A similar "launch exactly once" behavior was reported in issue #31827, but my error code and recovery behavior are different.

OpenAI feedback ID:
no-active-thread-019f9456-c5b3-7d50-aed5-61d8cdd57e35