Skip to content

Windows Desktop App - Extremely sluggish and unusable as of last update - Windows firewall related? #25709

Open
Open
Windows Desktop App - Extremely sluggish and unusable as of last update - Windows firewall related?#25709
Labels
appIssues related to the Codex desktop appbugSomething isn't workingperformancewindows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systems

Description

@pingu2k4
pingu2k4
opened on Jun 1, 2026

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

26.527.60818

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

I didn't use the app for a day or two, but installed an update just tonight, and the app has become unusable.

Whenever I switch focus from Codex to any other app, the window chrome (menubar and side nav) go transparent for a significant period of time before reverting to their original colour. Doing anything (repositioning cursor in the text box, selecting a different project...) takes many seconds to actually respond. Pasting a couple lines of text into the text box takes 10+ seconds to react, during which time the entire app is completely unresponsive. Pasting any more lines of text than that locks the app seemingly indefinitely.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

All I know is that I open the app, and it happens right away.

I have uninstalled the app and reinstalled but get the same problem.

What is the expected behavior?

Not to freeze etc.

Additional information

I've uninstalled and reinstalled, no luck.
Oh and forgot to mention, Windows defender keeps telling me it wants to send config.toml form the codex folder in user root for diagnostics, so I feel like this may be part of the issue. No idea why it keeps wanting to do that.

Image

Activity

  1. pingu2k4
    added
    appIssues related to the Codex desktop app
    on Jun 1, 2026
  2. github-actions
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    windows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systems
    performance
    on Jun 1, 2026

  3. github-actions commented on Jun 1, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsbot
    on Jun 1, 2026 – with GitHub Actions
    Contributor

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

    Powered by Codex Action

  4. pingu2k4 commented on Jun 1, 2026

    @pingu2k4
    pingu2k4
    on Jun 1, 2026
    Author

    Not sure its definitely a dupe - the transparent chrome certainly is, but the freezing and config.toml file don't definitely line up with others...

  5. kendonB commented on Jun 1, 2026

    @kendonB
    kendonB
    on Jun 1, 2026

    Shockingly bad on WSL mode. Switching from one chat to another takes more than a full minute

  6. kendonB commented on Jun 1, 2026

    @kendonB
    kendonB
    on Jun 1, 2026

    I would much rather they invest in performance for Windows and quit adding features until it's a usable app

  7. abubakarkhanlakhwera commented on Jun 1, 2026

    @abubakarkhanlakhwera
    abubakarkhanlakhwera
    on Jun 1, 2026

    yes @kendonB they are not taking windows seriously

  8. ZlyCatherine commented on Jun 2, 2026

    @ZlyCatherine
    ZlyCatherine
    on Jun 2, 2026

    I am seeing the same issue after updating the Windows desktop app. I opened #25767 as an additional reproduction and diagnostic supplement.

    My observations:

    • Longer plain-text pastes can freeze the entire app, while short text and image pastes still work.
    • The paste freeze is intermittent: after reproducing it repeatedly, longer text could later be submitted successfully without changing the installed app version.
    • The issue may be related to network conditions or synchronization of the TXT attachment automatically created for longer pasted text. This is only a hypothesis; a stalled request should not freeze the entire desktop UI.
    • When the app is maximized, the sidebar, top bar, and bottom/status areas become transparent and show the desktop wallpaper.

    Environment: Windows 10 Enterprise build 19044, Codex package 26.527.7698.0.

  9. mattmarcin commented on Jun 6, 2026

    @mattmarcin
    mattmarcin
    on Jun 6, 2026

    I am seeing the same issue after updating the Windows desktop app. I opened #25767 as an additional reproduction and diagnostic supplement.

    My observations:

    • Longer plain-text pastes can freeze the entire app, while short text and image pastes still work.
    • The paste freeze is intermittent: after reproducing it repeatedly, longer text could later be submitted successfully without changing the installed app version.
    • The issue may be related to network conditions or synchronization of the TXT attachment automatically created for longer pasted text. This is only a hypothesis; a stalled request should not freeze the entire desktop UI.
    • When the app is maximized, the sidebar, top bar, and bottom/status areas become transparent and show the desktop wallpaper.

    Environment: Windows 10 Enterprise build 19044, Codex package 26.527.7698.0.

    Started having this same exact issue today. New chats don't fix it. 26.602.40724

  10. TYzzt commented on Jun 16, 2026

    @TYzzt
    TYzzt
    on Jun 16, 2026

    Codex delivers extremely poor performance on Windows, which has become unbearable.

  11. kendonB commented on Jun 16, 2026

    @kendonB
    kendonB
    on Jun 16, 2026

    I have basically given up on the Codex App on Windows except for dictation

  12. ray2301 commented on Jun 23, 2026

    @ray2301
    ray2301
    on Jun 23, 2026

    "Windows defender keeps telling me it wants to send config.toml" - This happens to me every single time the file is updated. I didn’t want to solve the problem by adding the file to Defender’s exclusions list, but after being prompted about 20 times, I finally did.

  13. emanon312 commented on Jul 29, 2026

    @emanon312
    emanon312
    on Jul 29, 2026

    I am experiencing the exact same issues on Windows 11 (Codex Desktop 26.721.4979.0). On top of the UI freezes and sluggishness, the memory footprint is absolutely ridiculous. The moment Codex Desktop launches, my laptop fans spin up to maximum — before I even type a single character. Just sitting idle, it consumes more RAM than a full IDE with multiple projects open.

    Meanwhile, the Mac version runs smoothly on the same account, same subscription. The disparity between the two platforms is genuinely shocking — Windows users are getting a completely different, vastly inferior product.

    At this point it feels like the Windows build simply is not being tested or profiled on real Windows hardware before release. A desktop chat app should never be the most resource-intensive process on my machine while doing literally nothing.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    appIssues related to the Codex desktop appbugSomething isn't workingperformancewindows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systems

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

      Milestone

      No milestone

      Relationships

      None yet

      Development

      No branches or pull requests

      Issue actions