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Windows Desktop: "Finish Windows setup" never completes, preventing sandboxed edits #32808
Description
Environment
App: ChatGPT Codex Desktop (Microsoft Store)
Version: 26.707.3748.0
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Subscription: ChatGPT Plus
Summary
The initial "Finish Windows setup" never completes.
Because of that, Codex cannot perform sandboxed file edits.
The runtime downloads successfully and the sandbox runtime appears to install correctly, but every editing attempt fails before modifying files.
Reproduction
Install ChatGPT Codex from the Microsoft Store.
Launch the application.
Click Finish Windows setup.
The app immediately returns:
Windows setup didn't finish
The setup never completes.
Expected behavior
Finish Windows setup should complete successfully.
Codex should be able to edit files inside a trusted local workspace.
Actual behavior
The setup loop never completes.
Even after the runtime is downloaded, every file-edit attempt fails because the sandbox helper cannot initialize.
What I verified
I spent considerable time narrowing this down.
Verified:
Runtime downloads successfully.
Runtime directory is fully populated.
node.exe exists.
codex-computer-use.exe exists.
config.toml is valid.
Playwright MCP works.
Workspace is trusted.
Runtime directories can be renamed normally.
Rebooted multiple times.
Deleted runtime and allowed it to rebuild.
Disabled Webroot realtime protection.
Tried both
[windows]
sandbox = "elevated"
and
[windows]
sandbox = "unelevated"
with identical results.
Windows Event Viewer
Application log contains no Codex crash or .NET runtime failure during setup.
AppModel-Runtime/Admin shows successful Desktop AppX container creation and deletion.
No AppContainer errors are recorded.
Additional observations
Earlier Codex logs also reported:
thread-store internal error
failed to read session metadata
rollout jsonl is empty
I do not know whether that is related, but it may help diagnose the problem.
I have complete PowerShell output from Event Viewer and Codex diagnostics if the team would like me to attach them.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Jul 13, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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silvanet commentedon Jul 14, 2026
Closing as a likely duplicate of #32492.
My symptoms matched exactly:
Windows stuck on Finish Windows setup
Retry never triggers a real UAC prompt
Windows setup immediately reports failure
"Continue with limited access" was not a usable workaround
Additional observations from my investigation:
The same OpenAI account and project worked normally in the macOS desktop app.
We verified virtualization, Windows features, AppX installation, runtime downloads, and performed clean reinstalls without resolving the issue.
This appears to be isolated to the Windows sandbox/onboarding step rather than authentication or project configuration.
luolaihui110 commentedon Aug 7, 2026
I’ve made it so that Codex can self-repair. I just finished setting it up.