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[macOS][Chat] Existing conversations can get stuck loading in desktop app while the same chat loads normally on web #37580
Description
Product / surface
- Current unified ChatGPT desktop app for macOS
- Chat tab / ordinary ChatGPT conversations
- Not Work mode
- Not Codex mode
- ChatGPT Pro
- Desktop build previously observed in this environment:
26.803.41515
What issue are you seeing?
Existing ordinary ChatGPT conversations can become stuck loading in the macOS desktop app. The chat does not finish loading and is effectively unusable in the desktop client.
The same conversation, under the same ChatGPT account, loads normally when opened on chatgpt.com.
This is therefore different from a conversation that is missing, deleted, inaccessible server-side, or generally corrupted. The conversation remains available through the web client; the failure appears specific to desktop conversation loading/hydration.
Controlled A/B
Same account, same existing conversation:
| Client | Result |
|---|---|
| Unified ChatGPT desktop app → Chat | Conversation can remain stuck/loading and never become usable |
chatgpt.com web |
The same conversation opens and works normally |
Steps to reproduce
- Open the unified ChatGPT desktop app on macOS.
- Select Chat.
- Open an existing conversation from the chat history/sidebar.
- Observe that the conversation can become stuck in a loading state and never finish rendering/loading.
- Open
chatgpt.comwith the same ChatGPT account. - Open the exact same conversation.
- Observe that it loads normally on web.
Expected behavior
Any existing conversation that is available and readable on chatgpt.com should also load successfully in the desktop Chat client.
If desktop hydration fails, the app should recover automatically or present an actionable error/retry state rather than remaining indefinitely stuck.
Actual behavior
Some existing chats remain stuck loading in the macOS desktop app while the identical conversation opens normally on the web client.
Related issue checked
#34773 (ChatGPT for macOS gets stuck blinking after launch on macOS Tahoe 26.5.2) is related but broader. In that report, the entire desktop app gets stuck/flickers after launch and previous chats and projects do not load at all.
This report is narrower: the desktop app itself can be usable, but an existing individual Chat conversation can get stuck loading even though that exact conversation is healthy and immediately accessible on chatgpt.com.
I also searched for reports about desktop Chat history/conversations being stuck or blank while the same conversation works on web and did not find an exact match for this client-specific per-conversation loading failure.
Feedback / diagnostics
Feedback was submitted from the affected app state, but the confirmation ID was not captured. If the issue reproduces again, I can submit another feedback package and add its Feedback ID to this issue.
Impact
When this happens, the practical workaround is to leave the desktop app and continue the same conversation in the browser. That undermines continuity between the unified desktop Chat experience and ChatGPT Web, even though the underlying conversation is still available.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Aug 8, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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omarpinarecords commentedon Aug 8, 2026
Windows and MAcOS can't never be duplicated even if its same issue. Since you as an automation confirm are to different iOS, you should not be posting this kind of comments. tell your developers :)
songzhenli123 commentedon Sep 13, 2026
I’m seeing a very similar issue in the latest unified ChatGPT macOS desktop app.
The same conversations load and work normally on chatgpt.com, but Chat in the desktop app progressively degrades after launch. The first one or two turns may be fast, then message submission starts spinning for 20–60+ seconds, generation can stall before the first token, and eventually the app may show timeout or ERR_HTTP2_PING_FAILED.
If I leave the app idle for a while after launch, Chat can also become very slow before I even send several messages.
Restarting the app immediately restores normal Chat performance for a short time. Restarting only the app’s NetworkService process also temporarily restores Chat, but it interrupts Codex.
ChatGPT Web remains responsive on the same Mac/account/network, and Codex tasks inside the desktop app remain responsive even while Chat is stalling.
This started after a recent desktop app update. I’m not attaching logs publicly because I don’t want to expose account identifiers or conversation content.