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[macOS][Desktop] Deleted ChatGPT conversations remain in sidebar after full local profile reset #41399

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[macOS][Desktop] Deleted ChatGPT conversations remain in sidebar after full local profile reset#41399
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appIssues related to the Codex desktop appbugSomething isn't workingsessionIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archiving

Description

@marcusviniciusf
marcusviniciusf
opened on Aug 28, 2026

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

26.825.32147 (build 7303)

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Pro

What platform is your computer?

Darwin arm64 25.5.0 Darwin Kernel Version 25.5.0 macOS 26.5.2 (build 25F84)

What issue are you seeing?

What version of the Codex App are you using?

ChatGPT/Codex Desktop 26.825.32147 (build 7303)

Bundle identifier: com.openai.codex

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT [Free / Plus / Pro — please select]

What platform is your computer?

macOS 26.5.2 (build 25F84)
Apple Silicon / arm64

What issue are you seeing?

Conversations deleted through ChatGPT Web continue to appear in the ChatGPT/Codex macOS desktop sidebar.

The conversations no longer appear on the web. However, the desktop app still displays stale entries. Attempting to archive or delete these entries from the desktop app produces an error.

The stale entries return even after rebuilding the local desktop profile, suggesting that they may be returned by the desktop conversation-history API or synchronization service.

Feedback ID:

no-active-thread-01a049d1-7bdb-70f2-a1dc-fc5ad6aaf2f9

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Delete a conversation through ChatGPT Web.
  2. Confirm that it no longer appears in the web sidebar.
  3. Open the ChatGPT/Codex macOS desktop app.
  4. Observe that the deleted conversation remains in the desktop sidebar.
  5. Attempt to archive or delete the stale entry.
  6. The operation fails with an error.

Troubleshooting already performed

  • Restarted macOS.
  • Quit and reopened the desktop app.
  • Reset Default/Local Storage.
  • Renamed the complete ~/Library/Application Support/Codex profile.
  • Reopened the app and signed in with a freshly generated local profile.
  • Confirmed that the stale conversations returned.

What is the expected behavior?

A conversation deleted through ChatGPT Web should disappear from the macOS desktop sidebar after synchronization.

What is the actual behavior?

Image Image

The deleted conversation remains visible only in the desktop app. Archive and delete operations fail because the underlying conversation apparently no longer exists.

Additional information

Please use the feedback ID above to correlate this report with internal logs.

I can provide screenshots and the affected conversation titles privately if required.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Feedback ID: no-active-thread-01a049d1-7bdb-70f2-a1dc-fc5ad6aaf2f9

What is the expected behavior?

No response

Additional information

This issue affects multiple conversations, not only one specific thread.

All affected conversations were deleted through ChatGPT Web and disappeared correctly from the web sidebar, but they remain visible in the macOS desktop app. Attempting to archive or delete any of these stale entries produces the same error.

The feedback ID above was generated while reproducing the issue with one of the affected conversations.

Activity

  1. marcusviniciusf
    added
    appIssues related to the Codex desktop app
    on Aug 28, 2026
  2. github-actions
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    sessionIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archiving
    on Aug 28, 2026

  3. github-actions commented on Aug 28, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsbot
    on Aug 28, 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. aibutler145540155-cmyk commented on Aug 30, 2026

    @aibutler145540155-cmyk
    aibutler145540155-cmyk
    on Aug 30, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    I can reproduce the same issue. Chats / Work items that are already deleted and no longer visible in ChatGPT Web or the iOS app remain in the macOS desktop sidebar, and attempting to archive or delete those stale entries fails.

    The user impact can be significantly worse than a cosmetic sidebar problem. Because the desktop app made it appear that my project/history was corrupted or out of sync, I performed destructive troubleshooting: I deleted related history, completely reset the affected project, and rebuilt its instructions, sources, and setup from scratch.

    That reconstruction consumed substantial ChatGPT usage. I eventually hit my usage limit during the recovery work and had to wait before I could continue.

    So this bug can mislead users into unnecessary project resets/data deletion and cause avoidable reconstruction work and usage consumption, not just leave stale UI entries behind.

    I have already submitted desktop feedback/logs for my reproduction. I can provide the Feedback ID and screenshots privately if maintainers need them for correlation.

  5. meelis-gift commented on Aug 31, 2026

    @meelis-gift
    meelis-gift
    on Aug 31, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    Confirmed — I can reproduce the same issue on macOS.

    A conversation deleted in ChatGPT Web disappears from the web sidebar, but remains in the ChatGPT macOS desktop sidebar. Opening the stale entry fails to load, and attempting to delete it from the desktop app fails as well.

    I also reproduced it after signing out/in and after resetting local app/cache/profile data, so this does not appear to be just a local stale-cache issue.

  6. FHU-yezi commented on Aug 31, 2026

    @FHU-yezi
    FHU-yezi
    on Aug 31, 2026

    Confirmed the same issue on Linux (Manjaro Linux, with unofficial ChatGPT Desktop build from AUR)

    Already tried to logout & login and remove ~/.config/Codex, the problem still exist.

  7. michael-brewer-ds commented on Aug 31, 2026

    @michael-brewer-ds
    michael-brewer-ds
    on Aug 31, 2026

    Confirmed and reproduced the same issue with the latest version of ChatGPT for macOS (featuring ChatGPT Work and Codex). The Classic ChatGPT application for macOS does not have this same bug.

  8. snoppie80 commented on Sep 2, 2026

    @snoppie80
    snoppie80
    on Sep 2, 2026

    I can confirm the same behaviour. I'm using ChatGPT Version 26.831.11858.

  9. modjmars commented on Sep 2, 2026

    @modjmars
    modjmars
    on Sep 2, 2026

    Confirmed on ChatGPT for macOS 26.831.21537 (released Sep 1, 2026; bundle ID com.openai.codex).

    Same account state:

    • Conversations intentionally deleted in the iOS app disappear correctly from both iOS and chatgpt.com.
    • The macOS Unified Recents/sidebar continues to display the deleted entries.
    • Opening an affected entry returns: Conversation has been deleted. Start a new chat.
    • Signing out/in and fully quitting/relaunching do not reconcile the list.

    Additional sanitized local-state evidence:

    • The desktop profile contained stale conversation metadata under Default/Local Storage/leveldb in the codex.chatgpt-conversations cache.
    • After backing up the LevelDB, a selective repair removed only records confirmed absent from the account-facing list; pinned/current entries were left intact.
    • Even after the cache key was removed and the app relaunched, other server-deleted conversations remained in the macOS sidebar.

    This appears to be deletion reconciliation in Unified Recents rather than an account deletion failure or a single superficial cache entry. The desktop client should discard a Recents record when opening it receives the terminal conversation_deleted response, and its conversation-list sync should apply deletions/tombstones from other clients.

    I have not included conversation titles, IDs, raw logs, or account details publicly, but can provide sanitized diagnostics privately if needed.

  10. davrec72 commented on Sep 2, 2026

    @davrec72
    davrec72
    on Sep 2, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    Update: Shortly after this report was submitted, the user reported that the stale entry disappeared from desktop Recents. It is no longer stuck. The elapsed synchronization delay and what triggered its disappearance were not established. The observations below describe the temporary inconsistency and errors before it cleared.

    Additional reproduction on 2026-09-02 with ChatGPT desktop 26.901.20858 (build 7658), bundle identifier com.openai.codex, on macOS 14.6.1, arm64.

    This affects a completed projectless ChatGPT Work task created from the desktop app. The task had previously been archived through ChatGPT Web, then explicitly deleted.

    Observed sequence:

    1. Open the task on chatgpt.com in the desktop app's in-app browser.
    2. Choose More → Delete and confirm the dialog naming that task.
    3. Refresh the browser page. The task is absent from web Recents; the user independently confirms deletion on the web.
    4. The desktop app still displays the task in Recents, including after restarting the app.
    5. Clicking the stale desktop entry reports "could not load chat".
    6. Attempting to delete it again in the desktop app reports "Failed to Delete Chat", leaving it stuck in Recents.

    Expected: A task deleted through the web should disappear from desktop Recents after synchronization. A stale entry should not remain permanently unremovable.

    Additional observation: A subsequent read-only list_threads call did not return the affected conversation, although the user still sees its desktop sidebar entry.

    The browser deletion and refreshed web list were observed by the assistant; desktop persistence, restart, and both error messages were reported by the user. This report covers one affected task; no root cause has been established. The dead entry prevents cleanup of temporary completed review tasks.

    Submitted by the user's assistant at their explicit request.

  11. fnpen commented on Sep 3, 2026

    @fnpen
    fnpen
    on Sep 3, 2026

    Can confirm, same issue on MacOS.

  12. luyuxun commented on Sep 3, 2026

    @luyuxun
    luyuxun
    on Sep 3, 2026

    I'm encountering the same issues on MacOS and Windows 11.

  13. Jules08cmd commented on Sep 5, 2026

    @Jules08cmd
    Jules08cmd
    on Sep 5, 2026

    Can confirm same issue on Windows, the newest version.

  14. mvahedi2020 commented on Sep 7, 2026

    @mvahedi2020
    mvahedi2020
    on Sep 7, 2026

    Same issue is happening to me, "AGAIN". The deleted chats randomly disappeared without me doing anything. Now another new chat that I deleted is stuck in the same loop...

  15. LJXXXD commented on Sep 10, 2026

    @LJXXXD
    LJXXXD
    on Sep 10, 2026

    I found a solution, but it’s temporary.

    Clearing caches and reinstalling Codex did not help. Uninstalling it, deleting the leftover ~/.codex/ directory, and reinstalling cleared the ghost chats on both of my Macs. However, the issue can recur.

    Back up ~/.codex/ first. I saved my AGENTS.md and pets folder, but you may need other files too. This directory contains local sessions, settings, and user data—not just disposable cache.

    I asked ChatGPT to inspect its local files and app code. Two unconfirmed candidates emerged:

    • ~/.codex/sqlite/codex-dev.db: conversation catalog and sync state.
    • ~/.codex/.codex-global-state.json: the chatgpt-sidebar-state-v1 cache under electron-persisted-atom-state.

    Please fix deletion synchronization so users don’t have to reset their local data to remove deleted cloud chats.

  16. michael-brewer-ds commented on Sep 15, 2026

    @michael-brewer-ds
    michael-brewer-ds
    on Sep 15, 2026

    @LJXXXD Thanks — this fixed the issue for me. As you astutely noted, the underlying synchronization issue still needs to be addressed, but this workaround serves as a useful band-aid in the meantime.

    For reference, I’m using ChatGPT powered by Codex & OWL, version 26.908.70816, released Sep 14, 2026.

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