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[Windows 10][26.825.5331.0] Codex stuck in repeating startup logo loop with Application Hang 1002 #41571
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.825.5331.0
What subscription do you have?
ChatGPT Plus
What platform is your computer?
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0 x64 Windows 10 22H2 OS Build 19045.7563
What issue are you seeing?
The Codex desktop app cannot complete startup on Windows 10.
When I launch Codex, the ChatGPT/Codex startup logo appears, then disappears, then appears again. This repeats continuously in a loop and the main application UI never becomes usable.
Sometimes the background of the application window is black while the startup logo keeps restarting.
Windows Event Viewer consistently reports that ChatGPT.exe stops interacting with Windows.
Windows Event Viewer details:
Provider: Application Hang
Event ID: 1002
The program ChatGPT.exe version 151.0.7922.174 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed.
Application Path:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.825.5331.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\ChatGPT.exe
Faulting package:
OpenAI.Codex_26.825.5331.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
Hang type:
Top level window is idle
Windows Error Reporting also reports:
Event Name: MoAppHang
Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.825.5331.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
ChatGPT.exe version: 151.0.7922.174
The application never reaches the normal Codex UI.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
-
Install/update Codex from the Microsoft Store to version 26.825.5331.0 on Windows 10 22H2.
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Launch Codex normally from the Windows Start menu.
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The ChatGPT/Codex startup logo appears.
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The logo disappears after a short time.
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The startup logo appears again.
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Steps 3-5 repeat continuously and the main Codex UI never loads.
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Leave the application running for more than 20 minutes.
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The application still does not finish starting.
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Check Windows Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application.
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Windows reports Application Hang, Event ID 1002, for ChatGPT.exe, with:
Hang type: Top level window is idle.
The issue reproduces after rebooting Windows and after reinstalling the application.
What is the expected behavior?
Codex should complete startup within a reasonable amount of time and display the main application interface.
The startup logo should appear once while the application initializes and then transition to the normal Codex UI.
If initialization fails or takes an unusually long time, the application should display an error message or diagnostic information instead of continuously restarting the startup logo and hanging indefinitely.
Additional information
Troubleshooting already attempted:
- Restarted Windows.
- Completely uninstalled and reinstalled Codex.
- Terminated all ChatGPT/Codex processes using Task Manager.
- Tried Windows Dark Mode.
- Disabled Windows transparency effects.
- Confirmed the Codex CUA runtime directory was successfully created.
- Confirmed both runtime files exist:
node.exe: True
node_repl.exe: True - No .staging-* runtime directory was left behind.
- Tried starting with CODEX_SPARKLE_ENABLED=false.
- Waited more than 20 minutes without terminating the application.
- The startup logo loop continued.
- Reinstalling the application did not resolve the issue.
Runtime directory:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\426e88130fe66c7e
Windows Error Reporting generated memory/minidump reports for the hang.
This may be related to other startup hang reports for version 26.825.5331.0, but my observed behavior differs in that a visible startup/logo window repeatedly appears and disappears and does not recover after waiting more than 20 minutes.
Related issue:
#41539
Codex version:
26.825.5331.0
ChatGPT.exe version:
151.0.7922.174
OS:
Windows 10 22H2 x64
OS Build 19045.7563
Activity
github-actions commentedon Aug 29, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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ameenalzubi0-bit commentedon Aug 29, 2026
Potential duplicate note:
I reviewed #41551, #41539, and #41482 before submitting this report.
My issue appears related, but the behavior is different:
Therefore I am filing this separately in case the visible restart/logo loop on Windows 10 is a different failure mode.
MilkyWay008 commentedon Aug 29, 2026
The repeated logo loop with the 'Top level window is idle' hang is the WebView2/Electron shell failing to come up, not the CUA runtime, since you already confirmed node.exe and node_repl.exe are in place. Re-registering the package usually clears a botched auto-update like this:
Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}. Also grab the Application Error event that fires right after the 1002, the faulting module name will tell you if it's WebView2Loader.dll or the app shell itself, and if it is WebView2, repairing the Edge WebView2 Runtime in Settings > Apps fixes the loop for most people. oh, btw, in case it might help that, I built a portable Hermes OTG repo, check it, imo it may be able to help you diagnose and figure out the fix in no time. https://github.com/MilkyWay008/Hermes-OTGameenalzubi0-bit commentedon Aug 30, 2026
Additional related evidence:
#41632 reports the same Windows MoAppHang / Event ID 1002 / "Top level window is idle" signature across multiple Codex Desktop versions, including 26.825.5331.0 and the newer 26.825.6671.0.
That issue explicitly references this report (#41571) as a related startup failure with the same Windows hang signature.
My case is still specifically a startup failure: the visible logo repeatedly appears/disappears and the UI never becomes usable.
ameenalzubi0-bit commentedon Aug 30, 2026
Another possibly related report: #41643.
That user reports that Codex still fails to load on Windows after updating to 26.825.6671.0.
My case is on 26.825.5331.0 and additionally has confirmed Windows Event Viewer evidence:
So the startup-loading issue may also persist across the newer 26.825.6671.0 build.
sriseshg-eng commentedon Aug 30, 2026
I can reproduce a closely related Windows startup failure on OpenAI.Codex 26.825.6671.0.
Environment
Windows: 10.0.26200.9278 x64
Installed package: OpenAI.Codex_26.825.6671.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
Start-menu entry: ChatGPT -> OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App
Edge: 152.0.4191.53
WebView2 Runtime: 152.0.4191.53
Observed behavior
Launching ChatGPT opens the application window, but the UI never becomes usable. The window remains blank/white and the OpenAI logo appears intermittently, consistent with a repeated/stalled startup sequence.
During one reproduction, tasklist showed 10 ChatGPT.exe processes. Several were Running, several reported Unknown, and multiple child processes were consuming substantial memory. The processes can subsequently disappear before a CIM process query is able to capture their command lines.
Troubleshooting already completed
Completely uninstalled the app.
Rebooted Windows.
Reinstalled fresh from the Microsoft Store.
Reproduced the same blank/logo startup failure.
Found machine-wide WebView2 Runtime at 151.0.4129.107.
Installed the current x64 Evergreen WebView2 Runtime successfully.
Verified WebView2 updated to 152.0.4191.53.
Rebooted and reproduced the same failure.
Re-registered the Store package successfully with:
Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex | ForEach-Object { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" }
Rebooted and reproduced the same failure again.
One important clarification: I have not confirmed a ChatGPT/Codex Event ID 1002 / MoAppHang in this reproduction. The recent Windows Error Reporting Event 1001 entries I inspected were actually EdgeInstallerError|msedge (setup.exe 152.0.4191.53, error 0x21f), so I don't want to incorrectly attribute those events to ChatGPT.
The reproducible evidence at this point is therefore: the OpenAI.Codex package launches ChatGPT.exe, creates the window/process tree, but startup does not complete even after a clean Store reinstall, WebView2 update, reboot, and package re-registration.
This appears closely related to #41571, and importantly it persists for me on 26.825.6671.0.
sriseshg-eng commentedon Sep 1, 2026
Try this - I was able to solve it #41671 (comment)
ameenalzubi0-bit commentedon Sep 2, 2026
Thank you @sriseshg-eng! Your suggestion helped me identify the issue, and the problem is now resolved.
Really appreciate your help!