Windows desktop app: deleted chats remain as stale entries in Recents and can’t be removed #41880

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1. James-Moore

   added

   appIssues related to the Codex desktop appIssues related to the Codex desktop app

   on Aug 31, 2026
2. github-actions

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   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   windows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systemsIssues related to Codex on Windows systems

   sessionIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archivingIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archiving

   on Aug 31, 2026
3. github-actions commented on Aug 31, 2026

   

   github-actionsbot

   on Aug 31, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

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

   • [Windows][Desktop 26.825.6671.0] Deleted conversations persist in Recents after reset, re-login, and canonical-list removal #41693
   • Deleted conversations remain as stale titles in Windows app Recents #41602
   • Ghost Chats #40869
   • Broken chats keeps reappearing under Recent and/or 404 errors #40824
   • [Chat][All platforms] "Archive all chats" leaves stale Recents entries that cannot be archived or deleted #41725

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4. lwchang018 commented on Sep 7, 2026

   

   lwchang018

   on Sep 7, 2026

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   I can independently reproduce this issue on Windows 11 in the ChatGPT surface of the OpenAI desktop app.

   Two conversations that were already deleted still appear in the desktop client sidebar, while neither appears in the ChatGPT web sidebar. Opening the stale entries shows Unable to load conversation or Conversation not found.

   Affected conversation IDs (redacted):

   • 6a996dbc-…-af12
   • 6a996b5b-…-5fa2

   One of the stale entries also appeared twice in the client list. This strongly suggests stale local catalog/sidebar state or a synchronization/invalidation failure after the underlying cloud conversations were deleted.
5. oshonsoft commented on Sep 9, 2026

   

   oshonsoft

   on Sep 9, 2026

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   I can confirm the same issue on Windows Desktop.

   In my case, I deleted several ChatGPT conversations using the browser interface while spending a few hours reorganizing my chats into ChatGPT Projects.

   Four deleted conversations remained permanently visible under Recents in the Windows desktop app.

   For each affected entry:

   • The conversation no longer exists on chatgpt.com.
   • Clicking it in the desktop app gives “Could not load this ChatGPT conversation”.
   • Attempting to delete it from the desktop app gives “Failed to delete chat”.
   • Restarting the desktop app does not remove the stale entries.
   • Other newly created/deleted conversations behave normally.

   I submitted feedback from the desktop app while one of the affected entries was selected.

   Feedback ID:

   no-active-thread-01a085b4-a2ee-7e43-9ba6-4279a9d1d6ff

   This appears to be a synchronization/reconciliation problem where server-deleted ChatGPT conversations remain in the desktop Recents catalog.
6. oshonsoft commented on Sep 9, 2026

   

   oshonsoft

   on Sep 9, 2026

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   One additional observation may help narrow this down.

   Before the current four stale entries were created, I had reproduced a broader browser → Windows Desktop synchronization problem repeatedly: conversations deleted through the browser would remain visible in the Desktop app.

   That general behavior was fixed by a Desktop app update a couple of days later. Newly tested conversations then synchronized correctly.

   However, these four conversations, which had already become stale during the affected period, survived the update and remain permanently visible in Recents.

   This suggests the current delete/synchronization path may already have been fixed, while previously-created orphaned Recents entries are not being reconciled or garbage-collected.

   The four affected conversations were deleted during a several-hours-long operation in which I was also reorganizing many conversations into ChatGPT Projects, so project-membership/history may additionally be relevant.
7. hausorilla-wq commented on Sep 12, 2026

   

   hausorilla-wq

   on Sep 12, 2026

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   I am experiencing exactly the same issue with OpenAI.Codex package 26.825.6671.0 on Windows 11 25H2.

   The affected chats are already deleted server-side and no longer appear in the web or mobile apps, but remain as stale entries in Recents in the Windows desktop app. Clicking them results in “Could not load this ChatGPT conversation”.

   My in-app diagnostic feedback ID is:

   no-active-thread-01a09477-e672-7b21-ad04-2019a8582199
8. Huixvan-Li commented on Sep 12, 2026

   

   Huixvan-Li

   on Sep 12, 2026

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   I can reproduce the same issue on Windows.

   If I delete a ChatGPT conversation from the web version or another device, the conversation sometimes remains visible in the desktop app.

   When I click the stale conversation, the app shows:

   “Unable to load this ChatGPT conversation.”

   If I then try to delete the conversation from the desktop app, it shows:

   “Failed to delete chat.”

   The conversation has already been deleted successfully on the server/web side, but the desktop app keeps a stale/ghost entry and cannot remove it.

   Steps to reproduce:

   Have the same ChatGPT account signed in on the desktop app and Web/another device.
   Delete a conversation from ChatGPT Web or another device.
   Return to the desktop app.
   The deleted conversation may still appear in the conversation list.
   Click it → the conversation cannot be loaded.
   Try to delete it → “Failed to delete chat.”

   Expected behavior:
   When a conversation has already been deleted server-side, the desktop app should automatically remove the stale entry from its conversation list. A conversation_deleted / 404 response should also be treated as successful deletion for purposes of cleaning up the local UI.

   
9. oshonsoft commented on Sep 15, 2026

   

   oshonsoft

   on Sep 15, 2026

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   Update after the latest Windows desktop app release:

   Previously orphaned/ghost chats can now be deleted manually, which is an improvement.

   However, browser → desktop deletion synchronization appears to be broken again.

   Reproduction:

   1. Create/open a chat so it appears in the Windows desktop app.
   2. Delete that chat using the browser interface.
   3. Restart the desktop app.
   4. The deleted chat still remains in Recents.
   5. Opening it gives “Could not load this ChatGPT conversation”.
   6. Manual deletion from the desktop app now succeeds.

   So the current state appears to be:

   • Manual deletion of orphaned Recents entries: fixed
   • Automatic reconciliation of browser-side deletions: still broken/regressed

   At the moment, manually deleting stale Recents entries seems to be the only way to restore consistency.
10. neko9210x commented on Sep 27, 2026

    

    neko9210x

    on Sep 27, 2026

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    I can reproduce this consistently on the Windows desktop app, and I did some additional inspection of the local SQLite catalog / WAL that may help narrow down the issue.

    Reproduction

    1. Create a conversation on mobile.
    2. Confirm that it appears in the Windows desktop app.
    3. Delete the conversation on mobile.
    4. The conversation remains visible in the Windows "Recents" list.
    5. Clicking it results in "Could not load this ChatGPT conversation".
    6. Deleting the same stale entry again from the Windows app finally removes it.

    Reinstalling the Windows app did not resolve the issue.

    Local catalog observations

    The desktop app stores the conversation catalog in:

    %USERPROFILE%\.codex\sqlite\codex-dev.db

    The stale conversation is present in local_thread_catalog.

    For one older ghost conversation, I observed:

    missing_candidate = 0
    

    After a later full reconciliation, the same row changed to:

    missing_candidate = 1
    

    However, the row was still retained in local_thread_catalog, and the conversation continued to appear in Recents.

    This suggests that the reconciliation process can detect that the conversation is missing from the server, but does not immediately prune the local catalog entry.

    I also tested a fresh conversation while inspecting the SQLite WAL:

    mobile create
    → desktop receives the conversation
    
    mobile delete
    → desktop catalog still retains the conversation
    
    desktop delete
    → local_thread_catalog entry is removed
    

    So the local cleanup path seems to work when deletion is initiated from the desktop itself, but not when the deletion originates from another client.

    Possible fix direction

    It may be worth treating an authoritative server-side "conversation deleted / does not exist" result as an idempotent deletion success and cleaning the local catalog entry immediately.

    For example:

    remote delete succeeded
    OR
    server confirms conversation_deleted / terminal 404
    → remove local_thread_catalog row
    → update catalog revision
    → invalidate Recents
    

    For reconciliation cases where the conversation is only absent from a listing, missing_candidate still makes sense as a two-step safety mechanism. But if the server explicitly confirms deletion, the entry probably should not remain as a ghost item.

    This looks less like a rendering issue and more like incomplete cross-client deletion reconciliation between the server state and local_thread_catalog.