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ChatGPT takes too much memory #43828
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.901.51231
What subscription do you have?
Pro
What platform is your computer?
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 64Bit
What issue are you seeing?
The Windows ChatGPT/Codex desktop app consumes too much RAM during ordinary conversation use. Nine ChatGPT processes totaled approximately 1.4 GB of working-set memory, with one process reaching 512 MB. This is when i just start ChatGPT.
BTW, you asked for Codex version - but the About only shows for "ChatGPT", not Codex.
I'm not sure how to get that.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Feedback ID: 01a08146-d2f5-76d1-bad0-9be00ea84ea3
What is the expected behavior?
When I start ChatGPT it should not use over a GB of RAM before I do anything.
It should be very minimal. Not until I start asking it questions - and even then, only for the active chat session.
Additional information
All I did was start ChatGPT and it took over 1.2GB of RAM - sometimes as much as 1.5GB of RAM.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Sep 8, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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binawoh commentedon Oct 12, 2026
Adding a related Windows observation and product feedback. I find the Codex desktop app very convenient and would like to keep using it; my main request is lower memory usage while preserving that experience.
On 12 October 2026, on a Windows PC with approximately 32 GiB RAM, app package version 26.1007.2314.0, a local snapshot during everyday use showed approximately:
The measurements sum private resident memory, excluding shared pages, rather than committed memory. This was one snapshot during use, not a controlled startup/idle test or a longitudinal measurement. It does not establish a memory leak, a specific cause, or the same startup behavior reported above.
Please consider:
These are improvement suggestions, not diagnosed causes. The goal is to retain the convenient desktop workflow while making it easier to use alongside other applications. Please consider this feedback in desktop performance prioritization.