[ChatGPT Desktop][macOS 26.1002.52244] Existing chats stop updating; new window restores state, response text intermittently hidden #52300

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

26.1002.52244

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.6.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

I am experiencing two intermittent UI issues in the unified
ChatGPT desktop application on macOS.

Both issues occur in the ChatGPT interface, not in the separate
Codex developer interface.

Issue 1: Existing conversations stop updating

When submitting a new prompt in an existing conversation, the
Chat/Work selection sometimes appears for approximately one
second and then disappears.

The desktop window subsequently shows no further progress.
Occasionally, processing becomes visible after approximately
30 seconds.

However, opening the same conversation in Safari reveals
that the prompt was accepted and processing has continued.

In one confirmed case, the browser showed an active GitHub
tool permission request while the desktop window still
displayed the previous conversation state.

The original desktop window did not synchronize with the
server-side conversation state.

Restarting the desktop application did not permanently
resolve the issue.

Opening a second window using File → New Window immediately
restored the current conversation state, including progress
that had been invisible in the original window.

The original window remained functional for other conversations.

Issue 2: Parts of streamed responses become invisible

When switching to another macOS application during response
streaming and subsequently returning to ChatGPT, portions
of the assistant's response are sometimes missing from the
visible conversation.

Importantly, clicking the message's Copy button copies the
COMPLETE response, including all text that is not displayed.

This demonstrates that the response content is available but
is not being rendered completely in the desktop conversation
view.

Impact

Both issues affect the reliability of the desktop interface.

The first issue can hide ongoing processing and interactive
tool permission requests.

The second issue can hide important parts of technical
instructions, including prerequisites, warnings, or commands.

The user cannot reliably determine whether the visible
response represents the complete content.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Reproduction A: Conversation state synchronization

1. Open the ChatGPT macOS desktop application.
2. Open an existing conversation with a substantial history.
3. Submit a new prompt that may trigger the Chat/Work handoff,
   for example: "Continue with the previously agreed task."
4. Observe that the Chat/Work selection sometimes appears
   briefly and then disappears.
5. The desktop window stops displaying further processing.
6. Open the same conversation in Safari at chatgpt.com.
7. Observe that the conversation has progressed in the browser,
   potentially reaching an interactive tool permission request.
8. Return to the original desktop window.
9. Observe that it still shows the outdated conversation state.
10. Open File → New Window in the desktop application.
11. Open the same conversation in the new window.
12. Observe that the new window displays the current state
    and allows the conversation to continue.

The problem is intermittent but has occurred repeatedly in
existing conversations.

New conversations have not shown the same problem so far.

Restarting the application did not provide a lasting fix.

Reproduction B: Incomplete response rendering

1. Open an existing ChatGPT conversation.
2. Request a sufficiently long response containing multiple
   paragraphs or numbered technical instructions.
3. While the response is streaming, switch to another macOS
   application using Cmd+Tab.
4. Return to ChatGPT.
5. Observe that parts of the response may be missing from
   the displayed text.
6. Click the Copy button on the assistant message.
7. Paste the copied content into a text editor.
8. Observe that the pasted text contains the complete response,
   including text missing from the desktop display.

Diagnostic information

No error message is displayed.

Session IDs, token usage, and context window utilization
have not been captured.

The issue was observed in existing, relatively long
conversations.

What is the expected behavior?

1. Existing conversations should remain synchronized with
   their current server-side state.

2. The Chat/Work handoff should remain visible and actionable
   until the user makes a selection or the intended timeout
   expires.

3. Active responses, processing status, and tool permission
   requests should be displayed consistently across desktop
   and web clients.

4. Switching between macOS applications should not cause
   parts of an assistant response to disappear.

5. The text rendered in the conversation should match the
   complete content returned by the message's Copy function.

6. Opening a new application window should not be necessary
   to recover the current conversation state.

Additional information

Environment

• Application: Unified ChatGPT Desktop for macOS
• Version: 26.1002.52244
• Release: October 7, 2026
• Subscription: ChatGPT Plus
• Affected UI: ChatGPT → Chat / Chat-to-Work handoff
• Codex developer interface: Not involved

Confirmed workaround

File → New Window restores the current state of an affected
conversation.

The same conversation also works correctly in Safari.

Observations

The original desktop window is not generally frozen:
other conversations remain usable.

This suggests a conversation-view or window-specific
synchronization problem rather than a complete application
failure.

The complete response being available through Copy suggests
a separate rendering or UI update issue.

It is not known whether both symptoms share the same root cause.

Related issues

#48506 - Chat → Work handoff prompt disappears before it can be clicked
#48506

#50984 - Restored desktop window freezes; File → New Window works
#50984

#33588 - Assistant responses visually clipped but complete via Copy
#33588

#37581 - ChatGPT Desktop vs. Codex issue tracker taxonomy
#37581

The reported behavior overlaps with these issues, but the
combination of a stale conversation view, successful browser
continuation, recovery through a second desktop window,
and independently observed incomplete rendering differs
from the individual existing reports.