Windows desktop: Chat and history disappear after restart; logout/login restores them

Summary

On the Windows ChatGPT desktop app, the standard Chat interface and conversation history disappear after restarting the app. The mode selector then offers only ChatGPT Work and Codex. Explicitly logging out from the app and signing back in restores the Chat / Work tabs and recent conversation list.

This was observed during troubleshooting on one PC. The app works on my home PC. The underlying cause has not been confirmed.

Environment

• Platform: Windows desktop app (exact Windows build not collected)
• App version: not collected
• UI language: Korean

Observed sequence

1. Initially, Work remained on the centered OpenAI loading logo while Codex was usable.
2. Repair, reset, and reinstall had already been attempted without resolving that initial problem. The account still appeared signed in after reinstall.
3. Explicitly logging out and signing back in made Work accessible and restored the ChatGPT interface.
4. After a subsequent app restart, the standard Chat interface disappeared again:
   • The top-left label changed from ChatGPT to Work.
   • The mode selector offered only ChatGPT Work and Codex.
   • The Chat / Work tabs were absent.
   • Recent conversations were absent.
5. Explicitly logging out and signing back in again restored ChatGPT, the Chat / Work tabs, and the recent conversation list.

This is an observed sequence, not a claim that it reproduces on every launch or device.

Expected behavior

Restarting an already authenticated app should preserve access to the standard Chat interface and load the account's conversation history without requiring manual logout/login.

Actual behavior

The available interface and history differ before and after a restart. Manual logout/login restores them, but a lasting fix has not been verified.

Additional conversation-management errors

During the same troubleshooting session, the app also displayed these red error notifications when attempting to archive or delete conversations:

• 대화를 보관하지 못했습니다 — Could not archive the conversation.
• 채팅 삭제에 실패했습니다 — Failed to delete chat.

It has not been established whether these errors share the cause of the missing Chat interface, or whether the affected conversations had already been deleted or archived elsewhere.

Related reports

• #32515 — Windows app starts in Work with no way to switch to Chat. A distinguishing detail here is that manual logout/login does restore Chat, whereas that report says it did not.
• #41880 — Conversation deletion failures and stale entries in Recents. Potentially related to the additional errors above; a shared cause is unconfirmed.

Evidence and troubleshooting

Screenshots were reviewed showing the Work-only mode selector, both error notifications, and restoration of Chat and recent history after logout/login. They are not attached here because they contain private conversation and project names.

Already attempted: app repair, reset, reinstall, app restart, and explicit logout/login. Only explicit logout/login was observed to restore the missing interface.

Please investigate restoration of the desktop account/session state and Chat availability on startup. The logout/login result is a diagnostic clue, not a confirmed root cause.

No file, test, or entry point is named in the report. Start by reproducing the Windows restart sequence and compare startup session restoration with the explicit logout/login flow; done means Chat, Work, and recent conversation history remain available after restarting without requiring reauthentication.