[Windows App] Let the global pop-out shortcut open Chat mode and remember the selected mode

What variant of Codex are you using?

Codex App / the new unified ChatGPT–Codex desktop app on Windows, with the interface set to Simplified Chinese. The exact app build is not available in this report. This request concerns the desktop app, not the CLI or IDE extension.

What feature would you like to see?

Please add a setting that lets the global pop-out window open a normal ChatGPT Chat conversation instead of Code/Codex mode, and persist that preference. The goal is to restore the lightweight companion-chat workflow in the newer desktop app without needing to switch back to the main window.

Current experience

1. In Settings → Keyboard shortcuts, I found “弹出窗口快捷键” (pop-out window hotkey), described as “在桌面任意位置显示或隐藏弹出窗口” (show or hide the pop-out window from anywhere on the desktop).
2. After configuring the shortcut and using it from another application, the pop-out window opens.
3. However, the window opens in Code/Codex mode rather than the ordinary Chat mode I wanted.

The issue is therefore not simply a missing or non-working hotkey. The existing global hotkey reaches the wrong kind of conversation for this workflow. An in-app “New chat” or “Quick chat” command is not an equivalent replacement unless it can also summon an independent Chat window while another application has focus.

Requested setting and behavior

• Add a clearly discoverable “Default mode for the pop-out window” setting, with options such as Chat, Code/Codex, and Remember last used mode. Include Work mode if appropriate for the app's supported modes.
• When Chat is selected, the global shortcut should directly open a lightweight, ordinary ChatGPT conversation, without requiring a coding project/workspace or changing the main window's mode first.
• Remember the preference across hiding/reopening the pop-out and restarting the app. A fixed Chat preference should remain effective even when the main window is being used for Codex work.
• Preserve a configurable system-wide shortcut that shows/hides this window while another application is in the foreground. Alternatively, provide a separate configurable global shortcut for Chat, distinct from the Code/Codex pop-out shortcut.

Expected workflow

While working in a browser or another Windows application, press the configured global shortcut → a small Chat window appears → ask a normal question → press the shortcut again to hide it and return to the previous application. Reopening it should respect the chosen Chat mode.

Additional information

Related: #42750 requests the broader ChatGPT Classic Companion Window experience, including floating/always-on-top behavior. This request focuses specifically on mode selection and persistence for the existing global pop-out command: the pop-out can already be invoked in my setup, but it opens Code/Codex instead of Chat. It does not depend on adding always-on-top behavior.

The older companion-chat workflow is documented here for reference: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9982051-using-the-chatgpt-windows-app . This is a request to bring that ordinary-chat workflow into the newer app; I am not claiming that an identical mode-selector setting previously existed.

中文摘要： 希望新版 Codex／ChatGPT 桌面应用增加“弹出窗口默认模式”设置。现在从其他应用使用全局快捷键唤出的窗口进入的是 Code／Codex，而需要的是普通 Chat 聊天。请允许选择 Chat 并记住该设置，或提供独立的普通 Chat 全局快捷键，不必先切回主窗口，也不必进入编程项目。

Start in Settings → Keyboard shortcuts and trace the existing global pop-out window shortcut in the Windows desktop app. Determine where the pop-out mode and preference are selected and persisted; done means the shortcut can open Chat independently, remembers the selected mode across reopen and restart, and retains show/hide behavior from another application.