[Windows][Build 26200] ChatGPT Stable and Beta launch processes but never create a window — Classic works

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

Build 26200

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The new ChatGPT Windows desktop app fails to create any UI window on my machine.

Both the Stable and Beta versions are affected. The application processes start successfully and remain responsive, but no ChatGPT window is ever created, nothing appears in Alt+Tab, and MainWindowHandle remains 0.

ChatGPT Classic works normally on the exact same machine, which suggests that the issue is specific to the new ChatGPT/Codex desktop architecture rather than general ChatGPT access, network connectivity, or account access.

Environment

OS: Windows Enterprise
Architecture: 64-bit
WindowsVersion: 2009
OS Build: 26200
Stable package: OpenAI.Codex
Stable version: 26.908.4834.0
Stable PackageFullName: OpenAI.Codex_26.908.4834.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
AppID: OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App
ChatGPT Beta: also affected
ChatGPT Classic: works normally
Device: corporate-managed Windows PC

Steps to reproduce

Launch ChatGPT from the Start menu.
The loading/spinner indication briefly appears.
No application window is displayed.
ChatGPT processes remain running in Task Manager.
Nothing appears in Alt+Tab.

The same behavior occurs with ChatGPT (Beta).

Observed behavior

Multiple ChatGPT.exe processes remain alive and Windows reports them as responsive.

Example:

Id Responding MainWindowHandle MainWindowTitle
20644 True 0
23116 True 0
40024 True 0
40132 True 0
41696 True 0

I also enumerated all top-level Windows handles belonging to the running ChatGPT PIDs using EnumWindows / GetWindowThreadProcessId.

No top-level window belonging to any ChatGPT process exists.

Therefore this does not appear to be an off-screen or hidden-window issue: the application seems to fail before a Chromium/Electron top-level window is created.

AppX/MSIX diagnostics

Get-AppxPackage reports:

Name : OpenAI.Codex
PackageFullName : OpenAI.Codex_26.908.4834.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
Status : Ok

Launching through the registered AppX application:

explorer.exe shell:AppsFolder\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App

successfully starts the processes, but still produces no window.

Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-Runtime/Admin shows normal package/process creation events (201, 210, 211, 219) and no corresponding launch error.

No relevant recent errors were found in Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational.

Application logs

The application logs consistently stop immediately after initial startup.

Example:

info [sparkle] in_app_updates_policy_wait_started timeoutMs=300000
info Launching app agentRunId=null allowDebugMenu=false
allowDevtools=false allowInspectElement=false buildFlavor=prod
enableSparkle=false enableUpdater=true nodeEnv=undefined
packaged=true platform=win32

I left the application running for more than the 300000 ms / 5-minute timeout, but there was no further log progression and no window appeared.

I also checked the application's LocalCache recursively for cua_node or .staging-* directories and found none.

Troubleshooting already performed

Windows Settings → ChatGPT → Reset
Complete uninstall/reinstall
Verified AppX package status (Status: Ok)
Launched using registered AppsFolder AppID
Waited beyond the 300-second update-policy timeout
Checked Windows Application/Event Viewer logs
Checked AppModel Runtime logs
Enumerated ChatGPT processes and confirmed Responding=True
Confirmed MainWindowHandle=0 for every ChatGPT process
Enumerated top-level HWNDs and confirmed that no ChatGPT window is actually created
Tested ChatGPT Beta → same failure
Tested ChatGPT Classic → works normally

Reinstalling/resetting does not change the behavior.

Expected behavior

The main ChatGPT window should be created and displayed after the application process launches.

Actual behavior

The processes start and remain responsive, but initialization appears to stop before creation of the main Chromium/Electron window.

Potentially relevant observation

The machine is running Windows OS Build 26200. I found other reports describing very similar headless startup behavior on build 26200.

Since both Stable and Beta of the new app fail while ChatGPT Classic works on the same machine, this may indicate a compatibility/startup issue between the newer ChatGPT/Codex Windows architecture and this Windows build or the managed enterprise environment.

I can provide additional process command lines, application logs, Event Viewer output, or other diagnostics if useful.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Launch ChatGPT from the Start menu.
The loading/spinner indication briefly appears.
No application window is displayed.
ChatGPT processes remain running in Task Manager.
Nothing appears in Alt+Tab.

The same behavior occurs with ChatGPT (Beta).

What is the expected behavior?

No response

Additional information

No response

No source file or test is named. Start by reproducing the packaged Windows launch on OS build 26200 and tracing startup after the “Launching app” log, focusing on where the main window should be created. Done means Stable and Beta create a visible top-level ChatGPT window instead of leaving responsive headless processes.