codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Codex Windows desktop app stuck on logo/loading screen after clean reinstall [1 comments, 2 participants]

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

OpenAI.Codex_26.422.8496.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0 I cannot open the About Codex dialog because the app never loads past the logo/loading screen.

What subscription do you have?

Free

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The Codex Windows desktop app is stuck indefinitely on the logo/loading screen. The login/main UI never appears.

I already tried a clean reinstall and multiple local fixes, but the app still hangs at the same loading logo.

No Codex logs were found in:

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\Codex\Logs
• %USERPROFILE%\.codex\logs

Windows Event Viewer around the launch time shows repeated display/kernel-related events:

• LiveKernelEvent
• WATCHDOG / WATCHDOG4400 / WATCHDOG4401 / WATCHDOG4402
• WindowsBlackScreenDiagnosticsV1
• DWM
• RDP

The app does not show a visible error message; it just stays on the logo/loading screen forever.

<img width="1590" height="1003" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c14fe121-cfe8-47d8-9a96-da1f4556565f" />

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install Codex Windows desktop app from Microsoft Store.
2. Launch Codex.
3. The app opens a dark window with the Codex logo/loading indicator.
4. Wait 60+ seconds.
5. The UI never loads; it stays stuck on the logo/loading screen.

Troubleshooting already tried:

• Killed all Codex.exe processes with taskkill /F /IM Codex.exe
• Reset-AppxPackage
• Remove-AppxPackage and reinstall from Microsoft Store
• Renamed/reset %USERPROFILE%\.codex
• Reset Codex SQLite state/log files under %USERPROFILE%\.codex
• Created missing .codex\sessions\2026\04\28 path when an earlier rollout path error appeared
• Reinstalled/updated NVIDIA driver with clean installation
• Installed NVIDIA Studio Driver 596.36
• Repaired/reinstalled Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime
• Repaired Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable x64
• Restarted Windows after driver/runtime changes
• Launched Codex as Administrator

GPU information: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU Driver after clean install: 32.0.15.9636 / NVIDIA Studio Driver 596.36 / 2026-04-23 Previous driver: 32.0.15.6626 / 2024-11-24

What is the expected behavior?

The Codex Windows desktop app should finish loading normally and show either the sign-in screen, project/workspace picker, or the main Codex UI.

It should not remain indefinitely on the logo/loading screen. If the app cannot load because of a local runtime, renderer, WebView2, GPU, session, or configuration problem, it should show a clear error message and provide logs or recovery guidance instead of staying stuck with no visible error.

Additional information

This looks similar to other recent reports of Codex desktop app being stuck on the logo/loading screen.

I found related public reports:

• OpenAI Community: users report Codex desktop app stuck on loading logo; deleting/reinstalling does not fix it.
• GitHub issue #19437 mentions Windows app stuck on blank/spinner and a repeated renderer/runtime loop involving workspace_dependencies.

In my case, after all local resets and reinstall attempts, the app still hangs on the same logo screen.

Relevant Event Viewer summary:

Event Name: LiveKernelEvent Problem signature P1: 1a8 / 1b8 WATCHDOG / WATCHDOG4400 / WATCHDOG4401 / WATCHDOG4402 WindowsBlackScreenDiagnosticsV1 DWM RDP I also tried NVIDIA Studio Driver 596.36, WebView2 repair, VC++ x64 repair, and launching as Administrator after reboot, but the app still stays on the same logo/loading screen.