ChatGPT macOS App Crashes When Opening a Project

ChatGPT Bugs
1

Hi,

I’ve been experiencing a recurring issue with the ChatGPT app on macOS. Every time I create a project (a text document or code file in the canvas feature) and try to open it, the app immediately crashes and closes itself.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Open the ChatGPT app on macOS (MacBook Air).
  2. Create a new project (either a text document or code file).
  3. Try to open the project.
  4. The app immediately crashes and shuts down.

What I’ve tried so far:

Restarting the app and my MacBook.
Updating to the latest version of ChatGPT.
Clearing cache and temporary files from ~/Library/Application Support/ChatGPT.
Checking Privacy & Security settings to ensure the app isn’t blocked.
Reinstalling the app completely (including deleting all related files from ~/Library/Caches/, ~/Library/Preferences/, etc.).
Testing if the web version has the same issue (it doesn’t—projects open fine in the browser).

Expected behavior:

The app should open the project without crashing.

Actual behavior:

The app immediately crashes every time I try to open a project.

Device details:

Device: MacBook Air
OS Version: macOS 14.5 Sonoma
ChatGPT App Version: 1.2025.031 (1738605767)

Additional notes:

This issue only happens in the macOS app, not in the web version.
The issue persists after reinstalling the app and clearing all cache files.
I noticed that smaller projects (single lines of text) never open either.

Any help or updates on this issue would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

3 Likes
2

I’m having a similar issue when attempting to open projects on MacOS. Opening the same project on other systems works fine but on my Mac it crashes every time. I’ve tried uninstalling but the issue persists.

3

Same for me on:
Device: MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2023 (Apple M2 Pro)
OS Version: macOS 14.6.1 Sonoma
ChatGPT App Version: 1.2025.036 (1739293618)

4

Having the same issue on macOS Sonoma, any fix yet?

5

Same and cannot access any of my Project threads… where is OpenAI support on this??

1 Like
6

I have the exact same problem.

I’m on Sonoma 14.7.2 (23H311)
And running the latest version of ChatGPT as March 4th, 2025.

This is badly broken!

7

Yes - exact same problem here. Keeps crashing when I try to open a project on the MacOS app. Works in the web.

8

I am having exactly the same issue with Macbook Pro (Sonoma 14.5)

9

Is anyone from OpenAI even reading this, or are we all just shouting into the void? I have had this problem for over a month now, and I am a paying customer. I wonder what one has to do to get their attention.

10

I am having this issue too on my mac mini m1. The workaround is to use the web app until this is fixed.

11

I had this issue.

this fixed it:
Corrupted Cache

  • Quit the app completely.
  • Go to: ~/Library/Application Support/com.openai.chat and delete or rename the folder.
  • Restart the app.
1 Like
12

I also have a macbook pro m1. Accessing a project doesn’t crash with my laptop. It crashes only with my mac mini.

1 Like
13

Same issue here, on a M2 Mac Mini.
I tried this fix but it keeps crashing…

14

Also seeing this issue. Mac M1 Max MacOS 14.5
Doesnt seem to be any fix yet. Tried clearing caches, restarts and reinstall. nothing seems to fix it. Anyone had any success?

15

ok dont know if anyone will need this, but in the off-chance someone is still seeing the issue as I did. Clearing the Cache wasn’t quite enough.

Fed the backtrace into o3 and it confirmed it looked like a toolbar preference getting pulled in from a saved state. Following the instructions it gave to remove old preferences fixed it:

  • Delete the saved-state and toolbar preference so macOS stops decoding the bad archive.

bash

CopyEdit

# Quit ChatGPT first
rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.openai.chat.savedState
defaults delete com.openai.chat "NSToolbar Configuration BrowserWindowToolbar" 2>/dev/null

(If you prefer Finder: go to Go ▸ Go to Folder… and paste each path, then move the folder / file to the Bin.)

  • If the app still crashes, reset all of its local data
    This will sign you out but leaves your online chats intact.

bash

CopyEdit

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.openai.chat
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.openai.chat.plist