Codex for Windows: recurring visible PowerShell windows, including after closing the app

Jozso72 · August 4, 2026, 12:39pm

Subject: Codex for Windows: recurring visible PowerShell windows, including after closing the app

While using Codex for Windows, and even after closing the app window, PowerShell windows repeatedly appear and disappear shortly afterward. At one point, two windows appeared simultaneously.

I restarted the PC and closed the Codex/ChatGPT windows and related processes, but the behavior continued.

The Windows PowerShell log shows that this internal process-monitoring command is repeatedly launched:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command
Get-CimInstance Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfProc_Process
Get-CimInstance Win32_Process

During an earlier process-tree check, the parent process of powershell.exe was codex.exe. This suggests that Codex’s internal process monitor is launching visible console windows and may leave background processes running after the UI is closed.

Expected behavior: internal PowerShell commands should run without visible console windows, and all Codex-related background processes should stop when Codex is closed.

EricGT · August 4, 2026, 12:49pm

Welcome to the forum!

You are welcome to discuss Codex issues on the forum, however the official place to report and track them is the GitHub issue tracker for OpenAI Codex.

I had ChatGPT look for the closest related issue and it identified:

github.com/openai/codex

Codex Desktop on Windows flashes visible PowerShell/console windows during background process polling

opened 01:47PM - 05 Jun 26 UTC

superPilipala

bug windows-os app

# Bug report: Codex Desktop on Windows flashes visible PowerShell/console window…s during background process polling ## Summary Codex Desktop on Windows repeatedly launches short-lived `powershell.exe` processes for background process inspection. These processes are created with a visible console window, causing black terminal windows to flash on screen during normal use, even when the user is not explicitly running a command. This is disruptive and alarming because it looks like an unknown terminal or malware process briefly opening and closing. ## Environment - OS: Windows - Codex Desktop version: `OpenAI.Codex_26.602.3474.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0` - Codex CLI helper path observed: `C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\bin\fb2111b91430cb17\codex.exe` - Shell observed: `C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe` - User's default daily terminal: Warp - Windows Terminal delegation was removed from: `HKCU\Console\%%Startup` but visible black console flashes still occurred. ## Evidence Multiple Windows Event Log entries show Codex-spawned PowerShell processes with commands like: ```powershell powershell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command "$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'; Get-CimInstance Win32_Process | Select-Object ProcessId,ParentProcessId | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 2" ``` and: ```powershell powershell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command "$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'; $cpuByPid = @{}; Get-CimInstance Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfProc_Process | ForEach-Object { $cpuByPid[[int]$_.IDProcess] = [double]$_.PercentProcessorTime }; Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter ... | Select-Object ProcessId,ParentProcessId,CommandLine,WorkingSetSize,... | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 2" ``` Observed parent process: ```text ParentProcessId: 14100 Parent: Codex.exe ``` Observed event timing: ```text 2026-06-05 21:33:28 PowerShell console started 2026-06-05 21:33:30 OpenConsole.exe prefetch updated 2026-06-05 21:41:22 OpenConsole.exe prefetch updated 2026-06-05 21:41:29 PowerShell.exe prefetch updated ``` After Windows Terminal delegation was removed, the issue persisted as a normal visible console flash, so this is not only a Windows Terminal default-terminal issue. ## Expected behavior Codex Desktop should launch all internal/background command probes without showing any user-visible console window. On Windows, background process inspection should use one of: - `CREATE_NO_WINDOW` - hidden `STARTUPINFO.wShowWindow` - a non-console helper process - direct native process enumeration APIs instead of spawning `powershell.exe` ## Actual behavior Codex Desktop launches short-lived PowerShell commands that visibly flash a black console window. The user sees this even when they did not ask Codex to run a command. ## User impact - Looks like malware or an unknown terminal pop-up. - Breaks user trust in Codex Desktop. - Distracts during normal work. - Makes it hard to tell whether a window came from Codex, Claude Code, MSI Center, Windows Terminal, or another background process. ## Severity Medium. This is not data loss, but it is highly visible, frightening, and makes the application feel unsafe on Windows. ## Suggested fix The Codex Desktop Windows process runner/process monitor should never spawn visible consoles for internal background probes. Please audit the Windows child-process creation path used for process polling and ensure hidden/no-window semantics are applied consistently. Specifically, the code path that runs `powershell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command Get-CimInstance Win32_Process ...` should create the child process with no visible console. ## Extra note This is not an MSI Center issue. MSI Center has its own console-host behavior at startup, but this separate repro was captured with Codex-spawned PowerShell process polling. The parent process evidence points to Codex.

If that issue matches your problem, consider adding a reaction on the GitHub issue page itself, not just on the forum topic, as reactions on GitHub help the developers gauge impact and prioritize work.

If it is not the same issue, try searching the existing GitHub issues for a closer match. If you cannot find one, then open a new issue with as much detail as possible.

OpenAI_Support · October 9, 2026, 4:58pm

Hi @Jozso72,

Sorry for the delayed response.

If you're still experiencing the recurring PowerShell windows, could you please try the following troubleshooting steps?

Update the app: Open the Microsoft Store and check for updates to the ChatGPT/Codex Windows app. Please note that similar behavior has also been reported on newer versions, so updating may not fully resolve the issue.
Fully quit the app: Press Ctrl + Q to quit the app completely instead of simply closing its window. Then open Windows Task Manager and check whether any ChatGPT.exe, Codex.exe, or codex.exe processes are still running. If any remain, end those processes and check whether the PowerShell windows stop appearing.
Try an alternative: If the issue continues, you can temporarily use Codex CLI through Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2), if available, while keeping the desktop app fully closed.

Please let me know whether these steps help or if the issue persists.

-Aish

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Codex for Windows: recurring visible PowerShell windows, including after closing the app

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