I’ve been a ChatGPT desktop app user on Mac for a very long time. I used it every day as my main work tool, with ALL my chat history and projects right there in the left sidebar. It worked perfectly.
This week’s redesign (the Codex merge and the arrival of Work) completely destroyed that experience, and I’m deeply upset:
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You removed chat history from the sidebar. Now it only shows up in a pop-up window in the middle of the screen, which loads slowly and reveals chats little by little as I scroll. A huge step backwards. It’s nothing like having them integrated and always visible on the left.
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My projects were not imported into the new app: it says “No projects.” They’re still on the web, but the desktop app, where I actually worked, is now empty and useless.
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The design is clearly meant to push us toward Work and Codex, features I do NOT use or need. Those of us who use ChatGPT in the traditional way have been completely sidelined.
And to be clear: the web is NOT the solution. Sometimes I need Work to access and modify files on my machine, something the web can’t do. But the new desktop app doesn’t work either, because its Work starts blank, with no memory or context of my chats and projects. I’ve been left in no man’s land: the web has my context but can’t touch my files; the app touches my files but has no context.
Don’t tell me to “use the web,” because I already know it exists and it’s not enough. I’m asking you to bring back chat history in the desktop app’s sidebar, AND to give desktop Work access to the context of my chats and projects.
Not everyone is a programmer or wants agents running in loops. Many of us depend on regular chat, accessible history, and organized projects. You took away a tool that worked, with no warning and no alternative. I expect a real solution, not an excuse.