Codex app for Windows: Reported recursive deletion on a 1 TB NVMe SSD – what affected users need to know now
On 12 August 2026, a user reported that a recursive deletion occurred while using the Codex app for Windows between roughly 21:48 and 21:55 – according to his account, it affected not only the project folder but also the root directory of C:, Program Files and other folders on a 1 TB NVMe SSD. If this happens to you: stop using the computer immediately.
What happened?
The report comes from the OpenAI Developer Community Forum and was published on 13 August 2026. In it, the reporter describes how a recursive deletion – that is, a delete operation that automatically works its way through all subfolders – was triggered during a session with the Codex app for Windows. It did not, he says, stay confined to the intended project folder.
According to his description, the machine in question was a Windows PC with the NTFS file system on a 1 TB NVMe SSD with TRIM enabled. Windows still booted afterwards, he says, but numerous system functions and installed applications no longer worked because files were missing.
An important point for context: this is exactly one publicly documented individual report, not a fault confirmed by the vendor. The reporter himself expressly noted that he could not determine the triggering command, the working directory, the target variable that was actually resolved, any approval that may have been given, or the technical cause. He asked OpenAI to investigate the session and command execution logs. A causal link to the Codex app, to a model, an app version, a Windows build or a particular class of bug is therefore currently unproven.
Have there been similar reports before?
Yes – though no shared, confirmed bug should be inferred from them. In an older community thread from March 2026, several users reported alleged file deletions beyond project boundaries under Codex for Windows. OpenAI Support responded publicly there.
„Since several users here are reporting similar destructive behavior during Codex agent operations on Windows, we’re going to escalate this thread so the team can take a closer look. Anything involving filesystem operations affecting directories outside the intended target is taken very seriously.“ – OpenAI Support (Tej), 8 March 2026, OpenAI Developer Community
On 19 March 2026, a follow-up there stated that the team was aware and was working to improve how Codex for Windows operates; users should continue to exercise caution in full-access mode. No published root cause analysis, no list of affected versions and no dated fix were posted there.
In addition, there are separate GitHub reports in the openai/codex repository which are technically not to be equated with the August case: Issue #35707 of 27 July 2026 describes an alleged extensive project deletion caused by a PowerShell cleanup command under Codex Desktop 0.144.1 on Windows Build 19045.0. Issue #37998 of 11 August 2026 describes the alleged deletion of an ignored data/ folder by git clean -fX in an environment with Codex Desktop 26.803.10989.0, Codex CLI 0.147.0, Windows 11 Build 26200.0, PowerShell 7.6.4 and Git 2.43.0.windows.1 – the author states there that he restored the folder from a VSS shadow copy. These version details apply exclusively to those cases.
Who and which devices are affected?
For the incident of 12 August 2026, exactly one reporter is publicly documented. There is no confirmed vendor figure for affected users, devices or companies.
- Software: Codex app for Windows (OpenAI) – app version not stated in the report.
- System: Windows PC, NTFS file system – Windows build not stated.
- Storage device: 1 TB NVMe SSD with TRIM enabled – SSD model, controller and firmware not stated.
- Model/AI variant: not stated.
As of the research date of 16 August 2026, neither the current forum thread nor the official ChatGPT release notes retrieved contained any public confirmation of this specific incident, any list of affected versions, any recall or any dated fix. The official documentation merely explains in general terms that local desktop tasks can access local files and applications to the extent permitted by user permissions, workspace controls and device security policies. That explains why local write and delete operations are technically possible – it does not prove that Codex caused the deletion in this particular case.
How can you tell whether you are affected?
- Folders and files are missing not only from the project folder, but also from other user, program or system paths.
- Windows may still start, but apps, shortcuts or Windows functions no longer respond or report missing files.
- Free storage space increases noticeably. On its own, this proves neither the cause nor the extent of the deletion.
- The Recycle Bin is empty – command-line deletions often bypass the Recycle Bin. In this specific incident, that is not confirmed by logs.
- The Codex history, terminal output or error messages contain references to file operations, paths and timestamps. The reporter in the August case did not, however, find the exact triggering command.
How to check safely whether you are affected
All of the following steps have been chosen so that they do not make the situation worse. They deliberately contain no recovery attempts.
- Do not continue working on the affected Windows system. Document only what is visible without installing anything: error messages, time, the app last used, the Codex mode, the project path and the last prompt. Photograph the screen, ideally with another device.
- Check independent copies from another device: cloud recycle bin and version history, the web interfaces of OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive, email attachments, external backups, NAS, Git remote or other computers. Do not restore anything to the affected drive C:.
- Before any intervention, have professionals determine whether a forensic copy (a complete image) of the SSD should be created on a separate storage device. After that, work is carried out only with this copy – never with the sole original.
- Only once the initial state has been secured can you check whether shadow copies (VSS), restore points or “previous versions” are available. A system rollback is not a read-only operation.
- Preserve evidence in case you want to report the case to OpenAI: session ID, feedback ID, app version, time window, local log paths, screenshots and any available command histories. Do not publish private paths or sensitive logs unredacted.
What you should do now
- Stop normal use immediately. Microsoft writes on recovering deleted files: „If you want to increase your chances of recovering a file, minimize or avoid using your computer. … any use of your computer can create files, which may over-write this free space at any time.“ (Microsoft Support, Windows File Recovery)
- If the data is business-critical, irreplaceable or relevant as evidence: after the minimum necessary documentation, shut the system down and do not start it again until a professional data recovery firm or a forensically experienced body has assessed how to proceed.
- Do not install recovery software on C: and do not write recovered files there. The program and the target medium must be strictly separate from the original.
- Check backups and cloud versions exclusively from another device. This carries far less risk than any analysis on the original SSD.
- Perform a system restore only after careful consideration and only after the original has been secured. Microsoft describes restore points as a local whole-system restore that can affect changes made after the selected point in time.
What you must never do
This section is the most important one. With an NVMe SSD with TRIM enabled, the outcome is often decided not by the deletion itself, but by what happens to the drive afterwards.
- Do not keep working normally on the computer. Downloads, Windows updates, browser caches, temporary files and copy operations on C: can overwrite the storage marked as free – which is precisely where the remnants of the deleted files reside.
- Do not install data recovery software on the affected drive and do not save any results there. Both create write accesses on the source and can displace remaining data remnants and metadata.
- No reinstalling, no “reset Windows”, no in-place repair, no formatting. These operations alter the storage device massively and must not be run before the original has been secured.
- Do not run CHKDSK without thinking. Microsoft states expressly in the chkdsk reference: „If used with the /f, /r, /x, or /b parameters, it fixes errors on the volume.“ That is not a mere check, but a write-based repair intervention on the file system.
- No hasty system restore. According to Microsoft, a point-in-time restore can roll the entire computer back to an earlier state and affect changes made after the restore point.
- Do not simply “let the drive run”. With TRIM enabled, Windows reports areas that are no longer needed to the SSD controller; its background cleanup (garbage collection) can later physically erase the affected NAND blocks.
„After TRIM, SSD recovery depends on whether garbage collection physically erased the NAND. If erasure completed, no software or lab can recover the deleted files.“ – Louis Rossmann, Founder & Chief Technician, Rossmann Repair Group
Why this works so differently with SSDs than with classic hard drives was described in a study by Michael Wei et al. (University of California San Diego / USENIX FAST): flash-based SSDs work with an indirection layer between logical and physical addresses; experience from the hard drive world therefore cannot simply be transferred, and behaviour varies depending on the implementation. Whether and when a particular drive has physically erased data depends, among other things, on the controller, firmware, write load and operating state – none of which can be deduced from a forum post.
That is why: in cases like this there is neither a credible promise of recovery nor a credible claim that everything is irretrievably lost. And: in practice it is almost always the well-meant DIY attempts – quickly installing a recovery tool, running CHKDSK “just to be safe”, repairing Windows, leaving the computer running for a few more hours – that turn a difficult case into a hopeless one.
Why this case belongs in professional hands – and how RESQ proceeds
A delete operation that has caught not only the project folder but also the root directory of C: and Program Files is not a simple “recycle bin case”. It hits user data and system files at the same time on the same storage device on which Windows keeps running and writing continuously. That is exactly what makes the situation delicate: every minute of operation is potential data loss.
What sets professional data recovery in the event of SSD data loss apart from any attempt at your own desk:
- Working on a copy instead of the original. The first step is not searching for files, but securing the current state. Analysis and reconstruction are then carried out on the image – the original remains untouched and thus remains a second chance.
- Write-protected connection. The NVMe SSD is read out in a controlled manner, rather than being left to keep working and cleaning up in the background inside a running Windows system.
- Assessment of the TRIM state before any action. Whether any reconstructable remnants still exist is decided at the storage device – not in advance, and not by software that you simply “run over it”.
- Reconstruction of the NTFS structures. Recursive deletions affect directory trees and metadata. Restoring folder structures and file names is a task in its own right, one that requires experience with this type of damage.
- Separate examination of the secondary routes. Shadow copies, restore points, cloud version histories and Git remotes are independent recovery paths – they are examined without endangering the original source.
The process at RESQ is deliberately lean and involves no upfront cost for you: you describe the case, we provide a free initial assessment and a cost estimate. This is followed by analysis of the storage device and an honest statement of what is realistically still possible – even if the answer is uncomfortable. The actual recovery only begins once you have approved the cost estimate. The decision is yours at every point. You can read about how the entire process works and which services are included on our page about data recovery at RESQ. If you would like to commission the assessment directly, you can also create an order in your customer account straight away.
And for everything that comes afterwards: separate, regularly tested backups are the only reliable protection against precisely this kind of damage. Our backup assistant helps you build a backup strategy that survives an accidental recursive deletion – ideally on a medium that is not permanently connected to the same computer.
Is there a fix or an update?
For the specific report of 12 August 2026, no publicly documented fix was found up to 16 August 2026. The current community thread contains no response from OpenAI. The official ChatGPT release notes retrieved contain no data loss fix, no list of affected Codex Windows versions and no recall. The most recent public support statement in the older thread dates from 19 March 2026 and merely says that the team is working on improvements for Codex on Windows.
Affected users should therefore not hope that some future update will reverse a data loss that has already occurred – no update can do that. Until reliable vendor information is available, the sensible measures are: separate backups, restrictive permissions, clearly limited approvals for agent tools and no uncontrolled recursive delete tasks.
Conclusion: can the data still be recovered?
The honest answer: that can only be assessed on the specific storage device. With an NVMe SSD with TRIM enabled, everything hinges on whether garbage collection has already physically erased the affected NAND blocks. If it has, neither software nor a lab can help. If it has not yet happened, every further write operation helps determine how much remains.
Hence the one sentence that really counts in this case: computer off, install nothing, repair nothing, reinstall nothing. If the data matters to you – project files, documents, business records – have the case examined before you do anything else. Request the free initial assessment of your data loss case now and find out what prospects are realistic in your situation.
