ChatGPT desktop app

The ChatGPT desktop app is OpenAI's native client for ChatGPT on macOS and Windows. OpenAI showed a macOS version on May 13, 2024, the day it announced GPT-4o, and gave ChatGPT Plus subscribers access first.^[1] It opened the Mac app to everyone on June 25, 2024 and released an early Windows version to paid plans on October 17, 2024.^[2][3] On July 9, 2026 OpenAI replaced both with a single desktop application that puts three experiences in one window: Chat, Work and Codex.^[4]

What the desktop app adds over chatgpt.com is mostly local access. A floating launcher opens over whatever is on screen with a keyboard shortcut, and from it a user can screenshot an application window, take a webcam photo or attach a file. On macOS the app can also read, and later edit, the contents of open code editors, text editors and terminals through a feature OpenAI calls Work with Apps.^[5][6][7]

The July 2026 change created a naming collision that is worth stating plainly. OpenAI renamed the older desktop application ChatGPT Classic, which is also the name of a first-party custom GPT that has existed inside ChatGPT since November 2023. The two share nothing but the word. The custom GPT is covered at ChatGPT Classic; in this article the phrase means the legacy desktop app.^[4][8] The desktop app is also distinct from the OpenAI Codex CLI, a terminal program, and from the many third-party wrappers that put a chat window around the OpenAI API.

Platform history

macOS

OpenAI demonstrated the macOS app during its May 13, 2024 GPT-4o presentation. TechCrunch reported that Plus subscribers would get it first, "starting today", that users could "ask questions via a keyboard shortcut or take and discuss screenshots", and that a Windows version would follow later in the year.^[1] The staged rollout ran for about six weeks; the app became available to all users on June 25, 2024.^[2]

OpenAI's own macOS release notes begin on August 6, 2024, with the companion window, expandable tables and charts, keyboard shortcuts for sharing the desktop or the active window, a menu bar or dock preference, a Launch at Login option that is off by default, and a line reading "Enhanced security for local data storage".^[8] The releases that followed added Advanced Voice Mode and support for the o1-preview and o1-mini reasoning models (October 30, 2024), Work with Apps (November 14, 2024), slash commands and a much longer list of supported editors (November 26, 2024), conversation search and voice while working with apps (December 19, 2024), canvas, Tasks and Projects (January 15, 2025), and direct code edits inside an IDE (March 6, 2025).^[8]

Two later entries move in the other direction. On December 11, 2025 OpenAI announced that the Voice experience in the macOS app would be retired on January 15, 2026, while remaining on chatgpt.com, iOS, Android and the Windows app.^[4] On February 13, 2026 the macOS notes record that OpenAI "phased out certificate pinning exceptions".^[8]

System requirements have been stable: macOS 14 with either Apple Silicon (M1 or better) or an Intel processor. OpenAI states that it will not release a build for older versions of macOS.^[9]

Windows

The Windows app arrived as an explicit preview. OpenAI's help page still describes it as "an early version of the ChatGPT Windows app to ChatGPT users on paid plans (Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise)" and warns that "a subset of features available in the macOS and web version may not be available on this early version".^[10] The release notes date that launch to October 17, 2024.^[3] TechCrunch's coverage the same day noted the gaps: no voice at all, including Advanced Voice Mode, and non-functional GPT Store integrations, with a "full experience" promised later in 2024.^[11]

Advanced Voice Mode and chat-history search reached Windows on October 30, 2024; webcam photos, a configurable companion-window hotkey and a manual check-for-updates button on November 7; Snipping Tool screenshots, a redesigned sidebar and a relocation of application user data on November 14; and winget installation on January 30, 2025, which was still the newest entry on the Windows release-notes page when it was archived in July 2026.^[3] Requirements are Windows 10 (x64 and arm64) build 17763.0 or higher.^[10]

The Windows documentation is a good illustration of why announcement dates and availability dates should be read separately: OpenAI's Windows help page was still describing a paid-plans-only early version in July 2026, more than eighteen months after the last recorded Windows release note.

Timeline

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Capabilities beyond the web client

Chat Bar and companion window

The defining desktop feature is a small always-available prompt window. On macOS OpenAI calls it the Chat Bar; the default shortcut is Option and Space, it can be dragged anywhere on screen, it can also be opened from the menu bar icon, and the shortcut is configurable in Settings.^[5] The August 6, 2024 release added the companion window, which "stays in front of all other windows", can be positioned and reset on a timer, and can be created by popping an existing conversation out of the main window.^[8]

Windows has the same idea under the name Companion Window, bound to Alt and Space. OpenAI notes that the shortcut fails silently if another Windows application has already registered it, and that it can be changed under Settings, App, Companion window hotkey.^[10]

Screen capture, photos and files

From the macOS launcher, Take Screenshot lists the application windows currently open, and a user can type an application name to pick one. The feature requires granting ChatGPT permission to record the screen and audio in System Settings, and OpenAI warns that the app may need restarting before the permission takes effect.^[6] The August 2024 release added Command and Shift and 1 to share the main desktop, Command and Shift and 2 to share the active window, and a control for choosing which display to capture.^[8] The same plus menu offers Upload file and Take Photo, the latter using the webcam; both need their own macOS permissions.^[13]

On Windows, screenshot attachment arrived on November 14, 2024 and is handled by the operating system's Snipping Tool, so the user chooses a window, the full screen or a custom region. Webcam capture landed a week earlier, on November 7.^[3]

Voice

Advanced Voice Mode came to both desktop apps on October 30, 2024.^[3][8] On macOS it could be used together with Work with Apps from December 19, 2024, which OpenAI suggested for "live debugging in terminals".^[8] OpenAI's Work with Apps documentation records two limits from that period: voice mode could not be launched from the companion window, and it did not support code edits.^[7] Voice was then removed from the macOS app entirely on January 15, 2026 and did not return until the unified app, when ChatGPT Voice became available in Work and Codex on desktop on July 23, 2026.^[4] See Advanced Voice Mode for the underlying feature.

Work with Apps

Work with Apps was macOS-only for its whole life as a standalone feature. It launched on November 14, 2024 as an early beta for Plus and Team users, letting ChatGPT read content from coding applications.^[8] TechCrunch reported that day that it worked mainly through the macOS accessibility API, that some applications such as Visual Studio Code needed a dedicated extension, and that ChatGPT could read but not write.^[12] Writing came later: the March 6, 2025 release let ChatGPT "edit code directly in your IDE", generating a reviewable diff that can be reverted in the ChatGPT interface or with Command and Z in the editor.^[8][7]

OpenAI ties the feature to a build rather than a date, stating that it needs "version 1.2025.057 of ChatGPT for MacOS or later", which is the only public version string in its desktop documentation.^[7]

OpenAI's documentation is unusually specific about what leaves the machine. ChatGPT includes the last 200 lines of open panes; if text is selected, it focuses on the selection and includes neighbouring text up to a truncation limit; a banner over the Chat Bar shows which applications are involved; and the captured content becomes part of the chat history stored in the account.^[7] The supported list covers text editors (Apple Notes, Notion, TextEdit, Quip), code editors (Xcode, Script Editor, the VS Code family including Code Insiders, VSCodium, Cursor and Windsurf, and the JetBrains IDEs) and terminals (Terminal, iTerm, Warp, Prompt), with editing available only in IDEs.^[7] The VS Code side requires the openai.chatgpt extension, installable from the marketplace or sideloaded as a VSIX for VSCodium and Windsurf.^[14]

Controls exist at both ends. An individual can switch off Enable Work with Apps in settings, or revoke Accessibility permission; an Enterprise or Edu administrator can disable Work with Apps for the workspace, and separately disable code edits with an "Allow code edits on macOS" toggle.^[7]

The unified desktop app, July 2026

On July 9, 2026 OpenAI announced that "the new ChatGPT desktop app is available globally for macOS and Windows", combining "Chat for questions and conversation, Work for research and finished deliverables, and Codex for software development in one app".^[4]

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Navigation changed with it. A switcher in the top-left chooses between ChatGPT and Codex; inside ChatGPT, a toggle at the top of the page chooses Chat or Work. Chat and Work conversations share a single Recents list that can be sorted, filtered and pinned, existing ChatGPT Projects appear in the app, and a project can be opened as either a Chat or a Work thread. Codex stays a separate view with its own history and unchanged workflows.^[15] Cloud Work chats sync across web, mobile and desktop, while local conversations stay on the machine.^[4][15] Codex itself cannot be selected on web or mobile, although supported desktop Codex chats can be reached from the Remote tab of the ChatGPT mobile app.^[15]

Two desktop-only capabilities were called out at launch: Work can use local files and desktop applications with the user's permission, and a built-in browser lets ChatGPT gather information from websites and operate web-based tools. Codex gained inline editing within diffs, pull-request review in a side panel, faster computer use and support for multiple repositories in one project.^[4]

Plan gating differed by surface. On web and mobile, Work rolled out to paid plans other than Free and Go, reaching Pro, Pro Lite, Enterprise and Edu first with Plus and Business following "over the coming days", and Enterprise and Edu workspaces got a two-week preview during which Work was off by default.^[4] The desktop navigation changes were declared live for all plans on macOS and Windows a week later, on July 16, 2026.^[4]

Migration and what happened to the old app

OpenAI published a dedicated migration article that splits users into three cases.^[15]

• Existing Codex app users update as usual; after the update, the Codex app "becomes the new ChatGPT desktop app with Chat, Work, and Codex". Existing Codex chats and projects survive, the app opens in Codex for those users, and Codex can be kept as the default view. 9to5Mac's launch-day coverage made the same point, noting that the merged application grew out of the Codex app and that the Codex icon could be kept on macOS.^[16]
• Existing ChatGPT desktop app users follow a prompt inside the app to download the new one and sign in with the same account.
• New users simply download the app for their operating system.

The old application was not uninstalled. "The new app may install alongside your current app", OpenAI wrote, in which case the user sees two entries: ChatGPT, the new app, and ChatGPT Classic, "the previous ChatGPT desktop app". Keeping it is supported: "You can continue using it; no migration is required at launch. It continues to receive model updates, bug fixes, security patches, and support for its existing Enterprise capabilities. New agent features may be available only in the new app."^[15] The macOS release notes carry the same statement under the heading "ChatGPT Classic" dated July 9, 2026, and the macOS download and system-requirements pages were rewritten to open with "As of July 9th, the new ChatGPT desktop app combines Chat, Work, and Codex".^[8][17][9]

OpenAI has not published an end-of-life date for ChatGPT Classic. As of August 2026 its documentation describes the two as coexisting.

Plugins, apps and GPTs

The same July 9, 2026 release notes contain a second rename: "We're also replacing the App Directory with the Plugin Directory. Existing app connections are unaffected. Plugins can package skills, apps, and app templates for specific workflows, and are available from ChatGPT on web and desktop, including Work and Codex."^[4] Skills became generally available at the same time, with Enterprise and Edu users finding them "under Plugins in the sidebar, on the Skills tab in the Plugin Directory".^[4]

The word plugin therefore now means something different from what it meant in 2023, which is the main source of confusion for readers coming to the desktop app from older documentation. The layers, all dated from OpenAI's own release notes except where noted:

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The rename reached the older documentation unevenly. The Work with Apps help article, which is about reading local applications and has nothing to do with third-party extensions, carried the heading "How to work with plugins" in its July 2026 version, above instructions for opening the Chat Bar.^[7]

The practical effect for desktop users is that plugins are the unit that Work and Codex draw on, and that the directory is reachable from the app rather than only from the web client.^[4] OpenAI began a related beta on July 29, 2026, Sign in with ChatGPT, which lets a supported plugin create or link an account with a partner service, sharing name, email and profile picture.^[4]

Distribution, updates and local data

The two platforms are distributed differently, and that shapes both installation and updates.

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OpenAI documents only the direct download for macOS, not a Mac App Store listing, and 9to5Mac reported in 2024 that the app was not sandboxed, which is the condition behind the plaintext-storage episode described below.^[17][19] On Windows the situation is inverted: the July 2026 build ships through the Microsoft Store as the package OpenAI.Codex despite being labelled ChatGPT, a mismatch users noticed on OpenAI's developer forum after the migration.^[22]

On stored data, OpenAI's macOS documentation says the app follows the same retention policy as the web version: conversations, screenshots and files behave like any other upload, files are "stored in the cloud (not locally) and tied to your OpenAI account", deleted chats and files leave OpenAI's systems within 30 days, and content may persist longer only if it has been de-identified or is required for legal or security reasons.^[20] A screenshot taken inside a chat "is treated like any other file upload".^[20] Content captured by Work with Apps also becomes part of chat history and may be used to improve models unless the user turns off "Improve the model for everyone" or uses a Temporary Chat; business plans including Team and Enterprise are excluded from training by default.^[7]

OpenAI has published very little about the desktop client's internals. It does not document the application framework, an automatic update service, or a telemetry channel separate from ordinary ChatGPT data collection. The only local-storage statements in its release notes are the August 6, 2024 line "Enhanced security for local data storage", the November 14, 2024 Windows note that user data was relocated for some users, requiring them to sign in again, and the February 13, 2026 macOS note that certificate pinning exceptions were phased out.^[8][3] Claims beyond that circulate widely but are not supported by OpenAI's documentation.

Reception

The macOS app's first serious criticism was a privacy failure. On July 3, 2024 developer Pedro José Pereira Vieito showed that the app stored conversations as plain text in ~/Library/Application Support/com.openai.chat, readable by any other process on the machine, and 9to5Mac reported that the app was not sandboxed. OpenAI subsequently shipped an update that encrypts stored chats.^[19] The episode is a recurring reference point in coverage of desktop AI clients, because the same trade-off, a native app with local file access and screen capture, recurs in every product of this kind.

Work with Apps drew a different kind of scrutiny. TechCrunch framed it in November 2024 as "a key building block" toward agentic systems rather than a convenience feature, and noted the mechanics that follow from using the accessibility API: content is read from other applications and sent to OpenAI's servers with each prompt.^[12]

The July 2026 merge was received poorly enough that OpenAI conceded the point within three weeks. Users who wanted only the chat experience reported difficulty finding their history in the reorganised app, and in a July 29, 2026 interview with journalist Joanna Stern, OpenAI president Greg Brockman said of the interface: "It's kind of a mess. We agree... this is the current state of where things are. But I definitely think that end of year, there should be no Work tab."^[21] Threads on OpenAI's own developer forum in July 2026 recorded users who could not tell ChatGPT, ChatGPT Classic and Codex apart after updating.^[22]

The deprecation of ChatGPT Atlas, announced in the same July 9, 2026 release notes and scheduled for August 9, 2026, pushed further in the same direction: OpenAI told Atlas users to export cookies and passwords to the ChatGPT desktop app and recommended the desktop app "for deeper browser-based agentic work".^[4] As of August 2026 the desktop app is the surface where OpenAI puts capabilities it cannot ship on the web.

See also

• ChatGPT
• ChatGPT Classic
• OpenAI Codex
• OpenAI Codex CLI
• ChatGPT Atlas
• Advanced Voice Mode
• OpenAI Apps SDK
• Claude Code

References

1. ^TechCrunch, "OpenAI debuts GPT-4o 'omni' model now powering ChatGPT", May 13, 2024. techcrunch.com/...openais-newest-model-is-gpt-4o
2. ^TechCrunch, "ChatGPT: A 2024 timeline of updates to OpenAI's text-generating chatbot", December 31, 2024. techcrunch.com/...-openais-text-generating-chatbot
3. ^OpenAI, "Windows App - Release Notes", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 17, 2026. web.archive.org/...03026-windows-app-release-notes
4. ^OpenAI, "ChatGPT - Release Notes", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 31, 2026. Entries cited: March 23, May 12 and November 6, 2023; January 10, 2024; July 16, 2025; August and October 2025 connector entries; December 11 and December 18, 2025; February 2 and March 4, 2026; July 9, 16, 23 and 29, 2026. web.archive.org/...6825453-chatgpt-release-notes
5. ^OpenAI, "How to launch the Chat Bar", OpenAI Help Center, archived May 3, 2026. web.archive.org/...5241-how-to-launch-the-chat-bar
6. ^OpenAI, "ChatGPT macOS app - Screenshot Tool", OpenAI Help Center, archived May 7, 2026. web.archive.org/...atgpt-macos-app-screenshot-tool
7. ^OpenAI, "Work with Apps on macOS", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 22, 2026. web.archive.org/...10119604-work-with-apps-on-macos
8. ^OpenAI, "ChatGPT MacOS app release notes", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 25, 2026. web.archive.org/...chatgpt-macos-app-release-notes
9. ^OpenAI, "What are the system requirements for the ChatGPT macOS app?", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 27, 2026. web.archive.org/...ments-for-the-chatgpt-macos-app
10. ^OpenAI, "Using the ChatGPT Windows app", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 18, 2026. web.archive.org/...1-using-the-chatgpt-windows-app
11. ^TechCrunch, "ChatGPT comes to Windows", October 17, 2024. techcrunch.com/...chatgpt-comes-to-windows
12. ^TechCrunch, "ChatGPT can now read some of your Mac's desktop apps", November 14, 2024. techcrunch.com/...d-some-of-your-macs-desktop-apps
13. ^OpenAI, "ChatGPT macOS app - File Uploads and Photos", OpenAI Help Center, archived February 12, 2026. web.archive.org/...cos-app-file-uploads-and-photos
14. ^OpenAI, "How to install the Work with Apps Visual Studio Code extension", OpenAI Help Center, archived May 29, 2026. web.archive.org/...ps-visual-studio-code-extension
15. ^OpenAI, "Moving to the new ChatGPT desktop app", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 25, 2026. web.archive.org/...-to-the-new-chatgpt-desktop-app
16. ^9to5Mac, "OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Work agent, GPT-5.6 models now available", July 9, 2026. 9to5mac.com/...hapter-for-chatgpt-today-watch-here
17. ^OpenAI, "Downloading the ChatGPT macOS app", OpenAI Help Center, archived July 29, 2026. web.archive.org/...wnloading-the-chatgpt-macos-app
18. ^TechCrunch, "OpenAI launches apps inside of ChatGPT", October 6, 2025. techcrunch.com/...-launches-apps-inside-of-chatgpt
19. ^9to5Mac, "ChatGPT for macOS raises concerns for storing chats in plain text", July 3, 2024, with a later update noting OpenAI shipped an encrypting version. 9to5mac.com/...tgpt-macos-conversations-plain-text
20. ^OpenAI, "How is data retained in the macOS app?", OpenAI Help Center, archived May 19, 2026. web.archive.org/...-data-retained-in-the-macos-app
21. ^9to5Mac, "OpenAI president admits new ChatGPT desktop app is 'kind of a mess', teases tab-free design", July 29, 2026, reporting an interview published on Joanna Stern's New Things YouTube channel. 9to5mac.com/...nd-of-a-mess-teases-tab-free-design
22. ^OpenAI Developer Community, "Windows desktop app migration is confusing (ChatGPT vs ChatGPT Classic)", July 11, 2026. community.openai.com/...1386432