OpenAI on May 29 released Codex app update 26.527, according to the company’s changelog, adding Computer Use and mobile remote access for Windows. Eligible users can now connect the ChatGPT app on iOS or Android — or Codex on a Mac — to a Windows host to monitor and steer Codex tasks while away from the desk. The update makes Codex’s desktop automation available on Windows for the first time, but the implementation is more constrained than its earlier macOS counterpart: on Windows, Computer Use can only operate in the foreground and requires the host machine to remain unlocked and awake.
The release closes a platform gap that OpenAI flagged two weeks earlier when it launched a mobile preview that supported only Mac hosts and said Windows support was coming soon. The company, which reported more than 4 million weekly Codex users in mid-May, is racing to make the coding agent more autonomous across platforms, but the Windows limitations make clear that full unattended operation is not yet possible on the dominant desktop OS.
The remote connection architecture keeps project files, shell sessions, app servers, and local tools on the Windows host. The connected mobile or Mac client sends prompts and approvals and displays outputs, diffs, terminal output, and screenshots. Codex, with Computer Use enabled, can see, click, and type in Windows desktop applications — but only in the active foreground session. The user cannot continue working on the same Windows machine simultaneously; Codex takes over the desktop. On macOS, by contrast, Computer Use can run in the background while the user works alongside it.
The update comes with a set of notable restrictions. Computer Use on Windows is unavailable in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland at launch, according to ChatGPT release notes. Enterprise and education accounts have the feature disabled by default and require early access through an OpenAI account representative. In addition, the Windows host must remain online, unlocked, and free of other user activity for a Computer Use task to proceed. If the machine is locked or in use, the agent cannot function. OpenAI did not specify which ChatGPT subscription tiers qualify for the Windows feature; Free, Plus, and Pro plan eligibility remains unconfirmed.
OpenAI has been steadily layering agentic capabilities onto Codex. The Windows app first became available on March 4, 2026. Computer Use launched on macOS on April 16, with the company describing it as letting Codex ‘see, click, and type’ across the desktop. The mobile preview on May 14 initially supported only Mac hosts, with a promise of Windows support that has now been delivered. The Windows app is distributed through the Microsoft Store and includes PowerShell, WSL2, native sandboxing, Git, and plugin support, though the new remote and Computer Use features are layered on top.
For Windows-using development teams, the update makes Codex more useful as a remote task manager, but the foreground-only constraint prevents it from acting as a hands-free automation tool. OpenAI did not say when it would remove regional blocks or extend background support. Until then, Codex on Windows remains a supervised assistant, not a set-and-forget agent.