Codex Desktop: Setting language to Chinese does not localize top menu or sidebar #19518

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1. wangjgang

   added

   appIssues related to the Codex desktop appIssues related to the Codex desktop app

   on Apr 25, 2026
2. github-actions

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   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   windows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systemsIssues related to Codex on Windows systems

   on Apr 25, 2026
3. github-actions commented on Apr 25, 2026

   

   github-actionsbot

   on Apr 25, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

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   Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

   • Codex desktop UI does not update language despite localeOverride=zh-CN and --lang=zh-CN #19239

   Powered by Codex Action
4. sciman-top commented on Apr 26, 2026

   

   sciman-top

   on Apr 26, 2026

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   Additional Windows zh-CN reproduction from another machine/account.

   Environment:

   • Codex Desktop: 26.422.3464.0
   • Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.422.3464.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
   • OS UI culture: zh-CN
   • Culture: zh-CN
   • Saved Codex app state contains localeOverride: "zh-CN"
   • Install directory contains app\locales\zh-CN.pak and app\locales\zh-TW.pak

   Observed behavior:

   • The top-level Windows application menu is localized to Chinese, e.g. items such as File/Edit appear as Chinese labels.
   • The dropdown/submenu items under those top-level menus are still English.
   • This creates a mixed-language app menu: top-level menu localized, second-level menu not localized.

   Why this may be a useful distinction:

   • This is not a complete failure to detect zh-CN. Some menu text is localized, and the saved locale is zh-CN.
   • It looks like different menu layers may be coming from different sources, for example Electron/Chromium default menu roles vs Codex app-provided menu template strings, or localized top-level labels with hard-coded English submenu labels.

   Expected behavior:

   • When localeOverride is zh-CN, both top-level menu labels and submenu labels should be consistently localized, or the language setting should clearly document which UI surfaces are not localized yet.
5. FOMO-RUN commented on Apr 28, 2026

   

   FOMO-RUN

   on Apr 28, 2026

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   我自己用codex写了个补丁,补全了,不然强迫症看着难受.
   https://github.com/FOMO-RUN/codex-desktop-zh-cn-portable
6. loryz2432-bot commented on Jun 1, 2026

   

   loryz2432-bot

   on Jun 1, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

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   I can still reproduce this on the current Windows Store build.

   Environment:

   • Codex Desktop: 26.527.3686.0
   • Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
   • Platform: Windows x64
   • System locale/timezone: zh-CN / Asia-Shanghai
   • Selected app language: Chinese / zh-CN

   Observed behavior:

   • The top-level application menu is localized: 文件, 编辑, 查看, 窗口, 帮助.
   • However, all dropdown menu items under these menus are still English.
   • For example, under 编辑, items such as Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, and Select All remain English.
   • The same mixed-language behavior appears when opening the other top-level menus as well.

   Expected behavior:

   • When the app language is set to Chinese, both the top-level menu labels and all submenu/dropdown items should be consistently localized to Chinese.

   Additional local check:

   • The app package includes native-menu-locales/zh-CN.json, but common edit-menu entries such as Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, and Select All do not appear to have Simplified Chinese translations in that locale file.

   This is a concrete case where locale detection is partially working, but the submenu items are not localized.
7. ybb250 commented on Jun 18, 2026

   

   ybb250

   on Jun 18, 2026

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   placeholder
8. 17707312555-creator commented on Jul 30, 2026

   

   17707312555-creator

   on Jul 30, 2026

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   Still reproducible on the current Windows Store build, and it also affects the editor context menu.

   Environment:

   • Codex Desktop: 26.721.4979.0
   • Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.721.4979.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
   • Platform: Windows x64
   • App language / localeOverride: Simplified Chinese (zh-CN)

   Observed behavior:

   1. The top-level menu labels are localized (文件 / 编辑 / 视图 / 帮助), but submenu items remain English, including Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Select All, and Settings.
   2. The text editor right-click context menu also remains English: Cut, Copy, Paste, and Select All.
   3. Restarting the app does not change this behavior.

   Expected behavior:
   When the app language is zh-CN, both application-menu submenus and editor context menus should use the corresponding Simplified Chinese labels (撤销、重做、剪切、复制、粘贴、删除、全选、设置).

   This suggests these menu strings are not covered by the current zh-CN localization rather than the locale setting failing entirely. Screenshots attached.

   
9. isdou commented on Sep 9, 2026

   

   isdou

   on Sep 9, 2026

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   Additional report on macOS: the app UI repeatedly appears in English even though the selected app language is still Simplified Chinese (简体中文).

   Observed in the supplied screenshot:

   • Settings > General > Language displays 简体中文 as the selected value.
   • The settings sidebar remains in English, including General, Appearance, Configuration, and Keyboard shortcuts.
   • The settings page headings and descriptions also remain in English, including Permissions, Default permissions, General, and Language for the app UI.

   The user reports that this has happened repeatedly. This is broader than untranslated native menu items: it affects the settings page and sidebar while the language selector still shows Simplified Chinese.

   Expected behavior: the app UI should consistently honor the selected Simplified Chinese language across sessions and settings navigation.

   Platform: macOS.
   App version and exact macOS version: not yet collected.
   Exact trigger: not yet isolated. Restart/reinstall behavior has not been verified for this report.

   This adds a macOS occurrence to the existing Windows reports. The screenshot confirms the selected-language/display-language mismatch, but does not establish whether the cause is missing translations, locale loading, or locale state synchronization.
10. KeplerBro commented on Oct 11, 2026

    

    KeplerBro

    on Oct 11, 2026

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    Adding a Windows recovery report for the whole-shell language mismatch discussed here and in #19239, checked on 2026-10-11.

    Environment: Windows 11, Codex desktop package 26.1007.2314.0, [desktop] localeOverride = "zh-CN" saved in ~/.codex/config.toml. Clash Verge TUN was enabled in rule mode; Windows system proxy was disabled.

    Before restarting, Simplified Chinese was selected and the renderer's HTML/navigator language was zh-CN, but the settings heading still displayed General and the shell remained English. Statsig dynamic config 72216192 returned reason: "NoValues", with no enable_i18n value. An earlier desktop log recorded Timed out while fetching post-login Statsig bootstrap.

    Recovery observed:

    1. Leave the existing TUN/proxy network available.
    2. Fully exit the desktop client.
    3. Relaunch the installed client normally, retaining the existing Chinese setting and network configuration.

    The visible desktop window and accessibility tree then confirmed Chinese top-level menus (文件 / 编辑 / 视图 / 帮助), navigation labels, 搜索, and 新聊天. The new process used ordinary launch arguments; Windows system proxy remained disabled. No menu patch or portable copy was used.

    This verifies recovery of the whole-shell language mismatch in one session. We did not verify every dropdown/context-menu translation, the post-restart remote flag value, or stability across repeated restarts. It therefore does not establish that the separate missing-submenu-translation issue is fixed. The pre-restart bootstrap timeout and missing remote values suggest an additional startup/configuration-loading failure mode.