Fix it
- Update the ChatGPT desktop app to the latest version.
- Check the Appshot shortcut under Settings › Appshots. Make sure a shortcut is set and no other app uses the same keys. By default it's both Command keys on a Mac, or both Alt keys on Windows.
- On a Mac, check two permissions. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, and make sure Codex Computer Use is turned on under both Screen & System Audio Recording and Accessibility. Then quit and reopen ChatGPT.
- On a work account, ask your IT admin whether Appshots are allowed. Admins can turn them off.
- Check it worked: bring a normal app window to the front (Notes or Notepad, for example) and press the shortcut. The window should appear in your chat as an attachment.
Those four steps are OpenAI's own troubleshooting advice. If they don't help, check the Intel Mac and Windows sections below. In the openai/codex GitHub reports Kingy read, these were the two most-reported situations.
Status:
- How this page was made: Kingy didn't reproduce this error. The page is Sourced: it comes from OpenAI's docs and staff posts, and from user reports that name app versions.
- Intel Macs: OpenAI said on October 23, 2026 that Computer Use isn't supported on Intel Macs yet. Users' logs show Appshots fail on Intel Macs because the Computer Use helper is missing.
- Windows: the most-reported Windows failure has no fix or OpenAI response as of November 5, 2026.
What Appshots are
Appshots are a ChatGPT desktop app feature, on macOS and Windows only. They send the window at the front of your screen to a chat, as an image plus the text inside that window. The result then works like an attachment.
- When it arrived: on Macs in May 2026 in the Codex app (26.519), and in the ChatGPT desktop app when Codex joined it on July 9, 2026 (26.707). On Windows, September 11, 2026 (26.908). These dates are from OpenAI's changelog.
- How it works: users' logs show Appshots use a helper called Codex Computer Use, the same name OpenAI's Mac permission steps use. The Intel Mac failures below come from that helper being missing.
- Where it doesn't work: not on the web or the mobile apps.
- The error: when an appshot fails, users see a red message,
Unable to attach appshot. Nothing is attached, and sometimes a new, empty chat opens.
Intel Mac: the helper isn't there
On Intel Macs, many users found the app shipped without the Computer Use helper. On versions 26.519 through 26.1016, Appshots failed every time, however the permissions were set.
- The reports: more than 20 Intel Mac users reported the missing helper on those versions, and at least 11 of them said Appshots failed.
- The logs: they show
Failed to spawn managed Computer Use service. - What didn't help: reinstalling, resetting permissions and rebooting.
What OpenAI said: on October 23, 2026, OpenAI Support wrote that Computer Use isn't supported on Intel Macs yet. Native support is being worked on, with no date.
A possible fix: two users said Computer Use started working on their Intel Macs in version 26.1021.31345 (October 25–26, 2026). Neither confirmed that Appshots work too, and OpenAI hasn't published a note about it. If you're on an Intel Mac:
- Update to the latest version.
- Try the shortcut again.
- If it still fails, attach a normal screenshot as a file instead. Users report that still works.
To check which Mac you have, open the Apple menu › About This Mac. An Intel Mac lists an Intel processor.
Windows: the capture never finishes
On Windows, two failure patterns show up in users' logs. Both end with Unable to attach appshot.
You don't need the logs. If none of the steps above work, the rows below explain what other users found.
| What the log shows | What users report | Fix |
|---|---|---|
start_response_missing: the capture helper never answers |
8 users, versions 26.908 to 26.1029. Restarting and changing the shortcut didn't help | First rule out an app running as administrator (see below). Otherwise none known. Still being reported on November 5, 2026, with no OpenAI response |
load_appshot_capture_source timed out |
7 users, versions 26.908 to 26.1021 | No confirmed fix. Two single-report workarounds: in Chrome, turn off graphics acceleration and restart Chrome; for WPS Office, un-maximize the window |
If the app you're capturing runs as administrator. Two users' logs show Appshots refuse windows of apps running with admin (elevated) rights. The app's own log says to relaunch that app without elevated rights. Nobody has confirmed this fixes it, and one user found apps can run elevated even without "Run as administrator" set. Try closing the app and opening it normally, then press the shortcut again.
The screen only shows the general error. If you added the appshot from the + menu, the logs show WINDOWS_ELEVATED_TARGET_BLOCKED. If you used the shortcut, one user's logs showed only start_response_missing.
Other things to try
The first two come from user reports (one user for the first, two users for the second). The third comes from OpenAI's docs:
- Start a new chat. One user's appshots failed in one chat and worked in a new one.
- Switch away from the page. A browser page on a blocked or sensitive site (an admin login, a purchase history) can fail after capture. Switch to another page, or attach a normal screenshot.
- Expect less from some Google apps. OpenAI says Google Docs, Gmail, Sheets and Slides may send only the visible screenshot. That's a limit, not this error.
If the shortcut does nothing at all, or Appshots is missing from Settings: on an Intel Mac, it can be the missing helper above (one report). Otherwise, OpenAI says availability depends on rollout and workspace settings, and an admin may have turned Appshots off.
Very old macOS: an OpenAI engineer said in August 2026 that the minimum macOS was raised above macOS 12. OpenAI hasn't published the exact minimum.
Sources
OpenAI docs (checked 2026-11-06; the pages show no date):
- Appshots: what they do, the shortcut, Mac permissions, the troubleshooting steps, organization controls, and the Google apps limit.
- Commands: the Appshots shortcut lives under Settings > Appshots.
- Changelog: Mac launch in the Codex app 26.519 (2026-05-21), "appshot error reporting" improved in 26.602, Codex joined the ChatGPT desktop app in 26.707 (2026-07-09), Windows launch 26.908 (2026-09-11).
- Managed configuration: admins can disable Appshots.
- What's new: availability depends on rollout and workspace settings.
OpenAI staff:
- OpenAI Support on the OpenAI community forum, 2026-10-23: Computer Use is not supported on Intel Macs yet.
- OpenAI engineer on GitHub, 2026-08-06: the minimum macOS was raised.
User reports (read 2026-11-06):
- #29772 and #41297 (Italian app): the red error message. #41297 and a #52344 comment: a new, empty chat opening.
- #24053, #24437 and #44878: Intel Macs. The two reports of Computer Use working on 26.1021.31345 are comments 6401707284 and 6406308122. The Intel Mac where the shortcut did nothing is this #24053 comment.
- #45234 and #51619: Windows
start_response_missing. - #45353 and #52813: Windows
load_appshot_capture_source, and the Chrome and WPS workarounds. - #45234 comment and #53680: the target app running as administrator.
- #26051: a new chat worked.
- #25502 and #37542: blocked pages.