Dev open-sources GhostChatTool to fix ChatGPT Desktop's stuck 'Ghost Chats' sync bug

LunarXyle · reddit · 2026-09-06

A developer documented a ChatGPT Windows Desktop sync bug: conversations deleted on other devices can remain stuck in Recents — unreadable ("Unable to load conversation") if never opened locally, or worse, still readable and undeletable if previously opened. Restarting or forcing a sync usually propagates the deletion.

He open-sourced GhostChatTool v2.2.0 ("Sync & Fix"), a conservative cleanup utility built on the local ChatGPT/Codex SQLite catalog, with deliberate safety decisions: project chats excluded, deletion requires exact threadid plus explicit conversationdeleted evidence (missingcandidate=1 alone is insufficient), timestamped SQLite backups before repairs, PRAGMA integritycheck after changes, and no reading of auth., cookies, private APIs, or code injection into ChatGPT.exe. v2.2.0 adds a controlled restart/reconciliation cycle to force propagation. The author is soliciting reproduction reports from other Windows users.

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