To hide the character floating on your screen in the ChatGPT or Codex desktop app, right-click the pet and choose Hide. To remove just the character while keeping the input field, choose Mini. In the Japanese interface we observed, these options were labeled with the equivalents of “Hide Mini” and “None.”
How to hide the pet on each interface
Desktop app (Windows and Mac)
Right-click the pet to hide it. You can also enter /pet again, use the command menu, or open settings.
Codex CLI (terminal)
Enter /pets off. This is the only interface for which the official documentation explicitly describes disabling pets.
Web app
Choose “Default” under the pet options in Personalization settings to use ChatGPT without a pet.
IDE extension (such as VS Code)
There is no pet feature. If you see one, it belongs to a desktop app running separately.
Contents
- What is the floating character? What pets do
- Four ways to hide a pet in the desktop app
- What to check if a hidden pet reappears
- Mini: remove the pet but keep the input field
- Pets in the CLI, web app, and IDE extension
- What we checked on screen and what remains untested
- Summary: hiding a pet and preventing it from reappearing
- Frequently asked questions
What is the floating character? What pets do
OpenAI’s official Pets documentation describes pets as optional animated companions that help you track work progress. Choosing a different pet changes only its appearance, not how ChatGPT carries out work. Hiding it therefore does not affect the results of your chats or Codex tasks.
In the macOS and Windows desktop apps, a pet floats above other app windows with a small set of controls underneath. These controls let you start a new chat using text or voice, or check ongoing threads through the bell icon. The official changelog announced that desktop app version 26.908, released on September 11, 2026, added the ability to send short chats from these floating controls (official changelog).
The name of the blue, cloud-like robot with a “>_” face
In the Windows settings screenshot provided by a user, the blue robot was named “Codex,” with the description “The original Codex companion.” You can switch to another character in the pet selection in settings. The Japanese heading in that screenshot translates as “My pets.” Names may vary by version and language, so this article uses “pet” for the floating characters in general.
A pet’s expression reflects the state of your work
Pets are more than decoration: they also indicate the state of a chat. The official documentation lists these four states.
| State | Meaning (summary of the official description) |
|---|---|
| Running | A chat is working |
| Needs input | Waiting for a decision, such as an approval or answer |
| Ready | Work has finished and there is unread activity |
| Blocked | A failure or system error has occurred |
When several chats are active, the display prioritizes Needs input, then Blocked, Ready, and Running. If you delegate a long task and work in another app, the pet can help you notice when approval is needed. Before hiding it, consider whether you rely on this indicator. The floating display is separate from operating-system notifications: hiding a pet does not change desktop notification settings.
Four ways to hide a pet in the desktop app
The official documentation lists four ways to hide a pet in the Windows and macOS desktop apps. They all have the same result: both the pet and the controls underneath disappear from the screen.
| Method | Action | Useful when |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Right-click | Right-click the pet and choose “Hide.” In the Japanese screenshot we observed, the menu had two items whose labels translate as “Hide Mini” and “Settings.” | You want to hide it immediately (the quickest method) |
2. Enter /pet again | Type /pet into the main app’s input field to toggle visibility. | You prefer using the keyboard |
| 3. Command menu | Open the command menu and choose “Hide pet.” | The pet is at the edge of the screen and difficult to right-click |
| 4. Settings | Hide it from the pet section in Settings (Ctrl+, on Windows; Cmd+, on Mac). | You also want to review the size or selected pet |
The official English documentation calls the settings section “Settings > Pets.” In the user-provided Windows screenshot from October 2, 2026, the Japanese heading translates as “Mini and pets,” and the hide button used the word “Mini.” Opening this section in the settings sidebar showed a description saying that Alt+Win+P displays and focuses the pet. A button with the Japanese equivalent of “Hide Mini” appeared at the top right. Below it were the pet list and creation option, with labels translating as “My pets” and “Create pet.” These are labels observed in the Japanese interface; we have not established that other languages use the same names. The official English action names are “Hide,” “Hide pet,” and “Show pet,” and the settings section is “Pets.” If names differ in your language or app version, look for the corresponding hide or show action.
The official documentation says that your pet selection and its position persist across restarts. That is different from saying that the hidden state always persists. In an earlier investigation, we found bundled code that handles the hidden state, but we did not test it by restarting the app. This article does not treat persistence of the hidden state after a restart as verified behavior.
Hiding is different from disabling. The official documentation describes hiding a pet, selecting the pet-free “Mini,” and changing the shortcut. As of October 3, 2026, it does not describe a switch that turns off the entire pet feature in the desktop app.
You can also make it smaller or stop the animation
If only the size or movement bothers you, you may not need to hide the pet. In the pet settings, choose “Customize” to adjust “Pet size,” or “Reset” to restore its original size. Pets also follow the operating system’s reduced-motion preference—for example, turning off “Animation effects” in Windows or turning on “Reduce motion” in macOS accessibility settings. With reduced motion enabled, the pet uses a still frame instead of animating. This affects animations across the operating system, so consider whether you want to change it just for the pet.
What to check if a hidden pet reappears
Official documentation identifies the following three actions that can show the pet again. We have not established that any of them caused a particular recurrence. If none applies, record your app version, what you did immediately before the pet reappeared, and whether you restarted the app.
Check 1: Are you pressing the shortcut that shows the pet?
According to the official documentation, the following shortcuts show the controls and focus the short-chat input field while the desktop app is running.
| OS | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Windows | Windows+Alt+P |
| macOS | Option+Space |
These shortcuts work even when the ChatGPT window is not in the foreground. They respond while you are working in another app, so accidentally pressing a similar shortcut can make the pet appear seemingly without your doing anything. On macOS, Option+Space is a particularly short, two-key combination.
Steps to avoid accidental activation:
- Open Settings (Ctrl+, on Windows; Cmd+, on Mac).
- Open “Keyboard shortcuts.”
- Find the command that shows the pet using the search field. The official documentation calls it “Show pet”; the label in the observed Japanese interface translates as “Show Mini.”
- Change it to a combination you are unlikely to press during normal work.
The official settings reference says you can change assignments and reset them to defaults in Keyboard shortcuts, and search by pressing keys to find the command assigned to that combination (official settings reference). If the pet appeared immediately after you pressed some keys, searching for that combination can reveal whether it is assigned to show the pet. We have not checked on screen whether the assignment can be cleared entirely. Changing it to a combination you do not normally press is the documented option.
Check 2: Are you using /pet or choosing Show in the command menu?
/pet toggles visibility. Entering it for another purpose after hiding the pet will show it again. The command menu also has an action to show the pet, so selecting a similarly named item may bring it back.
Check 3: Some Mac features can bring the pet back
On macOS, the small picture-in-picture window for Computer Use can attach to the pet. The official documentation says that sending this window to the pet automatically shows the pet, even if it was hidden. If the pet returned after you used Computer Use, this is a possible explanation. This integration is not described for Windows.
Mini: remove the pet but keep the input field
If you do not want a character but find it useful to have an input field for talking to ChatGPT from anywhere, consider Mini. Choosing Mini instead of a pet in settings displays only the controls, without the character. In the observed Japanese interface, this was the first item in the pet list: the Japanese equivalent of “None”, with a description meaning “Codex’s lightweight companion.” The user-provided screenshot from October 2, 2026, showed built-in pets such as “Codex,” “Dewey,” “Fireball,” “Hoots,” and “Rocky” to its right.
Hide the pet
Both the character and its controls disappear. Use the shortcut or /pet to show them when needed.
Choose Mini
The character disappears, while the text, voice, and thread-list controls remain.
Keep the pet
Its expressions help you notice when input is needed or work is ready. Reduce its size if you want it to take up less space.
If the controls themselves get in the way even with Mini selected, you can hide them using any of the four methods above. On macOS, when the pet is visible and the main app is in the background, an Appshot captured by pressing both Command keys together is sent to the pet and starts a new chat, provided the destination setting is “Automatic.” According to the official documentation, this also works with Mini. On Windows, Appshots go to the main app.
Pets in the CLI, web app, and IDE extension
Codex CLI: disable pets with /pets off
In an interactive Codex CLI session in your terminal, enter /pets off to disable the terminal pet. Of the four interfaces, the CLI is the only one for which the official documentation uses the word “disable.”
/pets offConversely, /pets or /pet opens the picker, and /pets name selects a pet directly. Terminal pets require iTerm2 3.6 or later, or a terminal supporting Kitty graphics or Sixel, and do not work inside tmux or Zellij. Terminals that do not meet these requirements do not display a pet in the first place.
Web app: choose “Default” to use ChatGPT without a pet
In ChatGPT in a browser, you can choose a pet in Settings under “Personalization > Pet > Select pet,” but only if pets are available for your account and workspace. Choosing “Default” lets you use ChatGPT without a pet. Web pets appear inside supported ChatGPT Work chats; there is no desktop-style floating display or /pet command.
IDE extension: no pet feature
The Codex IDE extension, including in VS Code, has neither a pet picker nor a floating pet display. If you see a pet while working in your editor, it is likely from a desktop app running in the background. Hide it in that desktop app.
If no pet appears at all
The official documentation advises updating the app and checking that your workspace allows pets if the controls are unavailable. Pets may therefore be unavailable because of your workspace settings. The documentation did not specify which administrative screen or setting controls this.
What we checked on screen and what remains untested
AI Arte compared user-provided Windows 11 screenshots from October 2, 2026, with official documentation reread on October 3. We distinguish checking the items shown on screen from actually performing the actions. We did not change pets, hide a pet, or restart the app during this review.
| Method | What was checked |
|---|---|
| Right-click screenshot | Two items with Japanese labels translating as “Hide Mini” and “Settings.” We checked the Japanese label corresponding to the official Hide action. |
| Settings screenshot | We checked Japanese headings and labels translating as “Mini and pets,” “Hide Mini,” and “Customize,” along with choices corresponding to “None” and “Codex.” The description mentions Alt+Win+P. |
| Official documentation | We checked the four ways to hide a pet, Mini, display shortcuts, /pets off in the CLI, Default on the web, and the absence of a pet feature in the IDE extension. |
| Actions not tested | We did not test whether the hidden state persists after a restart, whether a shortcut assignment can be cleared, or the actions on macOS, in the CLI, or on the web. |
An earlier investigation also found wording in bundled code equivalent to “Always show” and “Show when needed,” but these options were not confirmed in the user’s screenshots. We do not include them in the instructions as settings officially available to users. We also do not recommend directly editing state files in your user folder, because that is not an official procedure.
Summary: hiding a pet and preventing it from reappearing
To quickly remove the floating pet, right-click it and choose Hide. Entering /pet again, using the command menu, or opening pet settings hides it too. Persistence after a restart has not been tested, so we cannot say it will always remain hidden.
If it keeps returning, first check whether you are pressing the display shortcut (Windows+Alt+P on Windows; Option+Space on Mac), then change it in “Keyboard shortcuts” to a combination you do not use. Choose Mini if you only want to remove the character, /pets off in the terminal, or “Default” on the web. We could not confirm a setting in the official documentation that disables the desktop app’s entire pet feature.
For other Codex problems, see what “Selected model is at capacity” means and what to do or how to handle “thread not found”. For the agent available in the ChatGPT desktop app, see our ChatGPT dot guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does hiding a pet stop an ongoing chat or Codex task?
No. The official documentation says that choosing a pet changes only its appearance, not how ChatGPT works. You can still check a chat’s progress in the main app after hiding the pet. You simply lose its expression as a visual cue that input is needed.
Is there a setting to turn pets off completely?
/pets off in the Codex CLI and selecting “Default” on the web are ways to use those interfaces without a pet. For the desktop app, the official documentation as of October 3, 2026, describes hiding the pet and choosing Mini, but not a setting to disable the feature. Hiding it and changing the display shortcut is a practical way to avoid bringing it back accidentally.
Do I have to uninstall the app to remove the pet?
No. Right-click the pet and choose Hide. If it appears after a restart, check actions that show it, such as the display shortcut. Removing the app just because of the pet adds the work of rebuilding your chat environment and settings.
Can I choose a pet other than the blue, cloud-like robot?
Yes. Choose a built-in pet in pet settings, or use “Create pet” to describe the pet you want and create your own. According to the official documentation, pets created in the desktop app are stored on your computer and do not automatically sync to the web.
