How Codex usage limits work
Your 5-hour and weekly windows, where to check them, and the three kinds of reset.
If Settings → Usage shows a 5-hour and a weekly window for your account, those two personal windows set your Codex usage limits, and each refills on its own schedule. Two kinds of reset can show up in your own account: a banked reset from a promotion, which you apply when you choose, and an instant reset you can buy on some plans. The global resets Tibo announces on X are a third thing: OpenAI applies them directly to the accounts named in the announcement.1,2,3
The 5-hour and weekly limits
If your account has these two windows, you'll see both in Settings → Usage, each with its own reset time. They're timers for your account alone. They refill when their time comes, whatever else happens.1,2
Either window can stop you on its own. The usage page shows which one ran out and when it comes back. If the 5-hour window has refilled but the weekly one is still used up, you still have to wait for the weekly one. If both are used up, you wait for whichever comes back later.2
Using a banked reset or buying an instant reset refreshes both windows and moves your weekly reset date. After a banked reset, the new week runs from when you start using Codex again. After a paid reset, it starts with your first request in Work or Codex. Either way, the day you would normally have reset no longer applies.1,3
One week, with and without a reset
No reset used
Nothing changes. The weekly limit refills on Friday as usual.
Reset used on Tuesday
Both windows refill on Tuesday, and the next request in Work or Codex is also on Tuesday. The next weekly reset moves to about a week later, the following Tuesday. The Friday reset doesn't happen.
Not every account works this way. Enterprise workspaces billed per token in US dollars run on a workspace budget set by an admin. If Settings → Usage doesn't show a 5-hour and a weekly window, ask your admin or check the pricing page ↗.2,4
Where to check what you have left
Open Settings → Usage in the desktop app, the CLI or on the web, or open your usage dashboard. It shows which allowance is used up, your credit balance and any reset time. In an active Codex CLI session, type /status.1,2
This site doesn't connect to your account and can't see your usage.
How fast usage goes depends on the model, where the task runs, how complex it is, how much context it carries, the reasoning level, speed settings and the tools it calls. A long-running task can use far more than a short request.2
On plans with a shared allowance or credits, Codex, ChatGPT Work, ChatGPT for Excel and Workspace Agents all draw from the same pool, so heavy use in one shows up in the others.2
What you can do when you hit a limit
If you hit a limit in the middle of a turn, Codex can usually finish that turn, within fair-use limits. After that, what you can do depends on what your account offers.2
Wait until the reset time shown in Settings → Usage.2
Buy an instant reset, if your account is an eligible Plus or Pro personal account.3
Add credits. Eligible Plus and Pro users can buy them without changing plans.2
Upgrade your plan.2
Credits and an instant reset work differently. Credits are a separate pay-as-you-go balance: your included usage is spent first, and credits only pay for usage after you reach your plan's limits. An instant reset brings your normal weekly allowance forward right away and changes your weekly reset date. OpenAI suggests comparing the options and prices shown for your account, how much included usage you have left and when your next weekly reset is due.3
Hitting only the 5-hour limit doesn't bring up the paid-reset offer. If your account is eligible, look for “Buy an instant reset” in the desktop app's usage settings instead.3
Enterprise workspaces billed per token have their own rules. Ask your workspace admin.2
Three kinds of reset
All three are called a reset, but where they come from and what they do to your weekly schedule are different.
| Banked reset | Paid instant reset | Global reset | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | OpenAI promotions, and some Plus and Pro referral offers1,2 | You buy it3 | OpenAI applies it as part of an announcement1 |
| Who can have it | Accounts that qualify for the offer1 | Eligible Plus and Pro personal accounts. Not Free, Go, Business, Enterprise or Edu3 | The accounts and limits named in the announcement1 |
| When it takes effect | When you choose to apply it, before it expires1 | As soon as checkout succeeds3 | Right away, when it's applied1 |
| Can you keep it for later | Yes, until it expires1 | No3 | No1 |
| Your weekly reset date | Moves to about a week after you start using Codex again1 | Moves to 7 days after your first request in Work or Codex3 | OpenAI hasn't published a general rule. Check the announcement and Settings → Usage |
Banked reset: “1 reset available” or “Full reset”
A banked reset is a one-time Codex usage reset saved to your account until you use it or it expires. It isn't purchased credit, and it doesn't permanently raise your limits.1
They come from promotions. For some Plus and Pro promotions, a successful referral can add one too. Who qualifies, the cut-off and the expiry all depend on the offer.1,2
To use one
Open Settings → Usage in the desktop app, the CLI or on the web.1
Select the usage summary that shows “1 reset available” or “Full reset”.1
Check the expiry details, then confirm.1
The option can also appear right after you hit a limit. A reset is only used up if it actually refreshes at least one window. If there's nothing to reset, it stays available.1
Once an unused reset expires, it can't be restored or reissued. Banked resets aren't cash, API credits or a transferable balance.1
Paid instant reset: “Buy an instant reset”
Eligible Plus and Pro personal accounts can buy an instant reset on ChatGPT web or in the Codex desktop app. It isn't available on Free, Go, Business, Enterprise or Edu, and two accounts on the same plan may see different options, for example because of the billing country.3
Buying one restores your 5-hour and weekly usage immediately, even if you still had some left. It can't be saved or scheduled. It isn't extra usage either: it brings your normal weekly allowance forward, and your next weekly reset becomes 7 days after your first request in Work or Codex after the reset.3
The price is shown at checkout, and purchases are generally not refunded. For where to buy and the full terms, read OpenAI's article on paid resets ↗.3
Global reset
A global reset is applied by OpenAI directly to the accounts and limits covered by an announcement. It takes effect immediately, can't be saved, and doesn't turn into a banked reset. An announcement can include a global reset, a banked reset or both.1
Global resets are what the tracker on our home page records, with the time and Tibo's original post for each one.
Can you buy a banked reset? No. Banked resets only come from promotions. If you want to pay to get usage back now, that's the paid instant reset, for eligible Plus and Pro personal accounts. Or you can add credits.1,2,3
When a reset or your usage looks wrong
First, refresh or reopen Settings → Usage and make sure you're looking at the right account or workspace. The dashboard can take a short while to update.1
If you're still limited after the reset time shown, a banked reset you expected hasn't appeared, a reset didn't take effect, or an instant reset you paid for didn't restore your usage, contact OpenAI Support. Include the offer or announcement, the date, time and time zone, a screenshot of your usage page, and the Codex client and model. For a paid reset, contact them while signed in to the account that was charged.1,2,3
Two things are worth knowing before you write. Support doesn't give out manual or courtesy resets, and won't make up for a reset you weren't eligible for, didn't notice, or let expire. But Support does investigate resets that seem missing or wrongly applied.1,2
Limits by plan
Codex is included in every ChatGPT plan, including Free and Go, and the limits vary by plan. For current limits, rates and credit options, see OpenAI's pricing page ↗. We don't copy the numbers here because they change.2,4
The 5-hour and weekly windows described above apply to accounts that show them in Settings → Usage. Enterprise workspaces billed per token work from a workspace budget instead.2
Questions about limits
Can OpenAI Support reset my limit?
Do banked resets expire?
Yes. Check the expiry shown in your account or the offer. Once an unused reset expires, it can't be restored or reissued.1
Why did one task use so much of my limit?
Usage depends on the model, where the task runs, its complexity, context, reasoning level, speed and tools. A long-running task can use far more than a short request.2
Should I use up my allowance before buying an instant reset?
It won't wait for you. An instant reset applies as soon as you buy it, even if you still have usage left. If you want to use what's left first, buy the reset later.3
Sources
Everything on this page comes from OpenAI's help center. The numbers in the text point to these articles.
- How banked Codex resets work ↗
- Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan ↗
- Paid weekly Work and Codex rate limit resets ↗
- ChatGPT pricing ↗
Last checked against these articles on September 26, 2026.