How to reset Codex usage limit: what’s documented
OpenAI describes three kinds of Codex usage-limit reset: a banked reset saved to your account and applied by you, a paid instant reset that eligible Plus and Pro plans can buy, and an automatic or global reset that OpenAI applies directly with nothing for you to do. OpenAI Support does not reset usage limits. Everything below comes from OpenAI’s Help Center, its developer documentation and its open-source CLI, and each claim says which. Checked against official sources on Oct 13, 2026.
The three kinds of reset
| Kind | What it is and how you get it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Banked reset | A one-time reset saved to your account until you use it or it expires. It is a promotional benefit, not purchased credit, and you apply it yourself from settings → usage (desktop app, CLI or web). Details on the banked reset page. | A full banked reset refreshes your 5-hour and weekly windows and changes your weekly reset date. It is consumed only if it actually refreshes at least one eligible window, and it can expire. |
| Paid instant reset | Plus and Pro plans can buy one from Usage settings in ChatGPT Desktop before reaching a limit; the option reads “Buy an instant reset” beside your usage meter, if it is available. It is not available on Free, Go, Business, Enterprise or Edu plans, and availability may vary by account. The Help Center article states no price (it is shown at checkout). | A completed purchase restores both the 5-hour and weekly usage at once. It pulls your normal weekly allowance forward rather than adding a separate entitlement, applies immediately, and cannot be banked or scheduled for later. Reaching only your 5-hour limit does not trigger the paid-reset banner. Generally there are no refunds. |
| Automatic or global reset | OpenAI “may occasionally provide eligible users with a one-time reset of Codex or ChatGPT Work usage limits.” It is applied directly to the limits the announcement covers; there is nothing to redeem. | It is not saved for later, and OpenAI describes these as occasional, one-time resets rather than a schedule. These are the resets this site tracks: see the home page, the history and the banked reset page. |
On whether another reset will come, the Help Center says:
“Eligibility, affected usage limits, delivery timing, and expiration vary by offer, plan, workspace, and region. Future resets are not guaranteed.” — OpenAI Help Center, How banked Codex resets work
An announcement may include one or both of an automatic and a banked reset. The sources for this section are the Help Center articles How banked Codex resets work, Paid weekly Work and Codex rate limit resets and Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan.
How to use rate limit reset Codex: applying a saved reset
- Open settings → usage on the desktop app, the CLI, or on the web. From the profile menu you can also select the usage summary showing the available reset count.
- Select the usage summary showing an available reset, such as “1 reset available” or “Full reset”. You may also see the option after reaching a Codex usage limit.
- Review the expiration details, then confirm that you want to use it. Your usage dashboard may take a short time to update.
How the CLI and the protocol expose it
The CLI command reference describes /usage as “View account token usage or use a rate-limit reset”; it needs Codex service account auth, and without it Codex shows a sign-in requirement. In the open-source CLI the menu item reads “Redeem reset” and a confirmation step asks “Use this reset?” (strings in the CLI source, not documentation). The app-server protocol docs use the terms “earned reset” and “rate-limit reset” and describe account/rateLimitResetCredit/consume, which consumes one earned rate-limit reset using a caller-provided idempotencyKey; when no credit ID is given, the service selects the next available credit. The rate-limits response reports how many are available in rateLimitResetCredits (or null). A redemption comes back as reset, alreadyRedeemed, nothingToReset (no eligible rate-limit window) or noCredit (no earned reset credits available). Each credit has an id, resetType, status, grantedAt and expiresAt, and expiresAt can be null.
What the CLI prints (source strings, not documentation)
- At startup, when resets are available: “You have {available_count} {} available. Run /usage to use one.”, with the noun “usage limit resets”.
- With none: “You don’t have any usage limit resets available.”
- When there is nothing to clear: “Your usage does not need a reset right now.”
- After a successful redemption: “Usage reset. You have {available_count} {} left.”
Codex weekly limit reset early: what is available
Per OpenAI’s Help Center, there are two ways to reset a weekly limit before its normal time, and both are on your side of the account:
- Apply a banked reset, if your account has one (the usage summary shows it, for example “1 reset available”). It refreshes both windows and moves your weekly reset date.
- Buy an instant reset, if you are on an eligible Plus or Pro plan: “Buy an instant reset” in ChatGPT Desktop’s Usage settings, or from the banner shown when you reach your weekly limit. It restores both windows immediately.
What does not work: asking Support. The Help Center says OpenAI Support does not reset ChatGPT or Codex usage limits and does not provide manual or courtesy resets. The other options it lists at a limit are to add credits (eligible Plus and Pro users can buy credits without changing plans), upgrade, or wait until the displayed reset time. Credit details are in OpenAI’s Help Center article Using Credits for Flexible Usage; this page does not repeat them. A turn already in progress when you reach a limit can continue, subject to fair-use limits. Codex, ChatGPT Work and other features share one allowance and credit pool where they are available on your plan.
Banked, earned, rate-limit and usage-limit resets: the vocabularies
| Where you see it | What it is called |
|---|---|
| OpenAI Help Center | “banked reset” (saved, applied by you), “automatic or global reset” (applied directly), “instant reset” (purchased, immediate) |
| Developer documentation and app-server protocol | “earned reset” and “rate-limit reset” |
| Strings in the open-source CLI | “usage limit reset(s)” and “Redeem reset” |
The Help Center says a banked reset is used from settings → usage on the desktop app, CLI or web, and the CLI documentation says /usage can use a rate-limit reset, so the CLI route appears to be where a saved reset is redeemed. No official page states in so many words that “earned reset” and “banked reset” are the same object, so this page describes both vocabularies and does not assert the equivalence. User reports on GitHub use the “reset available” wording, for example #47251, “You have a new rate limit reset available - only I don’t”, and #37396; and #42817 asks about the weekly date, “Banked resets still move reset date”. These are issue titles written by users, not official statements.
What the sources still leave open
- A maximum number of banked resets an account can hold, and one expiry period that applies to every offer (expiration varies by offer, plan, workspace and region).
- The price of an instant reset: the Help Center article does not state one; it is shown at checkout.
- Details this page does not cover — credits, ChatGPT Pro tiers, Business limits and referral promotions — have their own Help Center articles; see OpenAI’s Help Center rather than treating them as undocumented.
Two things that are not a way to reset a limit: local CLI configuration, because no config.toml key relates to usage limits (details), and the status parser on this site, which only reads output you paste into it.
Sources
- OpenAI Help Center: How banked Codex resets work
- OpenAI Help Center: Paid weekly Work and Codex rate limit resets
- OpenAI Help Center: Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan
- OpenAI Help Center: Using Credits for Flexible Usage
- CLI command reference (/usage)
- App-server protocol (reset credits)
- Pricing and usage limits
- CLI /usage source (usage.rs)
- CLI reset-credit source (reset_credits.rs)
- User report #47251
- User report #37396
- User report #42817
Checked against official sources on Oct 13, 2026. This site is not affiliated with OpenAI; where a statement below comes from a user report or a string in the open-source CLI rather than documentation, it says so.
Frequently asked questions
Can I reset my Codex weekly limit myself?
Yes, in two ways, per OpenAI's Help Center: apply a banked reset if your account has one (settings → usage on the desktop app, CLI or web), or, on an eligible Plus or Pro plan, buy an instant reset in ChatGPT Desktop's Usage settings. OpenAI Support does not reset usage limits. Otherwise you can add credits, upgrade, or wait for the displayed reset time.
Can I buy a Codex usage reset on any plan?
No. The Help Center says a paid instant reset is for Plus and Pro plans, bought from Usage settings in ChatGPT Desktop before reaching a limit, and is not available on Free, Go, Business, Enterprise or Edu plans; availability may vary by account. It applies immediately and cannot be banked or scheduled for later. The article states no price; it is shown at checkout.
What does the Redeem reset option in /usage do?
The CLI reference says /usage can show token activity or redeem an available earned reset. In the open-source CLI the menu item is labelled Redeem reset and a confirmation asks Use this reset? before one is used; those labels are source strings, not documentation. The Help Center describes using a banked reset from settings → usage on the desktop app, CLI or web. No official page says in so many words that earned and banked resets are the same object.
Does a reset clear the five-hour limit, the weekly limit, or both?
Per the Help Center, using a full banked reset refreshes both the 5-hour and weekly windows and changes your weekly reset date, and a purchased instant reset restores both. An automatic or global reset applies directly to the limits its announcement covers. A saved reset is consumed only when it refreshes at least one eligible window; if there is nothing to reset, it remains available.
Do banked resets expire?
They can. The Help Center says to check the expiration shown in your account or offer, and that once an unused reset expires it cannot be restored or reissued. Expiration varies by offer, plan, workspace and region. The protocol docs give each credit an expiresAt field that can be null.
Is an earned reset the same as a banked reset?
No official page says so in so many words. The Help Center says banked reset; the developer docs and app-server protocol say earned reset and rate-limit reset; strings in the open-source CLI say usage limit reset. This site describes each vocabulary and does not assert that they are the same object.