Stuck in Limbo? What to Do When Your GPT-5 Pro Jobs Never Finish
Z
Zack Saadioui
8/13/2025
Stuck in Limbo? Here’s What to Do When Your GPT-5 Pro Jobs Never Finish
Hey there, so you’ve been messing around with GPT-5 Pro, pretty amazing right? The power is just incredible. But then you hit a wall. A big, invisible, VERY frustrating wall. You’ve given it a task, maybe a complex coding problem or some heavy data analysis, the progress bar looks promising, it might even be full... but nothing happens. Hours go by, maybe even a full day, & you're left staring at a screen that’s basically ghosting you.
If that sounds familiar, you're DEFINITELY not alone. It’s one of the most common frustrations I’m hearing about from people using the latest & greatest from OpenAI. It turns out that GPT-5 Pro, for all its power, can sometimes get stuck in a loop, leaving you wondering if it's working, broken, or just taking a very long nap.
Honestly, it’s a huge pain, especially when you’re on a deadline or just excited to see the results. I’ve been digging into this, reading through forums, watching deep dives, & talking to other developers to figure out what’s REALLY going on. And I’ve pulled together a whole bunch of troubleshooting steps & insider knowledge to help you get things moving again. So let's get into it.
First Off, Know the Telltale Signs
It’s not always obvious when a job is truly stuck versus just taking a long time. Here are some of the classic scenarios people are running into, especially with GPT-5 Pro:
The Never-Ending Progress Bar: This is the most common one. The progress bar fills up, or gets close to it, but the model never actually gives you a final response. I've seen people on the OpenAI forums talking about waiting 12+ hours for coding tasks, only to be met with silence.
The "I'll Get Back to You" Hallucination: This one is almost comical if it wasn't so annoying. The model will tell you it’s working on your request & will get back to you shortly. Then... crickets. It might even give you updates, saying it’s still working hard, but it's often a "hallucination" – the model is just predicting what a helpful assistant would say, without actually performing the task. It’s a known issue, & a super frustrating one.
The Empty Download Link: Sometimes, the model will claim it's finished the task & will even provide a download link for your file, but when you click it, the file is empty. This seems to happen a lot when the model has been working for a while.
File Upload Freeze: A HUGE trigger for this problem seems to be file uploads. Many users report that when they attach files for analysis or coding tasks, the job is much more likely to hang indefinitely. It seems like the model struggles with processing larger, more complex files in the chat interface.
If you're seeing any of these, don't just sit there & wait forever. There are things you can do.
So, What’s ACTUALLY Going On Under the Hood?
It’s easy to think that the AI is just being lazy, but there are some real technical reasons why these jobs get stuck. It’s not just you, & it's not random. Here’s the inside scoop on the likely culprits:
Router Misrouting: This is a big one. According to some deep dives into GPT-5, it doesn’t just use one single model. It has a hidden "router" that directs your prompt to different models depending on the perceived complexity. Sometimes, to save on computing power (and cost), this router might send your complex task to a faster, but less capable, model that isn't up to the challenge. The result? It gets stuck.
The Chat vs. API Difference: If you’re using the ChatGPT interface, you have less control than someone using the API. API users can often select the specific model they want to use, while chat users are at the mercy of the router. This means you might be unknowingly using a less powerful variant of GPT-5 that’s more prone to stalling on tough tasks.
Model Drift & Updates: OpenAI is constantly tweaking & updating its models. This is generally a good thing, but it can lead to "model drift," where a prompt that worked perfectly last week suddenly doesn't work today. An update might have inadvertently introduced a bug or changed how the model handles certain types of requests, leading to these hangs.
Overly Complex or Vague Prompts: Even with GPT-5's massive context window, it can still get lost. If your prompt is too long, has too many instructions, or is a bit vague, the model can get confused & enter a processing loop it can't get out of. It’s like giving someone a tangled ball of yarn & asking them to knit a sweater – they’re going to get stuck.
Resource Timeouts: Some users have reported that the model seems to "go to sleep" after about 30 minutes of inactivity. If a task is taking a very long time, it’s possible that the server connection is timing out in the background, even if the user interface doesn't show an error. This is especially true for the public-facing chat interface, which has to manage resources for millions of users.
The Ultimate Troubleshooting Checklist: Your Step-by-Step Guide
Alright, now for the good stuff. Here’s a rundown of what you can actually do when your GPT-5 Pro job is stuck in limbo. Start with the simple fixes & work your way up to the more advanced ones.
The Simple Stuff (Try These First!)
Just Start a New Chat: Honestly, this is the first thing you should try. It’s the classic "turn it off & on again" solution for a reason. Often, a single chat thread can get "polluted" with confusing instructions or a bug. Starting fresh with a clean slate is often all it takes.
Regenerate the Response: If the model gives you that "I'm working on it" message, don't just wait. Click the "regenerate response" button. This can sometimes snap it out of the loop & force it to try again.
Break Down Your Prompt: Instead of giving the model a massive, multi-step task, break it down into smaller, more manageable chunks. Ask it to do one thing at a time. This makes it less likely that the model will get overwhelmed & freeze up. It also helps you pinpoint exactly where the process is failing.
Keep the Conversation Alive: If you're running a very long task, some users suggest "poking" the model every so often by sending a simple message like "still working on it?" or "any updates?". This might help prevent the session from timing out.
The More Advanced Fixes
Be EXPLICIT with Your Prompts: This is where you can start to outsmart the router. If you suspect your task is being sent to a weaker model, add phrases like "think hard about this" or "provide a deep analysis" to your prompt. This can signal to the router that you need the more powerful version of GPT-5, making it less likely to stall.
Use Custom Instructions: Don't sleep on the custom instructions feature. You can set up your preferences to always default to deep analysis or to handle code in a specific way. This can help steer the model towards a more robust processing path from the get-go.
If a Download Fails, Try This Workaround: If you get an empty download link, don't despair. A clever user on the OpenAI forums found a workaround: ask the model to generate a simple .txt file with a single word in it. Download that file successfully, & then ask it to provide the original download link again. For some reason, this seems to clear the cache & the second link often works.
For Coders: Request a JSON Schema: If you're asking for structured data like JSON, & the model keeps failing, be very explicit. Provide a clear JSON schema in your prompt & demand that the output follows it. This reduces the chances of the model getting confused & returning broken or incomplete data.
When It’s Time to Escalate: Dealing with Persistent Issues
If you've tried everything above & you're still hitting a wall, it might be time to admit that the problem isn't on your end. It could be a genuine bug with the platform.
Report the Problem: Don't just suffer in silence. Report the issue to OpenAI. The more people who report a specific problem, the more likely it is to get prioritized & fixed. Be as detailed as you can in your report, providing the prompt you used & any other relevant information.
Check the Community Forums: Keep an eye on the OpenAI community forums & Reddit threads. If there's a widespread outage or a known bug, that's where you'll likely hear about it first. You might also find other users who have discovered new workarounds.
How Businesses Can Get Ahead of Customer Frustration
Now, let's zoom out for a second. This whole situation is a perfect example of why having a robust customer support system is so important, especially when you're dealing with complex technology. When users run into problems, they want answers, & they want them fast.
This is where having a dedicated AI assistant can be a game-changer. For businesses that are building their own applications on top of large language models, or even just have a website with a lot of technical information, things can get complicated for users pretty quickly.
That's where a tool like Arsturn comes in. Here's the thing, instead of letting your customers get frustrated and search through forums, you can build a custom AI chatbot trained on YOUR own data. Imagine a user lands on your site with a problem. Instead of sending an email & waiting, they can just ask your chatbot. Arsturn helps businesses create these custom AI chatbots that can provide instant customer support, answer questions, & engage with website visitors 24/7. It's a no-code platform, which means you don't need a team of developers to get it up & running. You can feed it your documentation, your FAQs, & your knowledge base, & it will learn to answer questions just like a human expert would.
For a business facing issues similar to what we've discussed with GPT-5, an Arsturn chatbot could be trained to recognize the signs of a stuck job & provide immediate, tailored troubleshooting steps to the user. It can guide them through the process of breaking down their prompt, suggest workarounds, & even help them file a support ticket if necessary. This not only solves the user's problem faster but also frees up your human support team to focus on the most complex issues. It’s all about building a more resilient & helpful user experience.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. Dealing with a stuck GPT-5 Pro job is incredibly frustrating, but it's usually not a lost cause. By understanding the potential causes & having a good set of troubleshooting steps in your back pocket, you can save yourself a lot of time & headaches.
Remember to start simple, be clear & explicit in your requests, & don't be afraid to break down complex tasks. And if all else fails, remember that these are still new & evolving systems, & sometimes the best thing you can do is report the bug & try again later.
I hope this was helpful! Let me know if you have any other tricks that have worked for you. It’s a learning process for all of us, & the more we share, the better we’ll all get at wrangling these powerful new tools.