diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/render/highlight.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/render/highlight.rs
index e6d200cc3d..867d111f31 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/render/highlight.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/render/highlight.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
+use ratatui::text::Line;
+
 use ratatui::style::Style;
 use ratatui::style::Stylize;
-use ratatui::text::Line;
 use ratatui::text::Span;
 use std::sync::OnceLock;
 use tree_sitter_highlight::Highlight;
@@ -105,15 +106,31 @@ fn push_segment(lines: &mut Vec<Line<'static>>, segment: &str, style: Option<Sty
     }
 }
 
+fn plain_text_lines(script: &str) -> Vec<Line<'static>> {
+    if script.is_empty() {
+        vec![Line::from("")]
+    } else {
+        script
+            .split('\n')
+            .map(|s| Line::from(s.to_string()))
+            .collect()
+    }
+}
+
 /// Convert a bash script into per-line styled content using tree-sitter's
 /// bash highlight query. The highlighter is streamed so multi-line content is
 /// split into `Line`s while preserving style boundaries.
 pub(crate) fn highlight_bash_to_lines(script: &str) -> Vec<Line<'static>> {
+    // Runtime gate: on Windows, skip bash-specific highlighting and return plain text.
+    if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+        return plain_text_lines(script);
+    }
+
     let mut highlighter = Highlighter::new();
     let iterator =
         match highlighter.highlight(highlight_config(), script.as_bytes(), None, |_| None) {
             Ok(iter) => iter,
-            Err(_) => return vec![script.to_string().into()],
+            Err(_) => return plain_text_lines(script),
         };
 
     let mut lines: Vec<Line<'static>> = vec![Line::from("")];
@@ -132,7 +149,7 @@ pub(crate) fn highlight_bash_to_lines(script: &str) -> Vec<Line<'static>> {
                 let style = highlight_stack.last().map(|h| highlight_for(*h).style());
                 push_segment(&mut lines, &script[start..end], style);
             }
-            Err(_) => return vec![script.to_string().into()],
+            Err(_) => return plain_text_lines(script),
         }
     }
 
@@ -145,10 +162,14 @@ pub(crate) fn highlight_bash_to_lines(script: &str) -> Vec<Line<'static>> {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     use super::*;
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     use pretty_assertions::assert_eq;
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     use ratatui::style::Modifier;
 
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     fn reconstructed(lines: &[Line<'static>]) -> String {
         lines
             .iter()
@@ -162,6 +183,7 @@ mod tests {
             .join("\n")
     }
 
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     fn dimmed_tokens(lines: &[Line<'static>]) -> Vec<String> {
         lines
             .iter()
@@ -173,6 +195,7 @@ mod tests {
             .collect()
     }
 
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     #[test]
     fn dims_expected_bash_operators() {
         let s = "echo foo && bar || baz | qux & (echo hi)";
@@ -185,6 +208,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!dimmed.contains(&"echo".to_string()));
     }
 
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     #[test]
     fn dims_redirects_and_strings() {
         let s = "echo \"hi\" > out.txt; echo 'ok'";
@@ -197,6 +221,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(dimmed.contains(&"'ok'".to_string()));
     }
 
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     #[test]
     fn highlights_command_and_strings() {
         let s = "echo \"hi\"";
@@ -219,6 +244,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(string_style.add_modifier.contains(Modifier::DIM));
     }
 
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     #[test]
     fn highlights_heredoc_body_as_string() {
         let s = "cat <<EOF\nheredoc body\nEOF";