Temp gauge issue

01 accord temp gauge is below cold with key off and removed
I start car and it goes to middle or normal operating temp immediately.
it is not stuck at that point with key off
lots of info online for 6 different versions of funky gauges.
needle is always cold. always hot. stuck at some point and so on
does my gauge moving to “Cold” with key off indicate as sensor issue?
or a pcm issue?

My guess is that, key off, power to most or all of the instrument panel is off, and the gauge’s power-off mode is Cold.

Can you locate the sender for the gauge and hook up an ohmmeter? Then see how the resistance changes as the engine warms up.

I can do that. easy enough to reach. its on manifold next to throttlebody. I didn’t really get any info online for typical resistance changes for cold/hot.