Brave browser opens up blank after windows update

Description of the issue:
Double left-click Brave shortcut on desktop. A blank window opens in about 2 seconds with Brave icon in upper left corner. The rest of the window is blank. After another 5 seconds or so, the screen remains largely blank but another Brave icon is added to the lower left corner, along with a “You” icon in the middle of the window, and 2 action buttons at the bottom right corner of the window: one says “Browse as Guest”, the other says “Add Person”. Window contents do that change after that.

Steps to Reproduce (add as many as necessary): 1. 2. 3.
I restarted the computer, Again, double left-click the Brave short cut. Takes about 35 seconds to the first phase of the blank window, and another 20-35 seconds to the second phase of the blank window, and then the window does not change after that. Multiple attempts to close the window, and double left-click the Brave shortcut results in the same result except that the process is much faster - 2 seconds to the first blank window, and then another 5 seconds to the second phase of the blank window.

Actual Result (gifs and screenshots are welcome!):



Expected result:

Reproduces how often:
Every time, cannot get to a usable Brave browser window

Operating System and Brave Version(See the About Brave page in the main menu):
Windows 10, Brave browser downloaded 5/9/2019 - I don’t know the version since I can’t open Brave
Additional Information:
Issue seemed to start 7/13/2019 at computer startup - I think there was a forced Windows update that happened the previous night

1 Like

That’s very strange. The window that appears looks exactly like the “Manage People” window.
Could you right-click on the desktop shortcut, then select Properties and copy the target link here? Mine looks like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
Did you try starting the app via the Windows start menu?

I hope this is is the reason for your issue. If it isn’t, these might be the next steps:

You probably tried clicking on the two buttons at the bottom right, but nothing happened?
Could you also try to use these shortcuts while the window is in focus: Ctrl+T, Ctrl+R, Ctrl+W, Ctrl+N, Ctrl+Shift+N?

If none of that helps you might have to do a (soft) reinstall. Your wallet should be safe, but please come back here before you try that.

1 Like

Thank you Medjan. This is in response to your email (your instructions in red):

That’s very strange. The window that appears looks exactly like the “Manage People” window.

Could you right-click on the desktop shortcut, then select Properties and copy the target link here? Mine looks like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
target link: “C:\Program Files (x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe”

Did you try starting the app via the Windows start menu?

Yes, with same result

I hope this is is the reason for your issue. If it isn’t, these might be the next steps:

You probably tried clicking on the two buttons at the bottom right, but nothing happened?

My apologies! I did try that and did a screenshot, but failed to attach it. When I click on the “Browse as Guest” button, the result is a “Private Window” (see attached for partial screenshot)) that opens up with the following showing in the window:

"THIS IS A Private Window - Brave doesn’t remember what you do in a Private Window. Sites you visit won’t show up in your history, and cookies vanish when you’re done. Private Windows don’t make you completely anonymous online, though. Learn more

SEARCH PRIVATELY WITH DuckDuckGo - With private search, Brave will use DuckDuckGo for searches in Private Windows. DuckDuckGo doesn’t track your search history, so you can search privately.

Learn more - MAKE PRIVATE WINDOWS MUCH MORE PRIVATE with Tor - Using Private Windows only changes what Brave does on your device — it doesn’t change anyone else’s behavior. Tor hides your IP address from the sites you visit, and hides the sites you visit from your ISP or your employer. Open a Private Window with Tor from the menu, or with Alt+Shift+N."

Could you also try to use these shortcuts while the window is in focus: Ctrl+T, Ctrl+R, Ctrl+W, Ctrl+N, Ctrl+Shift+N?

Ctrl+T no response

Ctrl+R no response

Ctrl+W closes the window

Ctrl+N no response

Ctrl+Shift+N no response

If none of that helps you might have to do a (soft) reinstall. Your wallet should be safe, but please come back here before you try that.

That last would be my next step, but as instructed I am coming back to you first with this update info.

I might add that this issue came up just after there was a windows update that happened on my laptop. Also, the only other thing that happened out of the ordinary was that I tried using the screen recorder built into windows 10, which is accessed by key combination Win+G. I tried using it for the first time in the timeframe of July 9-12. It’s not that I think it has anything to do with the issue I am having, it’s just something I did around about the same time the issue surfaced. And, by the way, the Chrome browser seems to be working normally. I am using it to respond to your email.

Thank you for your assistance.


Virus-free. www.avast.com

1 Like

Thank you for your detailed reply!

I only have one last idea, but it probably won’t work:

Can you open the private window again and open the settings from there? The settings will show up in a non-private window, so hopefully you can still open them.
If you can, look at the very top of the settings site. Right under “On startup”, try to change those settings. For example select “Open a specific page or set of pages” and add something like “brave.com”.
If it was previously set to “Continue where you left of” this could potentially be the cause for your problem.

1 Like

Yes, I was able to click on the menu button, and then click on “Settings”. But nothing happens when I do that, the window does not change. Same thing if I click on “About Brave” - nothing happens, no noticeable response.

Any other suggestion?


Virus-free. www.avast.com

1 Like

After looking through the browser I don’t have any new ideas.

If you want to remove and re-install Brave, I found this.
It seems to be a little bit outdated though. These steps should work with the current version:

  1. Navigate to C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming and see if you can find a folder named Brave or similar. If not, you should find it in C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Local.

  2. Just copy the whole folder and store it elsewhere. Do not delete the old folder though.

  3. Then proceed with the normal steps to remove a program from Windows. If at any point you get asked if you want to remove your User files as well, select no.

  4. Download and install Brave from here.

  5. Hopefully Brave will start now.

  6. If Brave found the old folder, everything should be as before.
    Check your wallet balance and your “estimated pending rewards” at chrome://rewards/. Are they the same as before? If you lost everything and wrote down your previous wallet key, try to restore it.

Re-Install at your own risk, this could potentially make you loose your wallet and/or pending rewards. Good luck :smiley:

2 Likes

if nothing else is working, there is no harm trying this step.

Workaround for Windows Blank screen:

  1. Find the shortcut for Brave (generally on Desktop), right-click and select Properties from the context menu.
  2. Click into the “Target” field, and type --disable-gpu at the end of the path. Note that you must type this outside of the quotes with a space between the flag and quotes .
  3. Click Apply then OK then open the modified shortcut you just created.
  4. Assuming this worked and you’re able to view Brave, open the main menu on the top-right
  5. Navigate to Settings --> Advanced --> System --> Hardware Acceleration

DISABLE HARDWARE ACCELERATION.

Restart browser. It may work.

1 Like

Thanks for the reply. I previously found that solution in reading others comments, tried it, and found it did not work before I started my new topic. I should have mentioned that before. Thanks.


Virus-free. www.avast.com

1 Like

Thanks Medjan. I am surprised there seems to be no ready solution. Hard to imagine I am the only one with this issue. But such is life! :slight_smile:

I will try this and report back.


Virus-free. www.avast.com

1 Like

Hi Medjan. I followed the instructions you gave in your last email from 2 days ago. I copied my Brave folder to my desktop, then uninstalled using the windows uninstall tool, then reinstalled at the link you gave at https://brave.com/download/.

Unfortunately, when I click on the new desktop shortcut created by the install, symptoms seem to be the same as before. Still goes to the same blank window shown in my previous screenshots.

At this point, I seem to have no choice but to go back to Chrome browser, but I would still want to pursue other remedies if there are any…

Tell me, are you a Brave employee, or just trying to help? Is there another place I can seek assistance?

Thx!

Maybe this? Although it happens to you even on startup, so it’s very unlikely.

Or starting Brave as an administrator just to be complete?

Try this solution again and make sure the link matches the one on the picture?

Are you willing to loose your BAT for trying a full reinstall? (And keep a backup of the old files to try to retrieve the wallet later somehow)

I am not part of the Brave team, just trying to help.

Maybe @steeven knows more? I didn’t find an issue on GitHub or something we haven’t tried on this forum.

Ok, I tried running as administrator but got same result.

As for the instruction from timcashin, I am not clear. I used the desktop shortcut to open Brave. I then opened Task mgr, and under the Process tab, Brave Browser was listed with 17 instances in the Apps section. So I right clicked on that Brave Browser group and selected End Task, and that group closed. I then “relaunched” Brave using the desktop short cut (which does read “C:\Program Files (x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe”), which takes me to the blank window. What does timcashin mean by “At the select user window I select myself and Brave starts
normally.”? There is no “Select User Window”. The only options I have are to click on the “Browse as Guest” button or the “Add Person” button, but neither gives me an option to select myself.

Unfortunately, I cannot afford much more time on this issue. I appreciate your attempts to help. Am I able to reach tech support at Brave?

He is referring to the big “button” in the middle of the screen, labeled “You”. It is what you can see in the middle of the second screenshot you posted in your first message.

And just to make sure, did you try this?

I can understand that you’re getting tired of trying to fix this. Maybe @Asad has another idea?

By the way, my Brave Version is now 75.0.66.100.

Hi @alexhall1983 we let the team know about this one – we haven’t seen it before, so we’re going to have to do some digging into it. @Medjan thanks a bunch for all your help. :slight_smile:

I heard that the most recent Windows update messed with some people’s background programs/services. Might be worth making sure that nothing critical got disabled (just throwing this off the top of my head!)

1 Like

Hi @alexhall1983, It looks like a corrupted profile. Could you try creating a new profile to see if that does the trick?

Hi @alexhall1983,

It looks like a corrupted profile. Could you try creating a new profile?

Hi everyone!
I believe this is a classic Hardware Acceleration issue we’re running into here.
@alexhall1983, please try the following:

This topic was automatically closed after 30 days. New replies are no longer allowed.