Claude Desktop goes blank on Windows, requires Task Manager to kill all processes before app can reopen
Status Closed — not planned
Maintainer reply None cached
Workaround ✓ Mentioned in description ↑
Activity 7 comments · opened Apr 16, 2026 · closed Jul 20, 2026
Description
The Claude Desktop app screen goes completely blank during use. Once blank, the app cannot be closed normally or reopened — all claude.exe processes must be manually ended via Windows Task Manager before the app will launch again.
Environment
- OS: Windows 11 Pro (10.0.22631)
- App: Claude Desktop (Windows)
- First noticed: After model update on April 16, 2026
Steps to reproduce
- Use Claude Desktop normally
- Screen goes blank (no apparent trigger — seems intermittent)
- Attempt to close and reopen app — new window also blank or app won't launch
- Must open Task Manager → end all
claude.exeprocesses → reopen app
Expected behavior
App recovers gracefully or can be restarted without Task Manager intervention.
Related issues
- #38014 — Electron cache corruption (blank screen, recurring)
- #44558 — Intermittent blank screen during active session
- #21803 — Blank screen after Windows Hibernate
- #45031 — HDR rendering blank screen
Notes
Workaround: delete %APPDATA%/Claude/Cache, Code Cache, and GPUCache folders, then restart. This is a recurring pattern across multiple reports — flagging as a new data point tied to the April 2026 model update rollout.
This issue has 7 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗