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Chrome 86.0.4240.111 Win10 x64 1709

After last Chrome update, there's a new, quite annoying issue.

Reproduce:

  • open Chrome in virtual desktop 1 and any website in it
  • open any other app in virtual desktop 2
  • switch to desktop 2
  • click Chrome on taskbar to switch to desktop 1 and Chrome window

Result: Chrome is visually unresponsive (rendering is "stuck" sort of) - sometimes it shows tab contents in 'frozen' state, sometimes it shows blank page. The actual page is still there and responds to scrolling or mouse clicks but it's not showing until you fix it.

To fix it, I have to switch to another window in virtual desktop 1 and then back to Chrome either via Alt+Tab, clicking, Win+number, etc.

This problem appeared with the latest Chrome update. There have been no Windows updates and no driver updates recently, so it's clearly a Chrome problem. It's really annoying as switching quickly between virtual desktops has become an integral part of my workflow. Any ideas on how to fix would be appreciated, thanks!

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  • It's a bit weird how clicking back on the taskbar makes Chrome rendering frozen, but doing Ctrl+Win+Left to get back to Desktop 1 (with Chrome window active) does not. Again, this has been a common part of my workflow, and it broke precisely after updating Chrome, with no driver updates, no Windows updates, no new programs installed, etc.
    – Konstantin Balashov
    Commented Oct 24, 2020 at 14:58
  • I have had this problem for many weeks across multiple updates, I think even longer than the date of your post. I used the feedback feature multiple times - no feedback. This is so annoying because I use 4 virtual Windows 10 desktops and have configured the system to be able too switch between apps on different desktops via Alt-Tab which for years was not an issue with Chrome. Now it is and Google does not care. My trick is to press the Windows key twice to quickly open and close the start menu in order to unfreeze Chrome display update. But I hate it and it steals my time.
    – kriegaex
    Commented Dec 2, 2020 at 1:00

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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PS: for anyone still having this issue, you can fix it by going to chrome://flags and disabling Calculate window occlusion on Windows.

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    Thanks, as per my comment above - I started having the same problem in a different scenario now. Not sure what fixed it, what you said or simply upgrading to Chrome 90, but marking your comment as a solution.
    – Konstantin Balashov
    Commented Apr 15, 2021 at 12:23
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NOT AN ANSWER
doesnt have enough rep for commenting.

But I have similar issue as well after installing smart taskbar. not sure if that helps

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    Thanks for the comment! I've never installed smart taskbar however :-(
    – Konstantin Balashov
    Commented Oct 24, 2020 at 14:56
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OMG, just a few seconds after writing my comment I wanted to check the version number in the "about" dialogue and saw that there was a new update waiting. I just upgraded from the last 86.x to the current Chrome 87 release and it fixed my issue! A handful of previous updates were unable to fix it, but maybe you want to try Chrome 87 and report back if it also helps in your case.

I finally can work like a normal user again, after so many weeks of feeling like working with handcuffs on!

Update: I think I found the relevant Chromium commit @862b2e08d7, starting from the release note and following the link to the commit log.

The commit message says:

Make window cloaking and uncloaking trigger occlusion calculation.

This is the right thing to do in general, since we treat cloaked windows as non-occluding. It also fixes an issue with switching virtual desktops since that triggers window cloaking and uncloaking events.

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  • Thanks, I forgot about this issue to be honest as it actually did fix itself like you said; I also stopped using virtual desktops (got more monitors). However, with Chrome 89 the problem reappeared in a very weird way - now it started exhibiting the same behaviour upon waking up the PC from screen off state. Not sure what fixed it this time, update to Chrome 90 or the flags fix from the comment below.
    – Konstantin Balashov
    Commented Apr 15, 2021 at 12:22
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I solved it. In some reason the Chrome app in virtual desktop settings got flags I never used before. In my case Chrome got checked settings "Show this window on all desktops" and "Show windows from this app on all desktops". Just disable them.

  1. Click Win+Tab
  2. Hover mouse on the app window
  3. Right mouse click (for right handed mouse)
  4. Uncheck these two settings look at the image here

I found these features in a different way - how to do it.
Here is a link to original post How to Show Window or All Windows from App on All Virtual Desktops in Windows 10.

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