Windows desktop client opens to blank screen

[boblinthewild]

UPDATE: Just for grins, I uninstalled/reinstalled the browser extension. Now it won't allow unlocking using biometrics because it asks the desktop client to confirm, and the desktop client is unresponsive.

Steps To Reproduce

Tried uninstalling/reinstalling, both from website and MS Store. Restarting Windows doesn't help. Program 'About' shows:

Version 2025.11.2
SDK Timeout error
Shell 37.7.0
Renderer 138.0.7204.251
Node 22.20.0
Architecture x64

Most menu items are grayed out. Can basically only quit.

Browser (Edge) extension works OK.

Expected Result

Usable desktop client

Actual Result

Unusable desktop client

Screenshots or Videos

No response

Additional Context

Was working fine yesterday.

Tried downloading/installing 2025.11.1 but it immediately wants to update to 2025.11.2.

Operating System

Windows

Operating System Version

Windows 11 25H2

Installation method

Direct Download (from bitwarden.com)

Build Version

2025.11.2

Issue Tracking Info

• I understand that work is tracked outside of GitHub. A PR will be linked to this issue should one be opened to address it, but Bitwarden doesn't use fields like "assigned", "milestone", or "project" to track progress.

[bitwarden-bot]

Thank you for reporting this issue! We've added this to our internal tracking system.
ID: PM-29305
Link (for internal use): https://bitwarden.atlassian.net/browse/PM-29305

[pamperer562580892423]

Another user here.

Expected Result
Usable desktop client

Actual Result
Unusable desktop client

... do you really think this is a helpful description of your issue?

[boblinthewild]

Another user here.

Expected Result
Usable desktop client
Actual Result
Unusable desktop client

... do you really think this is a helpful description of your issue?

If you read the rest of my report it describes what's happening.

[pamperer562580892423]

If you read the rest of my report it describes what's happening.

No, it doesn't - but good luck!

[boblinthewild]

If you read the rest of my report it describes what's happening.

No, it doesn't - but good luck!

Not sure what you're onto, but the bug title clearly describes what happens, and the report contents describe what I've done. And they accepted the report. So maybe find something else to occupy your time.

[pamperer562580892423]

Not sure what you're onto

1. It's seriously a kind of a hobby of mine. 😉

2. I seriously want to help, not "troll".

3. Obviously I can't predict what Bitwarden will do - but I have seen too many issues getting closed as "not reproducible". Including some of my own reported issues. That's all I'm going to say to that.

PS: Apart from that - your issue sounds like #17695, which was a duplicate of #17475 (and with a simple additional screenshot alone, this would have been more clear 🙂)

[bwbug]

@boblinthewild

And they accepted the report.

No one from Bitwarden has triaged this report yet. @bitwarden-bot is just a bot that automatically assigns a tracking number to each issue.

I tried to reproduce this on a Windows 11 (23H2) system, but the Desktop app launches without issue for me.

The bug described in Issue #17475 was fixed in version 2025.11.2, so you may have something else going on. In case your updates and reinstalls were not clean, I would recommend that you uninstall the Desktop app, and then reinstall (from the Bitwarden Downloads page) after first deleting the following two folders from your computer:

%AppData%\Bitwarden

%LocalAppData%\Packages\8bitSolutionsLLC.bitwardendesktop_h4e712dmw3xyy\LocalCache\Roaming\Bitwarden

 

In addition, if the above does not solve your problem and you wish to roll back to an earlier version, download the portable Desktop app executable (Bitwarden-Portable-2025.X.x.exe)) from the Github client repository](https://github.com/bitwarden/clients/releases). The portable app does not automatically update.

Alternatively, you can set an environment variable ELECTRON_NO_UPDATER=1 to prevent automatic updates for the non-portable Desktop app.