Bitwarden App displays an empty screen on iMac (Monterey 12.7.3)

[BarryW1042]

Steps To Reproduce

Open the Bitwarden App

Expected Result

Expect to see the Bitwarden Vault

Actual Result

Blank Window

Screenshots or Videos

No response

Additional Context

No response

Operating System

macOS

Operating System Version

Monterey 12.7.3

Installation method

Mac App Store

Build Version

Version 2024.2.0 (20587)

Issue Tracking Info

• [X] 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.

[chmtc94]

Same issue with macOS Ventura 13.6.5 and last update 13.6.6 on iMac late 2012 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2 Go and Open Core Legacy Patcher 1.4.3. Workaround of plinss also works fine for me 👍 Waiting for the Bitwarden update, I created a shell script BitwardenDesktop.scpt with the iMac Script Editor for easier launch when needed:

do shell script "open -a '/Applications/Bitwarden.app/Contents/MacOS/Bitwarden' --args --disable-gpu"

I also think using the non App Store release is also a suitable option. It doesn't have the graphics problems and while the Safari extension isn't included, I find it a far lesser issue to deal with because one could always use another browser where the extension is available.

Having a very light cocoa apple script in the dock just beside the Bitwarden app icon is a very easy workaround to quick launch Bitwarden with gpu disabled (waiting for the final solution from Bitwarden) and avoid having to manage multiple browsers configurations/updates/synchronisation on the same machine.

[iFrog44]

Same issue with macOS Ventura 13.6.5 and last update 13.6.6 on iMac late 2012 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2 Go and Open Core Legacy Patcher 1.4.3. Workaround of plinss also works fine for me 👍 Waiting for the Bitwarden update, I created a shell script BitwardenDesktop.scpt with the iMac Script Editor for easier launch when needed:

do shell script "open -a '/Applications/Bitwarden.app/Contents/MacOS/Bitwarden' --args --disable-gpu"

I also think using the non App Store release is also a suitable option. It doesn't have the graphics problems and while the Safari extension isn't included, I find it a far lesser issue to deal with because one could always use another browser where the extension is available.

Having a very light cocoa apple script in the dock just beside the Bitwarden app icon is a very easy workaround to quick launch Bitwarden with gpu disabled (waiting for the final solution from Bitwarden) and avoid having to manage multiple browsers configurations/updates/synchronisation on the same machine.

I see your point. I am just someone who prefers third party browsers to Safari so I'm not locked into one specific platform for software. With that said, I saw there was a new release of Bitwarden, and wondered if the App Store release contains the graphics fix mentioned here. The other reason I use the non App store release right now is because I have Bitwarden start to the menu bar on system boot so it's out of the way and not taking a space in the Dock. Makes it easier for things to just work in this case.

[chmtc94]

Same issue with macOS Ventura 13.6.5 and last update 13.6.6 on iMac late 2012 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2 Go and Open Core Legacy Patcher 1.4.3. Workaround of plinss also works fine for me 👍 Waiting for the Bitwarden update, I created a shell script BitwardenDesktop.scpt with the iMac Script Editor for easier launch when needed:

do shell script "open -a '/Applications/Bitwarden.app/Contents/MacOS/Bitwarden' --args --disable-gpu"

I also think using the non App Store release is also a suitable option. It doesn't have the graphics problems and while the Safari extension isn't included, I find it a far lesser issue to deal with because one could always use another browser where the extension is available.

Having a very light cocoa apple script in the dock just beside the Bitwarden app icon is a very easy workaround to quick launch Bitwarden with gpu disabled (waiting for the final solution from Bitwarden) and avoid having to manage multiple browsers configurations/updates/synchronisation on the same machine.

I see your point. I am just someone who prefers third party browsers to Safari so I'm not locked into one specific platform for software. With that said, I saw there was a new release of Bitwarden, and wondered if the App Store release contains the graphics fix mentioned here. The other reason I use the non App store release right now is because I have Bitwarden start to the menu bar on system boot so it's out of the way and not taking a space in the Dock. Makes it easier for things to just work in this case.

1) You then just have to replace the bitwarden app in the menu bar of system boot by the cocoa AppleScript app ;) and remove both script and app icon from the dock if you like ;)

2) I just updated the bitwarden app from the Mac App Store with last version 2024.3.2 said published 12 hours ago. The issue with black screen still persists. So I will keep by now my cocoa AppleScript ;)

[iFrog44]

Thanks for the update. I updated to the latest from the website the .dmg and it still continues to wok as expected. I was going to try the App Store release again, but since the problem still exists I'll just stick with the release from the Bitwarden site. By the way, I still primarily use iCloud Keychain for passwords, Bitwarden is just a backup as a cross platform solution. I also use Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator via IOS. I also use the built in sync features of Firefox and Chrome for my cross platform browsing. P.S. I also have Bitwarden for iOS.

[Hinton]

To my knowledge the AMD GPU should be blocked, unfortunately I don't have access to GPU reports for GTX 680 and so have no way to verify if that GPU is correctly blocked.

We now also provide a way to disable hardware acceleration from the menu bar which should be a suitable solution to this problem.

[chmtc94]

To my knowledge the AMD GPU should be blocked, unfortunately I don't have access to GPU reports for GTX 680 and so have no way to verify if that GPU is correctly blocked.

We now also provide a way to disable hardware acceleration from the menu bar which should be a suitable solution to this problem.

I confirm disabling the hardware acceleration with menubar troubleshooting of last bitwarden Mac App Store version 2024.3.2 works with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX of my iMac and relaunching the application solve the issue 👍 (NB : the application do not relaunch itself. We just need to relaunch it manually 😉) Many thanks for the update.👍

[Hinton]

Yea we are unable to automatically relaunch on Mac App Store builds since that command causes a crash 😭.

[pianoman10]

Many thanks to the team for the update. It works for me the App Store last update 2024.3.2 on a iMac mid 2011 with AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB (after disabling the hardware acceleration with menubar troubleshooting)

I am attaching an screen shot to help others to find the option

Thanks

[TheCranston]

I can concur, after updating to 2024.3.2 and disabling the hardware acceleration via the menu, it's working here. same experience as @chmtc94. Thanks again for the new version!

[iFrog44]

I haven't gone back and checked the whole thread, but did this issue ever exist on "Apple Silicon" Macs, or was it just an Intel based issue? As I've mentioned before I just switched to the dmg, non App Store release as I don't need the safari extension. However, if I ever got a new M Series Mac was curious if this would exist there as well? Also considering switching to Linux for an overall more open platform. Anyone using Bitwarden with Linux and do any of these graphics issues exist there? Right Now Linux would be more of a "just works" solution after Monterey is out of support over OpenCore as graphics related issues currently exist for me as a result of patched drivers vs natively included ones.

[plinss]

I can also confirm the new version fixes the problem, after selecting the menu option to disable GPU and manually restarting.

I attached the GPU report for my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680, hopefully that'll help in detecting this card. If there's any other information I can provide, please ask.

[iFrog44]

I'm coming back here to confirm that Installing version: Version 2024.4.1 (23240) from the Mac App Store, it's working correctly WITHOUT having to disable Hardware acceleration. I even confirmed when launching and the setting under the troubleshooting menu says "disable hardware acceleration and restart". So whatever fix was implemented after the initial fix must have fixed the issue I was having completely. I have an iMac 17,1 with the AMD GPU.

[ryanjrp]

I have been having the same issues in macOS Catalina on a 2012 iMac 27" running: System Software Overview:

System Version: macOS 10.15.7 (19H2026) Kernel Version: Darwin 19.6.0

Of course after reading this through I found out if I turn off the Hardware Acceleration setting that the UI for Bitwarden works properly for the application.

However I believe the Safari Extension is still not working properly.

I have a question about this? Why does BitWarden need hardware acceleration for the UI anyway? It is not performing anything special graphically.

[jwildman16]

I'm on Version 2024.7.1 and I have a blank screen, whether or not the setting to disable GPU acceleration is enabled. I will try the DMG from the Bitwarden site since I don't need the Safari extension. This seems to be a pretty recent issue for me, but I'm not certain - I typically use the Chrome extension. I'm on a 2021 MacBook Pro M1.

Shell 31.2.0 Renderer 126.0.6478.127 Node 20.15.0 Architecture arm64

[iFrog44]

I'm on Version 2024.7.1 and I have a blank screen, whether or not the setting to disable GPU acceleration is enabled. I will try the DMG from the Bitwarden site since I don't need the Safari extension. This seems to be a pretty recent issue for me, but I'm not certain - I typically use the Chrome extension. I'm on a 2021 MacBook Pro M1.

Shell 31.2.0 Renderer 126.0.6478.127 Node 20.15.0 Architecture arm64

I had an issue with the Safari extension not being present on Monterey 12.7.5 on a late 2015, 27" iMac, but after the Monterey 12.7.6 and Safari 17.6 updates it came back. Same Version of Bitwarden mentioned in the quoted post.

I'm actually surprised to see people still posting here. I had the initial issue, but then they fixed it with an option to disable hardware acceleration, but for me it started working without having to disable it, and haven't seen any kind of consistent reports on the issue since. This is the first time, so thought this thread had been closed. Once macOS support runs out for this iMac after Monterey is done, I plan on switching to Linux as the primary OS, and have confirmed the Bitwarden snap package works without issues for me.

[AlecKinnear]

I expected a faster resolution from Bitwarden for pay users.

In my case, I have TWO Bitwarden folders inside Containers:

I had two Bitwarden folders here ~/Library/Containers/ here as well. After deleting both of them and reopening the latest Bitwarden client for macOS (2024.11.2), I was able to access my passwords again. Half an hour of work time lost on this today, solving it. Fifteen minutes, lost once (first encounter), ten minutes lost another time (second encounter). Finally after just under an hour total of wasted work time, the issue is solved.

This is on a Mac Mini 2018 running Ventura 13.5.1.

Not cool, macOS Bitwarden coders.

---

PS. What's good is that Bitwarden maintains Github repositories, with these issues. Without Issues, I'd be on my own and probably not have been able to solve the issue at all. And no email support is not a substitute. Usually tech email support is so incompetent and slow that it means five or six emails over ten days to maybe get an answer.