Filippo1

Q: Yosemite invisible windows

Since I have upgraded to Yosemite, I've been experiencing problems with the windows. Sometimes, they become transparent or even entirely invisible, I can see the borders when I pass over them with the mouse on mission control and I can perform actions as if they were fully functional, I just can't see them. How can I solve this? It happens with every window open at the moment, but it doesn't affect the ones that I open after.

The image shows how the window become sometimes, other times it's completely invisible.

Thank you.YosemiteWindowsProblem.jpg

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Dec 3, 2014 12:10 PM

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Q: Yosemite invisible windows

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  • by Eric Root,Apple recommended

    Eric Root Eric Root Dec 3, 2014 12:26 PM in response to Filippo1
    Level 9 (69,991 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 3, 2014 12:26 PM in response to Filippo1

    Try a restart.


     

    Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.


    Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

    Isolating an issue by using another user account


    Try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account.  Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear and again when you log in. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don’t do them all at once.

     

     

    Safe Mode - About

     

     

    Safe Mode - Yosemite

  • by Bill Kempthorne,

    Bill Kempthorne Bill Kempthorne Jan 11, 2015 9:11 AM in response to Filippo1
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jan 11, 2015 9:11 AM in response to Filippo1

    I'm having a similar problem with applications opening with completely invisible contents. The only part that shows there is a window there is the drop shadow. I can click on it and move the window around - and likely interact with the content if you knew where to click.Fullscreen_2015-01-11__8_52_AM.png

    Getting rid of my various login items did NOT solve the problem.

    Starting in Safe mode DID solve the problem.. but I'm still looking for what StartupItem, ktext, or other item to turn off.

     

    My hardware is a 2012 Macbook Air with a external Thunderbolt monitor.. problem is present with or without the monitor. Currently running 10.10.2

     

    An possibly associated problem is getting very stuttery video playback including the plasma screensaver that worked fine until recently.

     

    I can reliably reproduce the problem in apps like Reeder. Trying to find out where else.

  • by atifs,

    atifs atifs Jan 13, 2015 12:22 AM in response to Filippo1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 13, 2015 12:22 AM in response to Filippo1

    I'm having a crazy issue with my MBA mid 2012. A lot of my apps are transparent and mainly the preview app. This had happened when I updated to one of the beta builds of Yosemite. Now I have no idea how to fix it, updated my mac tried repair disk permissions. Nothing works. Also have tried a different user account but the issue still persists.Google Chrome.png

  • by Bill Kempthorne,

    Bill Kempthorne Bill Kempthorne Jan 16, 2015 7:24 AM in response to atifs
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 7:24 AM in response to atifs

    Looks like the same problem as mine. I managed to fix it after I uninstalled Adobe Creative Suite and Air Display.. I'm thinking it was the second one that did it.

     

    Bill

  • by darracott,

    darracott darracott Sep 25, 2015 4:30 AM in response to Bill Kempthorne
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2015 4:30 AM in response to Bill Kempthorne

    I managed to get rid of this weird invisible box issue by going to my desktop and pressing space bar to preview a file. I couldn't replicate the problem to see if that solution works across the board – you may have to preview a file in the same location as you were when the invisible box appeared, if that makes sense?

  • by CosminB,

    CosminB CosminB Mar 15, 2016 3:45 PM in response to Bill Kempthorne
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 15, 2016 3:45 PM in response to Bill Kempthorne

    This same issue happened to me with Finder. The window was completely transparent. What I did to fix it was opened Activity Monitor, found the Finder process, quit it (right click -> Quit) and then reopened it (right click on the Finder icon in the bar at the bottom of the screen -> Open). Then everything was back to normal. Hope this helps!

  • by iBeeGee,

    iBeeGee iBeeGee Aug 6, 2016 12:59 AM in response to CosminB
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 6, 2016 12:59 AM in response to CosminB

    This worked perfectly. Thank you.

     

    Really funny bug.

  • by Garcia, Christopher,

    Garcia, Christopher Garcia, Christopher Sep 12, 2016 7:30 AM in response to Bill Kempthorne
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Sep 12, 2016 7:30 AM in response to Bill Kempthorne

    I've got two apps that are still doing this today, on a mid-2014 MacBook Pro, running El Capitan 10.11.6

     

    Not finder, but Atom (the open-source code editor) and a lesser-known new app.

     

    Atom is used by tons of people, and I haven't found anyone else experiencing the issue, so I'm guessing it's the OS.

     

    Did anyone ever figure out a repeatable solution?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 12, 2016 8:14 AM in response to Garcia, Christopher
    Level 9 (69,991 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 12, 2016 8:14 AM in response to Garcia, Christopher

    You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is a couple of years old, less people are likely to look at it. A new post would be much more visible. You can link to this one.

     

    Did you try in another admin account and in the Safe Mode?

     

    Have you contacted the application's developer for support?