Level 2

220 points

WindowServer crashing repeatedly since upgrade to Ventura

Since I upgraded my MacBook Pro (14 inch, 2021, M1 Pro) to Ventura (macOS 13.0 22A380), I repeatedly get logged out of macOS. After logging in I see a crash report for WindowServer.

This happens seemingly at random. Sometimes I can work for hours without a problem and at other times the WindowServer crashes about every two minutes which is severely disrupting and renders the MacBook unusable. As far as I can tell so far, the crashes don't correlate with any particular pattern in user activity or app usage and appear to be completely random.

I am using the MacBook with an external 4K LG display and other users on Reddit report that disconnecting the external display and only using the internal display remedies the crashes. But obviously this cannot be a proper solution.

Is anybody else experiencing this and/or knows about a better workaround then to forgo the use of an external display?

Posted on Oct 28, 2022 4:34 AM

Top-ranking reply

Guillermo1984

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Nov 6, 2022 8:55 AM

I believe that the problem comes from the external screen when it is in "main display" and not in "extended display". Before the Ventura update it was in extended and it moved to main view with the update. Since I put it back in extended display, I no longer have windowServer crashes.

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97 replies

Dec 23, 2022 6:12 PM in response to reitermoritz

Two hard crashes in the span of about an hour. This sucks really bad. I've been working in MacOS for over a decade now and I've never seen it be as unreliable as this. If I wanted crashes and hard reboots, I would have bought a Windows machine for half the price.

MircoT65

Level 1

4 points

Oct 29, 2023 11:52 AM in response to reitermoritz

hello,

anyone have resolved this issue?

MacStudio M2Max with 2 ASD, MacOS Ventura 13.6.1. I need "Display have separate Spaces." option active. But with this option Windowserver crash every few hours or days al most (interface freeze, mouse works but I'm unable to do nothing, after 2 minutes black screen for 2 seconds then login screen). Without this option, spaces are unusable for me but windowserver run fine for many weeks.

thank you.

Nov 23, 2023 1:52 PM in response to reitermoritz

just found this thread after so many windowserver crashes, i do not have any monitor on my mbp m2max on latest ventura and it stop responding and logs out. maybe the switch between spaces and command tab is the problem or just something within windoserver.

the problem is that reading that it happens on sonoma too... well it should be something that it is still not understood so not fixable right now?

Apr 25, 2024 4:31 PM in response to reitermoritz

I'm getting the same problem with Sonoma, fwiw. Brand new M3. Using external monitor connected via HDMI. Seems to always happen when I'm in NetBeans. No problems with other apps. Gets me several times a day though.

Jun 17, 2024 1:13 PM in response to reitermoritz

Using a MacBook Pro 13'' M1 (MacOS 14.5 Sonoma) it happens constantly when watching something on full screen on my second screen, which is connected to a Baseus dock. OS crashes, and goes back to the login screen. Added to it my Mac screen is not showing anything for some time already. It's completely black, but not turned off. Changing the brightness is noticed to work on it

Oct 28, 2022 6:45 AM in response to reitermoritz

Are we alone ?

Oct 28, 2022 8:28 AM in response to reitermoritz

rctneil

Level 1

5 points

Oct 28, 2022 8:57 AM in response to Guillermo1984

Yes, I too am experiencing this. Very frustrating.

Oct 30, 2022 9:25 AM in response to reitermoritz

I am having the same problem with my iMac (2017 version) since upgraded to Ventura!!

Oct 31, 2022 11:49 AM in response to reitermoritz

Having the same issue. I have a 24" ViewSonic attached via the onboard HDMI port on 16" 2021 Macbook Pro. WindowServer appears to be the culprit per console output.

reitermoritz Author

Level 2

220 points

Nov 7, 2022 1:48 AM in response to zoltar63

zoltar63 wrote:

Yes, full-screen seems to be the culprit in my case as well. So far so good without the full-screen apps.

Nope, sorry, just had a crash without any app in full screen.

DjPadz

Level 1

24 points

Nov 10, 2022 3:51 PM in response to DjPadz

…Aaaaaaand I spoke too soon. Just crashed again.

blackbit

Level 1

4 points

Nov 14, 2022 4:09 AM in response to DjPadz

Same here. Still crashes after the update, and then I'm stuck with an unresponsive lock screen (spinning wheel)

jneubro

Level 1

8 points

Nov 14, 2022 6:30 AM in response to reitermoritz

I updated to 13.0.1 same issue. :-(

Nov 14, 2022 1:00 PM in response to JKVeganAbroad

Yeah i was optimistic as it seemed to work for day, but back to crashing as it did before...ugh!!

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WindowServer crashing repeatedly since upgrade to Ventura