microsoft / microsoft/terminal

Sometimes the entire app freezes partway

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Issue-Bug Needs-Attention Needs-Triage
Dominant language
C++
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Description

Windows Terminal version

1.23.12371.0

Windows build number

10.0.26100.5074

Other Software

No response

Steps to reproduce

Upgrade to specified version. Not sure of exact reproduction steps. But a 95% similar situation seems to be always reproducible by:

  1. Open the first window.
  2. Close the first window. Note that WindowsTerminal.exe remains running.
  3. Open the app again, creating the second window.
  4. Hit Ctrl-Shift-N to create the third window.
  5. Close the second window.
  6. The third window becomes partially unresponsive - not quite the same way as I've encountered "normally", as the actual 'terminal' area still remains responsive when doing these steps, but otherwise the same symptoms apply (titlebar stops redrawing, Ctrl-Shift-N opens completely blank windows, etc).
Expected Behavior

It shouldn't do that.

Actual Behavior

At seemingly random times, the terminal window freezes. More precisely, it stops redrawing, but Windows doesn't consider it frozen (e.g. the , and it actually still reacts to input:

  • I can still drag windows by their titlebar, resize them (but the contents don't redraw), and click where the 'Close' button ought to be (and the window closes, but WindowsTerminal.exe does not exit),
  • I can tear out tabs blindly, but the torn-off window remains blank (only background color),
  • pressing e.g. Ctrl-Shift-N (the "open a new window" hotkey) indeed opens a new window (but that window only draws the background color (+ border) and nothing else, it does not fork a powershell.exe process).

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the reported sequence in Windows Terminal: close and reopen windows, create a third with Ctrl-Shift-N, then close the second window. Observe WindowsTerminal.exe, titlebar redraw, torn-out tabs, and newly opened windows; done means the freeze and blank-window behavior are understood and no longer occurs in this scenario.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
cli, desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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