Issue: ChromeDriver with Chrome 146 on Windows VM causes rendering corruption and WebUI/NTP instability

[Sumit Jangir]

Hi ChromeDriver Team,

I’m reaching out to report an issue we are consistently observing with ChromeDriver when used with the installed Chrome desktop build (version 146.x) on Windows virtual machines.

Summary

When launching Chrome via Selenium/ChromeDriver on a Windows VM, the browser renders incorrectly:

• The page appears only in a portion of the viewport (top-left region)

• Some areas are not inspectable

• The address bar may not reflect the correct URL

• Selenium actions fail with MoveTargetOutOfBoundsException
  
  

Key Observations

• Issue occurs only with installed Chrome (146.x)

• Issue does not occur with Chrome for Testing (CfT) using the same automation setup

• Issue occurs only under Selenium/ChromeDriver, not during manual browser usage

• Reproducible on latest Windows VMs

Logs / Signals

We consistently see:

• Chrome initially loading:

  chrome://new-tab-page/

• Multiple contexts:

  WEBUI / WEBUI_UNTRUSTED

• GPU / display warning:

  GetGpuDriverOverlayInfo: Failed to retrieve video device

This suggests Chrome is entering WebUI (New Tab Page) state before navigating, and the rendering/viewport becomes inconsistent afterward.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Windows VM environment

2. Launch installed Chrome (146.x) via ChromeDriver

3. Start automation without explicitly setting initial URL (or even with navigation shortly after)

4. Observe:

   • Partial rendering

   • Broken viewport

   • Click failures

Expected Behavior

• Chrome should render the page normally

• Selenium should interact reliably with DOM elements

• No WebUI/NTP rendering side-effects should impact automation

Actual Behavior

• Browser enters an inconsistent rendering state

• DOM is partially rendered / misaligned

• Selenium cannot reliably interact with elements

Additional Notes

• The same setup works perfectly with Chrome for Testing (CfT)

• Removing GPU flags or adjusting rendering flags does not resolve the issue

• This appears specific to the installed Chrome build + VM + ChromeDriver combination

---

Given that CfT works while installed Chrome fails under identical conditions, this seems related to how ChromeDriver interacts with the installed Chrome binary or its startup flow (possibly involving NTP/WebUI initialization and rendering pipeline on VM environments).

Please let me know if you need:

• full logs

• minimal repro script

• VM/environment details

Thanks for your support.

Best regards,
Sumit Jangir

[Sumit Jangir]

Similar issue faced in thread https://groups.google.com/g/chromedriver-users/c/8By93mQurfs

[Michael Vederman]

thanks so much for being another person who is experiencing this issue, dispelling any possible belief this is a one-off unique to our environment.

i hope that google and selenium take this seriously. our processes are regularly failing and we still experience this on a daily basis.

luckily our processes are as fault tolerant as possible and subsequent runs can run correctly.

Thanks,

Michael Vederman

CEO - Software Decisions, Inc. (SDi)