Aug 29, 2019

Chrome Lags Receiving Focus from non-chrome window in 77 Windows

In Chrome Beta (and now also Stable), if you click away from chrome to like Notepad, then back to Chrome, there is a 1 second lag before the Chrome window becomes active. This has been driving me crazy the last month or so, since Chrome updated to 77 (currently it is 77.0.3865.42).

What I then tried was completely uninstalling it (including user data) and after reinstalling (without any profile or extensions) the problem is still there. I also installed non-77 Chrome, and it doesn't have the issue, so it is something specific to the 77 version that has been recently added.

Here is an interesting clue -- when I first launch Chrome 77, for the first 10 seconds or so it works fine. But after 10 seconds every time you click back to Chrome the lag is there. What I did was try opening the Chrome process explorer right after launching Chrome, and I notice there is a "Utility:Windows Utilities" process that appears and disappears right as the lag begins. So it might be related to something "Utility:Windows Utilities" does.

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Crashes and Slow Performance,Windows,Stable (Default)

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Last edited Oct 15, 2019

All Replies (20)

User 918489986413972373

Sep 23, 2019

Have you found a resolution to this? I noticed it in the Edge developer builds but thought it was just related to Edge but I just relaunched my Chrome to the latest and it is now behaving the same as Edge has been.

Google user

Jan 8, 2020

I am encountering the same problem as above, and I can confirm it is related to using multiple monitors.

I have reported an error and provided my email for feedback; if I receive any I will update here.

Edit: Wanted to include that I'm running 79

Last edited Jan 8, 2020

ryan agler

Original Poster

Jan 16, 2020

Please, please, please, can some chrome devs acknowledge what we are reporting here? It is just driving me insane. The video I posted above sums it up perfectly.

In desperation I lunched Procmon.exe to try figuring out what is going on. When you click Chrome from Notepad, Chrome makes thousands of calls to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY\blahblahblah. So maybe "Utility:Windows Utilities" is causing that?

I don't know, it is way out of my ability to know, but there are many folks that have chimed in here so there is definitely some issue added since 76 that needs to be addressed.

Last edited Jan 16, 2020

Nick 5321

Feb 6, 2020

Has anyone found a solution to this focus lag issue, its driving me nuts. The same thing started happening recently with Edge, but that seemed to be resolved by turning hardware acceleration off.

Danny Timmer

Feb 7, 2020

Same issues here with 12 screens connected. I downgraded all machines to Chrome 76 and that is working fine.

User 9785979654274842268

Feb 8, 2020

Same issue here, it is only happening on computers with 4 screens or more. I tried the following:

- Remove Graphics Drivers and reinstall from AMD website

- Delete Google Chrome from the computer and removed the AppData folder of Google Chrome

- Created a new user profile

- Cleared the synced Google Account

- Made sure that there are no extensions installed

- Tried the Chrome beta version

Last tested version: Chrome v80

User 3124929507479368727

Feb 8, 2020

Same issues here

Allan Kristensen

Feb 12, 2020

I've had the problem since Chrome 77, but I'm also beginning to see it in applications that runs Electron, which makes me think the bug is in Chromium rather than Chrome. Currently I see the lag in the Spotify Windows client (1.1.25.559.g85cf5e4c) and still in Chrome (78.0.3904.97 (Official Build) (64-bit)). As I said in an earlier post, the problem is only there when I've external monitors attached to my laptop through my Lenovo docking station.

User 13624546577323121361

Feb 13, 2020

Currently on Chrome 80, issue showed up upon connecting my 3rd monitor to my laptop. I thought my hardware was insufficient, but it appears to be related to the multiple monitors as everyone is saying?

Hoping for a fix soon.

Danny Timmer

Feb 14, 2020

I did some investigating and still the same issues:

1.Switch to default theme. Settings -> Theme -> revert to default theme

2.Disable "Automatically Detect Settings" in Internet Options(I guess try this only if you continue to have problems).

ryan agler

Original Poster

Feb 14, 2020

I have 8 screens, so it must be something about having 3 or more screens if the guy above tested it to start at that threshold. I had to downgrade to 76 as well, and it works just fine in 76

Danny Timmer

Mar 13, 2020

I created a bugpost on this issue: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1061465

If you use Chrome v76 on some webpages a warning message is shown that you are using a outdated browser.

CarloGaudreault

Apr 13, 2020

I have 4x 1080p monitors connected with the latest version of Windows 10, Nvidia drivers, and Chrome, and have been experiencing the same issue described here for the last few weeks. My computer lags for a brief instant when switching focus between windows, it's very frustrating thanks for your efforts resolving this issue!