Playwright Blank Page After Navigation: Complete Fix Guide

Playwright blank white page issues after navigation typically stem from network timing conflicts, browser configuration mismatches, or JavaScript execution differences between automated and manual browsing. These issues often manifest as the page briefly loading before going blank, frequently accompanied by console and network errors that don’t appear during manual testing, indicating automation-specific challenges.

Contents

• Common Causes of Blank Pages
• Network and Console Error Investigation
• Browser Configuration Solutions
• Authentication and Context Handling
• Advanced Troubleshooting Techniques
• CI-Specific Solutions

Common Causes of Blank Pages

The blank white page phenomenon you’re experiencing is a well-documented issue in Playwright automation with several potential root causes. Based on community reports and GitHub issues, these are the most frequent culprits:

Network Timing Issues
Playwright’s fast execution can sometimes outpace page loading, causing the browser to navigate before all resources are fully loaded. This results in partial loading followed by a blank screen. As one developer noted: “The error is inaccurate, the actual reason was that the Basic Auth was enabled in the target site. Playwright could not open a page and just stuck with ‘Target closed’” [source].

Browser Context Conflicts
When working with multiple pages or contexts, certain configurations can trigger blank pages. A GitHub issue describes this pattern: “if you add a page fixture along with browser fixture, it opens up a blank page, without page fixture and only browser, it works ok” [source]. This suggests conflicts between browser and page fixtures in your test setup.

JavaScript Execution Differences
Automated browsers may process JavaScript differently than manual browsing, leading to execution errors that cause the page to crash. One report shows: “Navigation failed because page crashed” with logs indicating the browser attempted to navigate but failed to load the target page [source].

Authentication and Security Restrictions
Many sites implement security measures that detect automated browsing and respond with blank pages or 404 errors. The GitHub issue #28364 specifically mentions “blank screen and a 404 Error in the browser console” when running tests in UI mode [source].

Network and Console Error Investigation

Since you’re observing network and console errors that don’t appear during manual testing, implementing proper error monitoring is crucial for diagnosing the root cause.

Console Error Monitoring
Set up comprehensive console error tracking to capture issues invisible during manual testing:

// Example console error monitoring setup
const logs = [];
const errorMsgs = [];

test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
    // Capture console errors
    page.on('console', (msg) => {
        if (msg.type() === 'error') {
            logs.push({ message: msg.text(), type: msg.type() });
        }
    });
    
    // Capture page errors
    page.on('pageerror', (error) => {
        errorMsgs.push({ name: error.name, message: error.message });
    });
});

test('Navigation with error monitoring', async ({ page }) => {
    await page.goto('your-url');
    // Your navigation logic here
    
    // Attach error logs for debugging
    if (logs.length > 0) {
        console.log('Console errors detected:', logs);
    }
});

As the Medium article on Playwright error monitoring explains, this approach helps “automatically collect errors with Playwright by running browser-automation script” and provides visibility into issues that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Network Request Analysis
Monitor network requests to identify failed resources or timing issues:

// Network request monitoring
page.on('requestfailed', (request) => {
    console.log('Failed request:', request.url(), request.failure().errorText);
});

This can help pinpoint whether specific resources (CSS, JavaScript, fonts) are failing to load and causing the blank page issue.

Browser Configuration Solutions

Adjusting browser launch parameters and navigation options often resolves blank page issues.

Navigation Wait Strategies
Modify your page.goto() calls to include proper wait conditions:

// Add network idle wait
await page.goto('your-url', { 
    waitUntil: 'networkidle',
    timeout: 60000 
});

// Alternative: wait for specific conditions
await page.goto('your-url', { 
    waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded',
    timeout: 60000 
});

As suggested in the Stack Overflow response, adding { waitUntil: "networkidle" } means “it will wait until there is a 500ms network idle on your web page,” which can prevent premature navigation [source].

Browser Launch Configuration
Try different browser launch configurations:

// With specific browser settings
const browser = await chromium.launch({
    headless: false, // Try both headless and headed modes
    args: [
        '--no-sandbox',
        '--disable-setuid-sandbox',
        '--disable-dev-shm-usage',
        '--disable-accelerated-2d-canvas',
        '--no-first-run',
        '--no-zygote',
        '--disable-gpu'
    ]
});

Timeout and Retry Logic
Implement retry mechanisms for navigation:

async function navigateWithRetry(page, url, maxRetries = 3) {
    for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
        try {
            await page.goto(url, { 
                waitUntil: 'networkidle',
                timeout: 30000 
            });
            return true;
        } catch (error) {
            console.log(`Navigation attempt ${i + 1} failed:`, error.message);
            if (i === maxRetries - 1) throw error;
            await page.waitForTimeout(2000);
        }
    }
}

Authentication and Context Handling

Blank pages often occur when authentication or context management isn’t properly handled in automated scenarios.

Context Management Issues
The GitHub issue #24134 highlights a specific pattern: “Playwright opens up a blank page while reusing authentication for multi users using browser context.” This suggests conflicts when managing multiple contexts or user sessions.

Authentication Workarounds
Try different authentication approaches:

// Method 1: Global authentication
const context = await browser.newContext({
    httpCredentials: {
        username: 'your-username',
        password: 'your-password'
    }
});

// Method 2: Page-specific authentication
await page.authenticate({
    username: 'your-username',
    password: 'your-password'
});

// Method 3: Context isolation
const context = await browser.newContext();
const page = await context.newPage();
// Set authentication per context

State Management
Consider using Playwright’s state management instead of per-test authentication:

// Save and restore authentication state
await context.storageState({ path: 'auth.json' });
// Later, reuse the state
const context = await browser.newContext({ storageState: 'auth.json' });

Advanced Troubleshooting Techniques

When basic solutions don’t resolve the issue, these advanced techniques can provide deeper insights.

Trace Viewer Analysis
Generate detailed traces to understand what happens during navigation:

// Generate trace
await context.tracing.start({ screenshots: true, snapshots: true });
// Your navigation code here
await context.tracing.stop({ path: 'trace.zip' });

The resulting trace file can be opened in Playwright UI to analyze the exact moment the page goes blank and identify any failed network requests or JavaScript errors.

Browser Console Logging
Enable verbose browser logging to capture low-level issues:

const browser = await chromium.launch({
    headless: false,
    args: ['--enable-logging', '--v=1']
});

// Monitor browser console output
const logs = [];
page.on('console', msg => logs.push(msg.text()));

Network Interception
Intercept and analyze network requests to identify problematic resources:

// Intercept network requests
await page.route('**/*', route => {
    console.log('Intercepted request:', route.request().url());
    route.continue();
});

// Block specific resources that might cause issues
await page.route('**/*.css', route => route.abort());
// Then test without CSS to isolate the issue

CI-Specific Solutions

If your issue occurs primarily in CI environments, these solutions may help resolve it.

Container Configuration Issues
The GitHub issue #23751 mentions blank pages “in CI most of the time (running docker image playwright:v1.35.0-jammy, tried as well with 1.34 and 1.33).” This suggests container-specific challenges.

CI Browser Configuration
Adjust browser settings for CI environments:

const browser = await chromium.launch({
    headless: true,
    args: [
        '--no-sandbox',
        '--disable-setuid-sandbox',
        '--disable-dev-shm-usage',
        '--disable-accelerated-2d-canvas',
        '--no-first-run',
        '--no-zygote',
        '--disable-gpu',
        '--disable-software-rasterizer',
        '--disable-background-timer-throttling',
        '--disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows',
        '--disable-renderer-backgrounding'
    ]
});

Network Configuration
Handle network-related CI issues by adding delays and retry logic:

// Add delays for CI environments
await page.waitForTimeout(3000); // Initial wait
await page.goto(url, { 
    waitUntil: 'networkidle',
    timeout: 120000 // Extended timeout for CI
});

Resource Management
Ensure proper resource cleanup in CI:

// Clean up resources properly
afterAll(async () => {
    await browser.close();
    // Clean up temporary files, etc.
});

Sources

1. GitHub Issue #28364 - Only blank screen in UI Mode
2. GitHub Issue #31050 - Playwright stuck at about:blank
3. GitHub Issue #22759 - Blank page when opening in playwright
4. Stack Overflow - Playwright error (Target closed) after navigation
5. Stack Overflow - Playwright test not loading local url
6. GitHub Issue #24134 - Blank page while reusing authentication
7. Medium - Playwright: Monitor Console and Page error
8. GitHub - playwright-errors: Automatically collect errors
9. GitHub Issue #23751 - Blank page after page.goto (in CI only)
10. Stack Overflow - Webkit browser displaying blank

Conclusion

Based on the research and community experiences, here are the key takeaways for resolving Playwright blank page issues:

1. Implement Comprehensive Error Monitoring - Console and network errors provide critical clues about why pages go blank in automation but not manual testing. Set up proper error tracking to capture these differences.

2. Adjust Navigation Wait Strategies - Use waitUntil: 'networkidle' or extended timeouts to ensure pages fully load before proceeding with automation steps. This is the most common fix for timing-related blank pages.

3. Test Different Browser Configurations - Experiment with both headless and headed modes, and try different browser launch arguments. CI environments often require specific configuration adjustments.

4. Handle Authentication Properly - Context management and authentication state can cause blank pages. Consider using Playwright’s built-in authentication features or state management instead of manual login flows.

5. Isolate the Problem - Use trace viewer, network interception, and controlled resource blocking to identify exactly which elements or requests are causing the blank page issue.

The key insight from community reports is that blank pages in Playwright are rarely caused by incorrect locators (as you’ve already verified), but rather by the fundamental differences between automated and manual browsing contexts. By systematically addressing these differences through proper configuration, error monitoring, and navigation strategies, you can typically resolve blank page issues and create robust automation tests.