Why does Gmail stall with a blank screen?

Dave, I have been a gmail member for almost a year now and in the last month I have been unable to access my gmail account it run through both loading screens and then stops with a blank white page. No error message just a white page. I recently found a bloodhound flash virus on my computer and promptly removed it. My software is unchanged I use Windows XP Home - my PC is a custom built Athalon 1Ghz processor 512 Mb ram 30 plus gig hd with half still free space the only thing new is my DVD/CDRW combo and I have even gone so far as to disconnect it and uninstall the software and it made no difference. I'm not very good with code but hardware and computers in general I am fairly literate. Help please.

Dave's Answer:

This sounds like a puzzling and frustrating experience, for sure. I have sporadically seen this problem with Gmail myself, and sometimes clearing the Web browser cache can be a simple solution.

If you're running MSIE on your Windows XP Home system, then you could pop over to Download.com and search for "IE cache" to see what applications are available to help you with this.

If you're running Firefox, there's an option in the Preferences section under "Privacy" called "Cache" where you can erase everything in the cache.

Another possibility: did you disable Javascript in your browser? You definitely need Javascript enabled to have Gmail work properly.

But before you go too far down that path, I'd be curious about whether you really got rid of all traces of the Bloodhound Flash Virus on your computer. One possible explanation of what's happening is that there's some spyware somehow being triggered when you try to get to your Gmail and that spyware is causing the browser to be unable to proceed?

I'd run a couple of different anti-virus and anti-spyware applications (I run Norton AntiVirus 2006 and the combination of Spybot Search & Destroy and Webroot's Spy Sweeper on my own Windows XP Pro systems, just FYI)

It'd also be useful to try accessing your Gmail account using a different browser on your computer and trying to access it from a different computer entirely. Do they work? Is your account working properly?

Good luck. This kind of problem can be quite puzzling!

More Useful Computer and Internet Basics Articles:

✔ How do I blur my house on Google Maps Street View?

I was poking around on Google Maps looking at satellite views of my neighborhood and when I switched to street view, was upset...

✔ Create a custom vanity URL for Kickstarter?

I was reading some updates on Twitter and saw someone had posted a URL that would let me see what projects they'd backed...

✔ Export or Save Subscription List from Google Reader?

Just heard that Google Reader is going away this summer. That stinks! How am I supposed to read my RSS feeds? More importantly,...

✔ Shrink or Reduce a Photo File Size on Mac?

I'm trying to upload some photos to a social media site and it's complaining that they're too big. They are, as they come...

✔ Can I organize my Yahoo Mail with folders?

I've been on Yahoo Mail for years and while most of my friends are now on Gmail or their own Web-based email programs,...

Let's stay in touch!

Sign up for my weekly AskDaveTaylor Newsletter and you'll receive even more tech and gadget help right to your inbox, along with exclusive news and industry updates. It's good stuff. I promise!

Categorized: Computer and Internet Basics (Article 4293, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged:
Previous: How much equity does a VC take when funding a startup?
Next: How do I rebuild my business?

Reader Comments To Date: 11

Mike Goggin said, on November 30, 2005 5:48 AM:

I've noticed this too on a Win XP Pro machine using IE (can't recall if I've seen it on the Win XP Home machine and Firefox).

It seems to happen when the URL is
https://mail.google.com/mail/
which is what the Gmail Notifier app uses.

When it happens, opening my favorite of:
https://gmail.google.com
will cause it to display properly!

celejar said, on December 27, 2005 8:22 AM:

I had a similar problem with Firefox (1.07) on Linux (Debian) which I think I solved by telling the browser to connect directly to the internet and skip the Privoxy ad-blocking proxy I normally use. https:// urls always worked, just not http://, which would be, in my case, since Privoxy was only handling ordinary HTTP and not secure HTTPS.

bk said, on January 11, 2008 10:26 AM:

Mike Goggin's solution worked for us as well.

https://gmail.google.com

Thanks Mike!

Kat said, on January 15, 2008 11:59 AM:

I just had this problem with the white screen start for me within the past month.

It only happens if im ALREADY LOGGED IN and try to type in gmail.com or click on gmail from google.com

If I log out and re-login, it will load, but this is tediously time consuming for every time I want to read my e-mail.

It is happening on both my laptop and desktop. What was weird was I hadn't used my desktop in at least a month, but as soon as I started it I was having this problem and the last time I had used my desktop before, it had worked fine.

Any suggestions?

Bernd said, on January 16, 2008 9:14 AM:

Delete your cookies and log in again. That worked for me. First time logging in takes a couple seconds longer than normal.

Cory said, on January 18, 2008 10:42 PM:

Mike's way worked for me too, thanks Mike!

online@123 said, on February 7, 2008 12:51 PM:

Hi,

I too am experiencing this problem.

1. Deleting cookies , clearing cache or repairing the jre resolves the issue for a few days and after some days, it resurfaces.

Any other idea to resolve it.

Thanks,

Sue said, on November 2, 2008 6:11 PM:

Oh...what is firefox?

howard said, on November 6, 2008 1:37 AM:

hello,
i suffered gmail's blank page issue until i switched to the 'older version' - http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1

amazing that an organisation the size of google can't do decent QA before 'upgrading' software.

Matt said, on March 19, 2009 11:17 AM:

Try disabling Google Gears, I'm having this issue too and that fixed it.

Guga said, on September 22, 2011 1:37 PM:

i have this blanck screen with my main account of gmail. i tried to sign in in several computers and browsers. i get this white screen all the time. Outlook and iPhone (IMAP) still works fine. any tips?

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Why does Gmail stall with a blank screen?

Reader Comments To Date: 11

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Check This Out Too...