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I have had WhatsApp on my Windows 10 PC for several years. I have updated it when required by an onscreen message. It is linked to my iphone.
However, a recent update resulted in a plain white screen with a watermark phone symbol. There was nothing else whatsoever showing at all and nothing to see or click on.
I had to do a system restore to get the programme back. For subsequent reminders to update I have selected Not Now.
Today the message stated that the version has expired and I must update. I did so and again it has resulted in this plain white screen with the phone watermark which makes WhatsApp unusable. A system restore has NOT solved the issue now because the Whatsapp version has expired. But the update is supposed to correct that and produce a working programme again. It has patently failed to do that.
Attempting (Run) "%localdata%\WhatsApp" results in "Not Found".
What has happened and why has this update lost my WhatsApp desktop version which I use very regularly and which my family uses to keep in touch with me from various other countries. It is important that I get this programme back in a working condition.
Fortunately, WhatsApp still works on my iphone, but I need to have it working on my desktop as well.
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I have the exact same issue with OP. I am running windows 11 pro as a new install. Whatsapp had been running for several weeks just fine after the install. Now, Whatsapp just open with a what blank page with the phone logo in the middle. During this time, there was an update of whatsapp. When it auto updated, Whatsapp was working again only for a day or two. Now I am getting only a white screen and phone logo in the middle.
Thanks for the post ! I am relieved to know I'm not the only one with this problem !! It seems as if there was definitely a fault with that WhatsApp update. Unfortunately, contacting their Support team proved to be absolutely uselss with no way to actually interact with a human being in any way. All bloody AI. And of course they haven't admitted that there might be an issue with their product. I've contacted several independent technical websites, but nobody has come back with a solution or even a suggestion of one, yet. If you manage to discover a remedy to put it right, please do post it on here ! Thanks, The Scathing Brit.
Hey there. I fixed it. Whatsapp needs Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime install. My pc did not have it. Although, my other pc Whatsapp app works and it does not have the webview2 runtime. Strange.
Any hoot, download the Evegreen Bootstrapper with the link below as it will install the latest webview2 versions during the install. After that, run Whatsapp and it should work. Good luck.
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/?form=MA13LH#download
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Hi thescathingbrit,
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. I'm happy to help.
Please run these commands in Command Prompt (Run as Administrator) to scan your system:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow
In additional, this is WhatsApp issue therefore you should contact WhatsApp directly for further assistance. They will be the best to support you.
Thank you for your understanding and sympathy.
Hi Lucas-V.
Thank you for your help.
Your answer did not produce a resolution. WhatsApp still shows the same blank white window.
The results of your answer's tests were as follows,
[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.
C:\windows\system32>sfc /scannow
Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.
Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
I should also point out that I mentioned in my post that contacting WhatsApp support (twice, actually) only provided AI responses with suggestions which I have tried, but failed. There is no way to actually interact with Support, by phone or live chat which is why I have appealed to the Microsoft forums for assistance.
Have you any other tests or investigation that might solve the issue?
Hi thescathingbrit,
Please try performing In-place upgrade or clean install.
Let's try performing In-place upgrade first.
Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides: How to perform an In-place Upgrade with Windows 10 Step-by-Step Guide - Microsoft Community
If In-place upgrade does not help, you may try performing clean install.
Disclaimer: At this point, we have exhausted all troubleshooting and I recommend that we try to perform a clean install to get your computer back into a working condition. Please ensure that you backup any important data, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, and more.
Creating a bootable USB from Download Windows 10 using Media Creation Tool or ISO to perform clean install.
I hope that above information is helpful to you.
Unfortunately, the AI answer does not help a great deal. It proved very difficult to install WhatsApp desktop in the first place on my Windows 10 PC. It took several attempts and various "tweaks" before the programme installed and worked. (I have --PII REMOVED-- to thank for that. It has been satisfactory ever since, so trying to reinstall WhatsApp may result in similar problems. Updates when requested up to this last one have always worked. It would seem therefore that something in this most recent update has caused a corruption somewhere. A report to WhatsApp support only produced an AI answer with several suggestions which I have tried but which have not resolved the fault. Their final suggestion was to reinstall. I feel that this issue needs a human involvement and investigation with possible tests before I attempt to reinstall the app. I should mention that WhatsApp WEB is not of interest as the Desktop version offers more personalisation. I hope that someone can pick this question up and get back with some possible remedies to get WhatsApp working again for me. Thank you.