ClaudeLite — fix the Claude Desktop blank screen on Windows

A lightweight, portable desktop app for claude.ai that is immune to the Claude Desktop blank / white screen on startup problem — by construction.

⬇ Download ClaudeLite.exe (latest release) — single file, no installer, no admin rights.

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The problem this fixes

Does this sound familiar?

• Claude Desktop opens as a completely blank window after closing and reopening it
• The Claude app shows a white or empty screen on launch and never loads
• The app log (%APPDATA%\Claude\logs\main.log) shows ERR_QUIC_PROTOCOL_ERROR, ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT, or Failed to load URL: https://claude.ai ... requestingUrl: 'about:blank'

Root cause: the official Claude Desktop app loads its interface from the network at launch — over QUIC (HTTP/3, UDP port 443). Many routers, VPNs, firewalls and ISPs mishandle QUIC. When that first load fails, the window is simply left blank, with no error and no retry button.

How ClaudeLite is immune

1. QUIC is disabled at the browser-engine level (--disable-quic) — every connection uses ordinary HTTPS over TCP, which virtually every network handles correctly.
2. A failed load never leaves a blank window — you get a local error page with the real failure reason, three automatic retries with backoff, and a Retry button.

Features

• 🪶 Lightweight & portable — one exe, runs from any folder or USB stick, no admin
• 🔒 Sandboxed — the remote site gets zero access to your machine (no Node integration)
• 👤 Persistent sign-in — its own profile; log in once
• 🔗 External links open in your system browser; claude.ai stays in-window
• 🔇 Minimal permissions: clipboard and notifications only — everything else denied

Quick start

1. Download ClaudeLite.exe
2. Run it (first launch takes a few seconds — it unpacks to a temp folder)
3. Sign in to claude.ai once — done

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/cypherx007/claude-lite
cd claude-lite
npm install
npm start            # run from source
npm run dist         # portable folder  -> dist/ClaudeLite-win32-x64/
npm run dist:exe     # single-file exe  -> dist-exe/ClaudeLite.exe

FAQ

Can I also fix the official Claude Desktop app?

Yes — block QUIC for it, so it falls back to normal HTTPS. Add an outbound Windows Firewall rule that blocks UDP remote port 443 scoped to the Claude app (or system-wide; browsers fall back to HTTP/2 automatically). This repo's wrapper simply has that fix built in.

Why does Claude Desktop open blank only sometimes?

QUIC failures are intermittent: when the first UI load fails the window stays on about:blank; when a retry slips through, the app opens normally. ClaudeLite removes the lottery.

Is my data safe? Where do conversations live?

ClaudeLite is a plain browser shell around the public claude.ai website. Your account, conversations and data live with claude.ai exactly as they would in Chrome or Edge. The shell grants the site no access to your machine.

Does it work on Mac or Linux?

The source is plain Electron and should build on both (electron-packager targets), but only Windows x64 is built and tested here.

winCodeSign "Cannot create symbolic link" during npm run dist:exe?

Known electron-builder issue for non-admin Windows users: extract the winCodeSign 7z manually into %LOCALAPPDATA%\electron-builder\Cache\winCodeSign\winCodeSign-<ver> with 7-Zip — the two failing Mac symlinks are irrelevant on Windows — then rebuild.

Disclaimer

Personal utility, not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic. "Claude" is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC. This project is an independent wrapper around the public claude.ai website for personal use.

License

MIT