Common Issues in Electron and How to Fix Them

Common Issues in Electron and How to Fix Them....

Electron is a powerful framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. However, developers often encounter issues during installation, packaging, and running Electron apps.

This guide provides solutions to the most common problems in Electron, including startup errors, dependency issues, packaging failures, and debugging tips.

1. Electron Installation Issues

Issue: `electron` command not found

✅ Cause:

The global Electron package is not installed.
npm or yarn didn’t add Electron to the environment path.

🔧 Solution:

Try installing Electron globally:

npm install -g electron

Or install it locally within a project:

npm install --save-dev electron

Then run:

npx electron --version

If it still doesn't work, check if npm is configured correctly:

npm config get prefix

Ensure the npm global bin directory is added to the system's PATH.

2. Electron App Doesn't Start

Issue: `Error: Cannot find module 'electron'`

✅ Cause:

Electron is not installed correctly.
The node_modules directory is missing.

🔧 Solution:

Ensure dependencies are installed:
```
npm install
```
Reinstall Electron:
```
npm install electron --save-dev
```

Delete node_modules and reinstall:

rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

3. Blank Screen or App Crashes on Startup

Issue: White or Black Screen Appears When Running Electron App

✅ Cause:

mainWindow.loadURL() is pointing to a non-existent file.
index.html is missing or not served correctly.
DevTools or JavaScript errors prevent rendering.

🔧 Solution:

Check if index.html exists:
```
mainWindow.loadURL(`file://${__dirname}/index.html`);
```
Ensure the file path is correct.
Enable DevTools to check errors:
```
mainWindow.webContents.openDevTools();
```

Add logging to detect the error:

mainWindow.webContents.on('did-fail-load', (event, errorCode, errorDescription) => {
    console.error(`Page failed to load: ${errorDescription} (Code: ${errorCode})`);
});

4. Electron Packager Issues

Issue: `Error: spawn ENOENT` (Executable not found)

✅ Cause:

Missing dependencies in packaged app.
Incorrectly configured package.json.

🔧 Solution:

Ensure dependencies are installed before packaging:
```
npm install --production
```

Ensure the correct Electron version is specified:

electron-packager . MyApp --electron-version=27.0.0

If using Windows, check for missing wine (for cross-compilation):
```
sudo apt install wine
```

5. App Fails After Packaging

Issue: App Works in `npm start` but Not After Packaging

✅ Cause:

The main script is missing or incorrectly referenced in package.json.
Absolute paths are used instead of relative paths.

🔧 Solution:

Ensure the correct main entry file is defined in package.json:
```
{
    "main": "main.js"
}
```

Use relative paths in main.js: Instead of:

mainWindow.loadURL('file:///C:/Users/Me/Desktop/app/index.html');

Use:

mainWindow.loadURL(`file://${__dirname}/index.html`);

Check logs after the app starts: Run:
```
./MyApp --verbose
```

6. Electron Not Working on Linux

Issue: `error while loading shared libraries: libX11.so`

✅ Cause:

Missing dependencies required for running Electron apps on Linux.

🔧 Solution:

Install missing libraries:

sudo apt install libx11-dev libxkbfile-dev

For CentOS or RHEL:

sudo yum install libX11-devel

For Fedora:

sudo dnf install libX11-devel

7. Security Warning: `Electron Security Warning (Insecure Content Loaded)`

✅ Cause:

The app is trying to load HTTP (instead of HTTPS) content in a WebView.
contextIsolation and sandbox are not enabled.

🔧 Solution:

Enable security features in main.js:

mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({
    webPreferences: {
        contextIsolation: true,
        enableRemoteModule: false,
        sandbox: true
    }
});

Use HTTPS URLs instead of HTTP:

mainWindow.loadURL('https://mysecurewebsite.com');

Disable nodeIntegration for security:

webPreferences: {
    nodeIntegration: false
}

8. Slow Performance in Electron Apps

Issue: Electron App is Running Slow

✅ Cause:

Heavy CPU/GPU usage due to inefficient JavaScript or rendering.
Memory leaks in renderer process.

🔧 Solution:

Enable Hardware Acceleration:
```
app.disableHardwareAcceleration();
```
Optimize Event Listeners: Remove unnecessary event listeners to prevent memory leaks:
```
window.removeEventListener('resize', myFunction);
```
Monitor Memory Usage: Use Chrome DevTools to track memory:
```
console.log(process.memoryUsage());
```

9. App Freezes After a Certain Time

Issue: Electron Window Becomes Unresponsive

✅ Cause:

JavaScript infinite loops or blocking operations in the main process.
Memory leaks in the renderer process.

🔧 Solution:

Check for infinite loops:

while (true) {
    console.log("This will freeze the app");
}

Move CPU-intensive tasks to worker_threads:

const { Worker } = require('worker_threads');
new Worker('./heavy-task.js');

Use setImmediate() instead of blocking operations:

setImmediate(() => {
    console.log("Non-blocking task executed");
});

Final Thoughts

Electron is a powerful tool, but it comes with common pitfalls. Understanding and fixing these issues will make your development experience smoother.