Grey screen on launch due to GPU process crash and "Unable to find helper app" on macOS 15.2

[xucq07]

Describe the bug
After launching Lens, the application displays a solid grey screen. No UI elements, clusters, or menus are rendered.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Open the Lens application.

The application window initializes.

Observe the persistent grey screen.

Expected behavior
The application should load the dashboard and display the connected clusters or the home screen normally.

Screenshots
Describe the bug
After launching Lens, the application displays a solid grey screen. No UI elements, clusters, or menus are rendered.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Open the Lens application.

The application window initializes.

Observe the persistent grey screen.

Expected behavior
The application should load the dashboard and display the connected clusters or the home screen normally.

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

Lens Version: 2026.2.111511-latest

OS: macOS 15.2 (24C101)

Installation method: DMG

Logs:

warn: ▪ [LENS-CORE-MAIN]: Excluded a total of 4 certificates +1ms
[0304/082343.869183:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[0304/082343.871393:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[1622:0304/082343.885832:ERROR:content/browser/network_service_instance_impl.cc:595] Network service crashed, restarting service.
[1622:0304/082343.886024:ERROR:content/browser/gpu/gpu_process_host.cc:964] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=5
[0304/082343.937585:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[0304/082343.937623:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[1622:0304/082343.938281:ERROR:content/browser/network_service_instance_impl.cc:595] Network service crashed, restarting service.
[1622:0304/082343.938501:ERROR:content/browser/gpu/gpu_process_host.cc:964] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=5
info: ▪ [SHELL-SYNC]: Synced shell env at 2026-03-04T00:23:43.943Z +75ms
[0304/082343.963700:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[0304/082343.963780:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[1622:0304/082343.964447:ERROR:content/browser/network_service_instance_impl.cc:595] Network service crashed, restarting service.
[1622:0304/082343.964666:ERROR:content/browser/gpu/gpu_process_host.cc:964] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=5
[0304/082344.016503:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[0304/082344.016621:FATAL:electron/shell/app/electron_main_delegate_mac.mm:65] Unable to find helper app
[1622:0304/082344.017203:ERROR:content/browser/gpu/gpu_process_host.cc:964] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=5
[1622:0304/082344.017212:FATAL:content/browser/gpu/gpu_data_manager_impl_private.cc:415] GPU process isn't usable. Goodbye.
zsh: trace trap /Applications/Lens.app/Contents/macOS/Lens

Kubeconfig:

(Leave blank or paste your sanitized config here)
Additional context
The issue persists even after restarting the application. It appears to be a rendering or initialization failure on macOS 15.2.

[Christiaanvdl]

Hello @xucq07, Thank you for reaching out! We have received your request and will get back to you as soon as we have some information!

[clrothmann]

Hi @xucq07, thanks for the detailed report and logs -- that's very helpful for our investigation. The GPU process crash and "Unable to find helper app" errors point to a compatibility issue between the Electron framework and macOS 15.2. We've logged this internally and our team will investigate.

As a first troubleshooting step, could you please try:

1. Completely uninstall Lens (including removing ~/Library/Application Support/Lens)
2. Download and reinstall the latest version from our homepage
3. If the issue persists, try launching Lens from the terminal with --disable-gpu flag

We'll update you once we have more details on the fix.

[manfredipist]

I've got the same issue, for no reason lens stops working on macOS silicon and the only way to restore its functionality is to completely remove it from the system and reinstall it.

[clrothmann]

Hi @manfredipist, thanks for chiming in. We just shipped Lens 2026.4.151333-latest which includes a fix for one of the grey-screen variants (migration state corruption from upgrades) -- available to download at https://lenshq.io/download. Before doing a full reinstall next time, try updating to the new version first. If that doesn't clear it, you can also try deleting just the app data: ~/Library/Application Support/Lens/persisted-state/ and ~/Library/Application Support/Lens/lens-local-storage/app.json. That resolves a known variant without losing your cluster configs.

[manfredipist]

unfortunately the issue is not solved :/
I even deleted the whole Lens folder from Application Support and Applications but without success

Running with gpu disabled worked just fine
open /Applications/Lens.app --args --disable-gpu

[clrothmann]

Hi @manfredipist, thanks for testing -- --disable-gpu working confirms this is a GPU-process-crash variant, tracked separately from the migration-state fix we shipped last week. We do have logs from the original reporter, but those were captured on the older 2026.2.111511-latest build. A fresh set from your crashed session on 2026.4.151333-latest would help us verify whether the same signature persists on the current build.

Could you share lens-main.log and lens-renderer-root-frame.log from ~/Library/Application Support/Lens/logs/, taken right after a crash (without --disable-gpu)? Your exact macOS version + Mac model would also help us spot a correlation. Thanks!

[xucq07]

I don't think this problem has been resolved; it still exists.

[clrothmann]

Hi @xucq07,

Thanks for coming back on this -- and honestly, I'm sorry the grey screen is still hitting you after all this time. Quick transparency: the fix we shipped in 2026.4.151333-latest on 2026-04-15 addressed a different variant of the grey screen (migration-state corruption on upgrades) -- the GPU-process crash you originally reported is a separate variant, tracked internally and still open.

In the meantime, one workaround has held up for another user on the same variant: launching Lens with open /Applications/Lens.app --args --disable-gpu brings the UI up. It's not a real fix, but it gets you working while we sort out the GPU path.

Your return here also bumps the priority on our side -- two independent confirmations on the current build means this one needs to move up the queue. I'll update this issue as soon as there's something to try.

[clrothmann]

Hi @xucq07, one small follow-up -- our team just flagged a question we should have asked earlier: could you share your exact Mac model and chip (Apple menu -> About This Mac, e.g. "MacBook Pro 14-inch 2021, Apple M1 Pro" or "MacBook Air 13-inch 2017, Intel Core i5")? We want to cross-reference against the Electron / Chromium GPU-support matrix -- certain older hardware configurations may not be fully supported by the GPU stack in recent builds, and that would explain the GPU-process crash signature you're seeing. Thanks!

[xucq07]

Hi,

Sure thing. Here are the details for my Mac:

Model: MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)

Chip: Apple M3

Memory: 24 GB

[manfredipist]

Hi @manfredipist, thanks for testing -- --disable-gpu working confirms this is a GPU-process-crash variant, tracked separately from the migration-state fix we shipped last week. We do have logs from the original reporter, but those were captured on the older 2026.2.111511-latest build. A fresh set from your crashed session on 2026.4.151333-latest would help us verify whether the same signature persists on the current build.

Could you share lens-main.log and lens-renderer-root-frame.log from ~/Library/Application Support/Lens/logs/, taken right after a crash (without --disable-gpu)? Your exact macOS version + Mac model would also help us spot a correlation. Thanks!

Hi @clrothmann ,
Actually I haven't got any logs folder inside Lens.. strange..
Btw I'm running on Mac mini M4 on Tahoe, 16gb ram

[manfredipist]

With the newest version of Lens, neither disable gpu arg is working anymore. I've tried to uninstall, restart, remove all the missing pieces (cache/logs) but without any success, Lens won't run anymore on my Mac..

[manfredipist]

I've actually found a fix you could investigate to solve the issue:
once the gray screen of death occurs, you need to download the intel version, run it, then reinstall the apple silicon version and it will start working again