Activation screen is black

[WonFelten]

Turbotax 2023 activation screen is black, therefore, I am not able to activate the SW.

[JohnW152]

See the TurboTax Help articles below for guidance in addressing your activation issue:

• Troubleshoot TurboTax for Windows downloading issues 
• Troubleshoot installation and running TurboTax for Windows, and 
• Reinstall TurboTax for Windows 8.1/10/11 

[WonFelten]

I have uninstalled and installed TT 2023 Premier FOUR times now. Each time same results. For the last two reinstalls, I also ran w_perrelsuperpatchIS_ttax_2023.exe. Still the activation screen is black...Now what?

[CatinaT1]

Please call TurboTax Customer service.  Here is a link:  Turbo Tax Customer Service 

[WonFelten]

I had to reinstall Windows 10 to get past this problem. 

I noticed even my previously installed/working TurboTax 2022 was showing black screens when I tried to open my last year's tax return.

[mac5s]

Is there a resolution for this issue short of reinstalling Windows.  Have tried resolution, scaling, dpi, on the phone for almost 2 hours with Intuit (no help by the way, they finally told me to contact Microsoft).  I have changed default browsers, ran as administrator, installed as administrator. Turned off Windows Defender.  What am I missing?

[MarilynG1]

Here's some things to try for Blank Screen, Missing Buttons or Images.  

Make sure you're using TurboTax and related files on the C drive of your computer. 

@mac5s 

[mac5s]

Thx... I've been through all of those except for the Defrag.  Gave it a shot with no luck.

[MonikaK1]

To install and activate TurboTax Desktop/Download for 2024, Windows editions, follow the steps in this help article.

There may be other issues going on with your computer. I see that you have already tried some troubleshooting steps. Additional troubleshooting steps are found in this help article. If you are still having trouble, you might also try these steps:

• Run the Windows System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files.
• Delete the downloaded file and download TurboTax again from InstallTurboTax.com. Sometimes files get corrupted during the download process.
• Restart your computer in Selective Startup Mode, and then install TurboTax.
• Install TurboTax on a different computer.

Are you using a Mac device? The advice to other users on this thread was for Windows.

See this help article for troubleshooting steps for Mac issues.

If you have all of the minimum system requirements, for Mac for 2024, you might also try clearing your cache and cookies.  If after trying all of the options mentioned you still have the same problem:

See this help article for instructions on how to contact TurboTax customer support depending on which product you are using.

@mac5s 

[mac5s]

Thx MonikaK1.... Unfortunately no luck with any of these suggestions.

There is a solution out there as the same thing happened to me last year with 2023 version.  Silly me figured it would be resolved for this years version so I did not bookmark the solution found in the Intuit community and for the life of me cannot remember what it was.  I recall that it was an answer to "blank" screen issues people were having but it had nothing to do with changing resolution or scaling (or obviously any of the other things I've tried.  It had something to with changing something in the Windows environment to get the TT authorized/registered (i.e blacked out screen goes away) and then changing the setting back once application registered.

[MonikaK1]

Were you using the same username in the Community last year? You could try searching the Community for your username and some other keywords to get to the solution you found last year.

This thread, though focused on a specific issue, has some suggestions that helped other users:

See if the guidance in the TurboTax Help article How do I fix missing screens, buttons, or images in TurboTax Desktop for Windows? will help with your issue.

If you are using TurboTax for Windows, try this for the blank screen problem -

1. Save your tax return and close the TurboTax program
2. Right click on the TurboTax icon
3. Click on Properties
4. Click on the Compatibility tab
5. Check the box Run this program as an administrator
6. Click on Apply and OK
7. Start the TurboTax program again and see if the problem persists

If after trying all of the options mentioned you still have the same problem:

See this help article and this one for instructions on how to contact TurboTax customer support depending on which product you are using.

[mac5s]

Solved.... I believe this is a bug in the software but here is the solution:

When Turbo Tax starts up it spins up 4-5 processes named "CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess".  With TT running and the black screen showing, open Windows Task Manager and right click on these processes and select End Task.  It may take a few attempts to close the correct one but when you do the black will go away and the activation screen will appear and you will be able to activate with your account.

As mentioned above, this sure seems like a bug.  Why are so many of these processes spun up on startup, please take note and fix for future versions.

[HBS3]

After trying Chrome, MS Edge, Firefox browsers on my Windows PC, I installed the DuckDuckGo browser and was able to access installTurboTax.com for 2024 (turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/cd-download/install-turbotax) with no problems.  Oddly enough, I was able to access this link with no problems using Chrome on my Mac.

[thejarvis]

This is helping. Mine manifests itself as a large black dot in the activation panel that can scroll down to three more large black dots. Killing CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess definitely does something because the dots do go away. But the validation dialog still won't display and those CefSharp processes keep restarting themselves. This is pretty shoddy Q&A.