Fixing Google Chrome browser permanently stuck in fullscreen mode

I have recently updated my perfectly stable installation of Google Chrome to version 14 and have ran into a really annoying bug that was preventing me from exiting the full-screen mode. I have not used F11 button in years, that is why I was quite shocked to see Chrome launch in a full-screen mode on my external monitor right after I completed my upgrade. Immediately I have tried hitting F11, but nothing worked. Apparently I was not the only one faced with this situation. Several bug reports mention dual monitor setup as a possible precursor to this problem.

A web search on this topic brings up a dozen of possible solutions. None of them seemed to work for me. Some suggestions were not appropriate as they required completely wiping user settings and browser history. Below is a list of suggestions that did NOT do anything:

  • Press F11 - Obvious one
  • Press ctrl+l - Navigating to a new location is disabled
  • Press ctrl+n - This opens a new window that is also full-screen
  • Executing metacity --replace --no-force-fullscreen on the command line - No positive outcome. F11 still blocked.
  • Deleting the "window_placement" section from /home/user/.config/google-chrome/Local State file - Does not accomplish anything either.
  • Wiping Chrome user settings - Not really a solution. Its a measure of last resort.

    • By the time I have found a solution that would not compromise my browser history, I have already migrated back to Mozilla Firefox in hopes that some day Chrome will get these issues under control. Several days later I have discovered a way to bring Chrome back to life. The solution is very simple and comes down to editing the /home/user/.config/google-chrome/Default/Preferences file. I removed everything between the curly brackets of the "window_placement" section: "window_placement": {}. After restarting Chrome everything started working fine and my history and user settings were preserved.

    I have been having a number of issues with Chrome up to this point, but none of them were as severe as the forced full-screen issue. Following are some of the problems that I have experienced with latest Chrome releases:

  • Window stuck in full-screen mode - Bug 31199
  • Missing address bar and tabs in full-screen mode and handicapped ctr+l. Developers are refusing to fix this particular behaviour: Bug 8022
  • Pressing back button skips a page and removes it from history - Bug 84825 and Bug 94729
  • No official way to revert to previous stable versions of Chrome.

    • This experience has taught me an important lesson. Chrome might be the shiniest new toy. It is however not any more reliable than the competition, and might not be suitable for serious business use. Just the fact that it frequently introduces radical and untested changes should serve as a red flag. With the release of latest Firefox Aurora and its incremental updates mechanism, Google Chrome lost most of its competitive advantage.

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