🖱️ Mouse input freezes after closing titlebar menu on installed software (VS Code, Obsidian, Blender, etc...) #1798
Description
🧩 Summary
GNOME input freezes when dismissing the titlebar context menu in external (.deb-installed) apps such as Obsidian or VS Code. Input restores after pressing the super key.
Suggested labels: bug, GNOME, Xorg, input, external-apps
🐞 Bug Description
Right-clicking the title bar of externally installed apps (Obsidian, VS Code, Blender) causes GNOME input to freeze after clicking outside the context menu. Important note: System-integrated apps (Firefox, Terminal, Settings) do not show this issue.
♻️ Steps to Reproduce
- Open an externally installed app (e.g., Obsidian or VS Code).
- Right-click the window title bar to open the system context menu.
- Click anywhere outside the context menu.
- Mouse input freezes and stops responding.
- Press Super to restore input.
⚙️ Expected Behavior
Clicking outside the context menu should simply close it.
Instead, GNOME input freezes until Super is pressed.
📸 Screenshot Example
The issue occurs in Obsidian and VS Code but not in Firefox. Here, I demonstrate right-clicking on the vs-code titlebar, and opening the system-level window options. Clicking away, will freeze mouse input for the entire system, and lock the mouse in it's current state... (if it was in a text field, it will stay locked as a text cursor.)
📝 Additional Notes
- Occurs only with apps installed externally (e.g., via
.deb). - System-integrated apps behave correctly.
- Pressing Super restores focus immediately.
- This issue occurs 100% of the attempts
🔎 Possible Cause
May be related to how non-integrated applications handle GNOME’s window management or input focus events.
System apps likely communicate focus changes correctly, while .deb apps may not.
🔌 System Info
| Field | Specs |
|---|---|
| OS | Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS |
| Desktop Environment | GNOME |
| Session Type | Xorg (X11) |
| GPU | AMD RX 570 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5000G |
| Installation Date | Fresh install (a few days old) |