Upgrade StorageBug after updating to Zotero 10.0.2 (64-bit) on Windows
Report ID: 2100796311
Since updating to Zotero 10.0.2 (64-bit) on Windows, the built-in PDF reader has become unusable for me.
What happens: when I open a PDF, the document view flickers continuously and the whole window appears to shake or jitter. The problem is most severe with scanned PDFs, but it occurs to some degree with other PDFs as well. The flickering does not stop on its own, and the application becomes effectively unusable while a PDF is open.
Environment
Zotero 10.0.2 (64-bit)
Windows 11 Home
Since updating to Zotero 10.0.2 (64-bit) on Windows, the built-in PDF reader has become unusable for me.
What happens: when I open a PDF, the document view flickers continuously and the whole window appears to shake or jitter. The problem is most severe with scanned PDFs, but it occurs to some degree with other PDFs as well. The flickering does not stop on its own, and the application becomes effectively unusable while a PDF is open.
Environment
Zotero 10.0.2 (64-bit)
Windows 11 Home
But I'd guess that this is a problem with your graphic drivers/settings. You should check to see if there's an update, and if there are configurable settings, make sure they're set to treat Zotero as if it's Firefox.
Here are my graphics details:
Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (integrated)
Driver version: 32.0.101.7085, dated 2026-02-03, WHQL signed
Driver model: WDDM 3.2
Shared memory 8035 MB / dedicated VRAM 128 MB
This same driver was already installed when 10.0.1 was running without any problem. Nothing changed on my end except the update to 10.0.2, and the flickering started immediately afterwards.
- The flickering only occurs while a PDF tab is open, but it isn't limited to the document area: the sidebar flickers too, including notes opened in the right-hand pane. The library view on its own never flickers.
- It happens with the document completely idle — no scrolling, no cursor movement, no interaction.
- The problem persists in Troubleshooting Mode, so it isn't caused by a plugin.
- Setting gfx.webrender.software to true made no difference at all.
- The same PDFs open in Firefox's built-in reader on this same machine with no flickering whatsoever — same GPU, same driver, same display settings. (I used Firefox 155.0.1 (64-bits))
- Correction to my first post: it affects most PDFs, not just scanned ones. Scanned files are simply where it's most intense.