How To Close Stuck Authentication Required Window in Ubuntu 20.04?

In this article, we will explore several methods to resolve the issue of a stuck Authentication Required window in Ubuntu 20.04. This is a common issue experienced by many users, and we will provide detailed steps to help you navigate through it.

Restarting GNOME Shell

The first approach to resolving this issue is by restarting the GNOME Shell. GNOME Shell is the graphical shell of the GNOME desktop environment. Restarting it can often resolve minor glitches, such as a stuck window.

To restart GNOME Shell:

1. Press Alt + F2 on your keyboard. This will open the Run Command dialog.
2. Type r into the dialog and press Enter.

Alternatively, you can restart GNOME Shell from the terminal:

1. Open a terminal using Ctrl + Alt + T.
2. Run the command killall -3 gnome-shell.

The killall command is used to terminate processes, and the -3 option sends a SIGQUIT signal, which is a polite request for the process to terminate.

Creating a GNOME Fix Alias

If the issue persists, you can create a GNOME fix alias. An alias in Linux is a command that you can set to perform a specific task. By creating a GNOME fix alias, you can quickly restart GNOME Shell whenever the issue arises.

To create a GNOME fix alias:

For zsh and bash:

1. Open a terminal.
2. Run the command alias gf='dbus-send --type=method_call --dest=org.gnome.Shell /org/gnome/Shell org.gnome.Shell.Eval string:"global.reexec_self()"'.

For fish:

1. Open a terminal.
2. Run the command alias gf 'dbus-send --type=method_call --dest=org.gnome.Shell /org/gnome/Shell org.gnome.Shell.Eval string:"global.reexec_self()"'.

The alias command creates a new alias, gf, which runs the dbus-send command. The dbus-send command sends a message to the D-Bus message bus system, which in this case, is used to restart GNOME Shell.

Uninstalling the Chrome Remote Desktop Package

In some cases, the issue may be caused by the Chrome Remote Desktop package. If you have recently installed this package, uninstalling it may resolve the issue.

To uninstall the Chrome Remote Desktop package:

1. Open a terminal.
2. Run the command sudo apt-get remove chrome-remote-desktop.

The sudo command is used to run the following command with root privileges. The apt-get remove command is used to uninstall a package.

Manually Killing the Process

If the above solutions don’t work, you can try manually killing the process that is causing the stuck window.

To manually kill the process:

1. Open a terminal.
2. Run the command ps ax | grep /usr/bin/nautilus.
3. Find the PID (Process ID) of the nautilus process.
4. Run the command kill <PID>, replacing <PID> with the actual process ID.

The ps ax command lists all the running processes, and the grep /usr/bin/nautilus command filters the list to show only the nautilus process. The kill command is used to terminate the process.

Please note that these solutions have been suggested by different users and may have varying levels of success. Additionally, restarting GNOME Shell or killing processes may cause some applications or games to exit, so it’s recommended to save your work before attempting these solutions.

We hope this article has been helpful in resolving your issue. If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to us.