Mattermost Desktop App 5.11 – Important Compatibility Notice

Troubleshooting
1

Update March 12th 2025: 5.11.2 is out now and resolves the issues mentioned below.

You can update through the app or by downloading the latest release from the Desktop App releases page.

Original Post:

We recently released Mattermost Desktop App version 5.11, introducing key performance and reliability improvements. However, this version is only compatible with Mattermost Server 9.4 or higher.

Who Is Affected?

If your organization is running a Mattermost Server version earlier than 9.4, you may experience one of the following issues after updating to Desktop App 5.11:

  • A blank page when trying to access your workspace or boards
  • An endless loading spinner when starting up the app

If your Mattermost Server is already on version 9.4 or higher, you will not be affected.

How to Check Your Desktop App Version

To confirm if you are using Desktop App 5.11:

  1. Open the Mattermost Desktop App.
  2. Click on Help in the top menu.
  3. Locate the Version Information at the bottom of the dropdown.

If your version is 5.11, and you are unable to access Mattermost, follow the steps below to restore access.

How to Fix This Issue

You can downgrade to an earlier version of the Desktop App to restore functionality:

  1. Uninstall Desktop App 5.11.
  2. Download and install an earlier version:
  3. Relaunch the app and log in as usual.

What We’re Doing About It

We recognize the impact this has had on some users, and we’re actively working on a hotfix. The next update will:

  • Display a clear error message instead of a blank screen or endless spinner
  • Provide guidance on resolving the issue for affected users

For more details, check out our Desktop App changelog and Known Issues section.

If you need help, visit our Community Forum or report issues on our GitHub repository.

We appreciate your patience and support as we work toward a resolution.

Notice: This post has been updated today (Thu 20th Feb) with better wording and guidance for end users who will be most affected by this change.

2 Likes
2

We are running on Mattermost version: 9.11.6 and I do get the screen Incompatible Server Version

3

I got this error running on Mattermost v10.5.1 which was installed through Cloudron.

Downgrading the client worked, but should there be a compatibility issue with the above setup?

4

We’re also getting the Incompatible server version while running 10.3 on our server. So far I have only seen this with Windows clients.

5

After upgrading our server from version 9.0.5 to 10.5.1, the Mattermost Desktop App for Windows (version 5.11.1) still displays an Incompatible server version
upon startup. However, when I click on “channels” in the header, the usual channel list appears.

I would also like to know if there is a way to have the channel list page displayed immediately upon launching the application.

6

Caught it too. macOS Sequoia 15.3.1, Mattermost Client (from AppStore) 5.11.1 (135901780382), Mattermost Server 10.5.1.

7

Suggest rolling back to 5.10.2 until 5.11.2 comes out and should resolve these issues.

1 Like
8

Hi all,
We’ve identified a bug with the incompatibility screen in 5.11.1 that causes issues on Windows systems even if the server is running a compatible version.
The safe workaround is to downgrade to 5.10.2 for the time being while the team is working hard on getting a 5.11.2 dot release out to address this issue.

Thanks again for understanding!

1 Like
9

For anyone still waiting on the update, it’s already available for download (thanks Mattermost staff :heart:)

You will need to manually check for the update.

Click on the three dots in the top left of the App, hover over “help” and then “check for updates”

2 Likes
10

Thank you @catmechanic. I have updated the OP with the desktop app release page and will mark this topic as resolved for now.

If anyone is still encountering issues after upgrading 5.11.2 please continue to post in this thread.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding!

2 Likes