[Bug]: Unable to perform hover on an element after using page.reload(); or window.location.reload()

[awacode21]

Version

^1.52.0

Steps to reproduce

Simple steps to reproduce:

• You have a page that contains for example a button that shows content when hovering it.
• Within playwright test you go to that page, you wait for the page to load and hydrate, you hover the button, the related content is displayed.

Now 2 possible ways for page reload.

1. within playwright test, use await page.reload()
2. button within app that triggers window.location.reload()

• Again wait for page to load and hydrate, then hover the button ----> NOTHING HAPPENS!

There is a Workaround:
after page reload you need to click somewhere in the page before try to hover, or do await page.locator('body').hover(); before try to hover the button, then it will work.

So it seems somehow the page looses its focus and need to get it back again before being able to do something like hover.

Expected behavior

After page reload the page should be as functional as before the reload, the reload should not end up with the page loosing focus

Actual behavior

It seems like page looses focus after reload, so you need to focus back into page before performing a hover or similar actions.

Additional context

I already tried to use page.bringToFront(); as documentation says "Brings page to front (activates tab)" after the reload and before hovering but it did not work. The page does not seem to be "active".

Additional Info: The Test uses "Desktop Chrome"

Environment

System:
    OS: macOS 15.6.1
    CPU: (12) arm64 Apple M2 Max
    Memory: 632.88 MB / 64.00 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 22.14.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.14.0/bin/node
    npm: 11.5.2 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.14.0/bin/npm
  IDEs:
    VSCode: 1.5.9 - /usr/local/bin/code
  Languages:
    Bash: 3.2.57 - /bin/bash
  npmPackages:
    @playwright/test: ^1.52.0 => 1.53.0

[pavelfeldman]

If you hover the element manually and hit Ctrl+R to reload, doesn't the same thing happen?

[awacode21]

No. When i am visiting the application in real browser and reload the page the way you described the hover is working! The problem relates to playwright. The problem only happens for pages that get reloaded within playwright.

[pavelfeldman]

I see, could you please provide a repro so that we could fix it and add a test for it?