Cannot interact with a Google Map Info Window before it has

Error message

Cannot interact with a Google Map Info Window before it has been initialized. Please wait for the Info Window to load before trying to interact with it.

What it means

Thrown by MapInfoWindow's dev-mode assertion when its internal google.maps.InfoWindow is still undefined. The InfoWindow object is created asynchronously once the component initializes within a map. The library asserts before every interaction so developers get a clear message rather than a TypeError on undefined.

Source

Thrown at src/google-maps/map-info-window/map-info-window.ts:274

    this._options.pipe(takeUntil(this._destroy)).subscribe(options => {
      this._assertInitialized();
      this.infoWindow.setOptions(options);
    });
  }

  private _watchForPositionChanges() {
    this._position.pipe(takeUntil(this._destroy)).subscribe(position => {
      if (position) {
        this._assertInitialized();
        this.infoWindow.setPosition(position);
      }
    });
  }

  private _assertInitialized(): asserts this is {infoWindow: google.maps.InfoWindow} {
    if (typeof ngDevMode === 'undefined' || ngDevMode) {
      if (!this.infoWindow) {
        throw Error(
          'Cannot interact with a Google Map Info Window before it has been ' +
            'initialized. Please wait for the Info Window to load before trying to interact with ' +
            'it.',
        );
      }
    }
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 0411926e7d)

Solutions

Call open()/close() only after the map and info window are initialized — e.g. inside map.ready subscription or ngAfterViewInit.
If opening from an external event, guard with a flag set after first successful initialization, or check the component reference exists before calling.
Ensure MapInfoWindow is placed inside a MapComponent so _initialize runs with a valid map.
Ensure the Google Maps JS API has loaded; without it initialization never completes.
Catch the error around open/close calls to avoid breaking event handlers in dev.

Example fix

// before
ngOnInit() {
  this.infoWindow.open(this.map.googleMap); // throws: not yet initialized
}
// after
ngAfterViewInit() {
  this.map.ready.subscribe(() => this.infoWindow.open(this.map.googleMap));
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (!infoWindowRef) { /* defer open */ }

Type guard

function isInfoWindowReady(w: MapInfoWindow | undefined): w is MapInfoWindow { return !!w; }

Try / catch

try {
  infoWindow.open(map.googleMap, anchor);
} catch (e) {
  if ((e as Error).message.includes('Info Window')) {
    this.map.ready.subscribe(() => infoWindow.open(map.googleMap, anchor));
  } else { throw e; }
}

Prevention

Open/close info windows only after map.ready.
Keep MapInfoWindow inside the MapComponent template.
Avoid opening windows from events that fire before view init.
Use a ready flag set after first successful open.
Re-acquire component references when *ngIf recreates the window.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling open(), close(), getContent(), getPosition(), getZIndex(), or triggering _watchForOptionsChanges before the infoWindow object exists — e.g. calling open() in ngOnInit, before the hosting map is rendered, or when the InfoWindow is used outside a MapComponent context that initializes it.

Common situations: Programmatically opening an info window immediately after page load, opening from an event that fires before view init, rendering MapInfoWindow outside <map> or before Google Maps API load, toggling *ngIf that recreates the window while holding a stale reference.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of angular/components@0411926e7d (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bf9c2ebd499fc045. Report an issue: GitHub.