Survivable Browsing In Virtualized Desktop Environment When Host Connectivity Is Lost

Techniques are provided herein for providing survivable browsing when a client endpoint device loses contact with its host server. A Hosted Virtual Desktop (HVD) draws and communicates an HVD display image comprising a HVD browser window to the client endpoint device for display, via a virtual desktop interface (VDI) protocol. A browser (or browser extension) on the HVD works together with a browser server on the client endpoint device to synchronize browser data, and in some examples to render data such as streaming media in a client-provided frameless browser window in place of a placeholder in the HVD browser window. In response to the detection of an inactive VDI session, the browser server on the client endpoint device launches an endpoint browser instance to seamlessly switch browsing from the HVD browser window to an endpoint browser window, using the browser synchronization data.