Why Does Audacity Keep Crashing?

Audacity is a fantastic audio editing software. It is an open-source application by Muse Group and has been free since 2000. It is one of the great sources for creating audio and recording them. The application’s interface is simple and understandable even for the new user. 

However, some users have been reporting that their Audacity keeps crashing. If you are doing some important recordings or editing, these frequent crashes may be frustrating for you. But don’t worry, we have a permanent solution to this problem for you. Let’s jump into some quick tips and solutions.

Why Does Audacity Keep Crashing? – Reasons

There can be various reasons for Audacity crashing. It might be due to an older version, fewer RAM resources, data folder errors, and wrong setting configurations. Your system creates some of these problems, and some are your mistakes. The bright side is that you can fix everything quickly.

Audacity cannot continue to function properly if it does not receive certain configurations and types of audio files. In addition, if you are editing a file that is either incompatible with Audacity or contains errors, this will also cause the software to crash while you are working on it.

• Wrong Setting Configurations: If you have accidentally configured the wrong or unsupported settings to your Audacity, it won’t properly work. 
• File Doesn’t Support: Using an unsupported audio file may cause the random crashing of Audacity during editing. 
• Outdated version: The older version of Audacity doesn’t support the latest file formats. It might be the reason your Audacity keeps closing.
• Driver Issue: Audio drivers of your systems are always at work during your editing process. If any audio driver is old or corrupted, it will not only cause the crashing issue but also cause editing problems.
• Background Applications: Some background applications like antivirus or Windows Defenders will force Audacity to close. 
• RAM Resources are Full: Audacity requires 2GB or RAM resources with 2GHz of frequency. It will crash randomly if it’s not getting that amount of RAM.
• Moving Project Files: Moving project files from the resource folder will make Audacity crash, as it won’t be able to load these files. 
• Moving the Data Folder: The Data folder is where all Audacity resources like dll and exe files are located and in constant use while you are editing. Moving the data folder will ultimately corrupt your Audacity. 

All these are some major reasons why your Audacity keeps crashing randomly. We will discuss some of the best ways to tackle these problems in no time. 

Restore The Settings To Default

Restoring the settings to default brings the application back to its normal settings. These settings are best to work. If you think the settings are problematic, you can quickly fix them by restoring them to their default value. 

• Open Audacity and click on the “Tool” file.
• Find the “Reset Configure.”

Note: Try to restore the settings after finishing any running projects. It might not damage your recent project at all. 

Convert Audio Files To Supported Formate

Audacity supports a few file types. The application doesn’t support some audio files. Audacity supports MP3, WAV, AIFF, AU files, FLAC, and Ogg. If you are trying to edit any other file than these, it might cause a crashing issue. So always ensure you use a supported file type while editing in Audacity. 

• To convert your audio file to MP3, AIFF, WAV, etc., formats, go to Online Audio Converter.
• Browse your file and click convert.

Install or Update Audacity to the Newer Version

Newer versions of any applications are the improved versions with many bugs resolved. If you are using an old version of Audacity, there is a possibility that it’s not compatible with your system or file formats. So, always download and install the latest version of Audacity from their official website. 

• First of all, check for new updates by launching the Audacity application.
• Then, navigate to the “Help” menu.
• Here you will find the “Check for updates,” click it to check and install the latest version. 

Update System Audio Drivers

When you use Audacity to edit, the audio drivers are always running. If an audio driver is old or corrupted, it can cause Audacity to crash and make it hard to edit. So, always make sure that your system has the latest sound drivers. It can only be done by updating the drivers.

Update Audio Drivers Manually

In the manual method, you must go to the device manager and update the driver. You have to download the required audio driver from the manufacturer’s website in the manual method. These drivers are then loaded to the task manager driver installer. Here’s how you can do it.

• Go to the start menu, search “Device Manager,” and open the program.
• Now navigate to “Sound, video, and game controllers” and click on your audio driver.
• Go to “Update device driver” and click “Browse my computer for drivers.”
• You can also search for the latest drivers online by clicking “Search automatically for drivers.”

• Your computer will search for and install the latest version of your sound driver.

Update Audio Drivers Automatically

Many third-party apps can update your drivers. Driver Easy is one of the best driver updater tools to automatically detect and install the latest drivers. It’s a free tool, and it’s very easy to use.

• First, download and launch Driver Easy on your PC.
• Click the Scan Now button to scan for new drivers.
• Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.

• Click Update next to the flagged audio driver to automatically download and install the correct version of this driver (you can do this with the FREE version).

Close All Background Applications

Why do you have to close the background apps? The use of audio drivers is widespread among background programs. Therefore, the audio drivers will be utilized by any project editing software. Frequent use might wear down the audio drivers, resulting in an audacity crash. You should end whatever multitasking you’re doing before beginning your work.

• Open Task Manager by pressing the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys on your keyboard.
• Click on Processes and look for any suspicious or useless process running in the background.
• Right-click on it and click End Task.

• Repeat this process for every suspicious process you find in the task manager. 

Free Some RAM 

RAM resources are used when you open files in Audacity. The recommended RAM for Audacity is 2 GB. If your PC doesn’t have enough RAM resources, it might cause a crashing issue. So if your background or side-by-side running applications take too much RAM, close them.

• Open Task Manager by pressing the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys on your keyboard.
• First, check the “Memory” from the “Performance tab.” If the memory is showing high graphs, then close some applications.

 

• Go to the “Processes” tab and find the application consuming more memory. Close the application.

Restore Data Into Data Folder

Your project files should be stored in the data folder. Renaming or relocating a file in the data folder can cause corruption and cause your project to break. Try restoring your data into the data folder if you suspect that this is the cause of Audacity’s instability.

• Open Audacity, click “File,” and click “Open project.”

• Here, you will find the folder where your project data is stored.
• Now, navigate to the same folder from your drive and restore the data you accidentally removed.

Conclusion

These are some of the solutions to keep Audacity from crashing. Try these methods one by one and check which one works for you. After trying all the methods, if Audacity still crashes, there might be an issue with your hardware. Then this is the time you need to buy a new system.