When you try to open a YouTube video on your computer, it prompts up a message: Audio renderer error. Would you mind restarting your computer?
How to fix it? Don’t worry. After analyzing several posts on how to fix audio renderer error YouTube, I summarized the top 5 solutions. If you encounter the same error, try the following solutions one by one.
How to Fix an Audio Renderer Error
Restart Your Computer
Restarting your computer might also get rid of the “Audio renderer error. Please restart your computer.” error. Although some users report that this is only a temporary fix, you can still have a try. If the audio renderer error no longer appears on your computer after restarting, you don’t need to try other possible solutions.
However, if the audio renderer error occurs again after a few minutes, you should try the following solutions to eliminate the issue permanently.
Replug Your Audio Playback Devices
If you have connected one or more audio playback devices on your PC while playing a YouTube video, you may get the YouTube audio renderer error. If this is the case, unplug your audio playback device and then plug them back in.
After unplugging your audio playback devices and re-plugging it on your computer, check if the audio renderer error disappears and YouTube videos can be played. If this method doesn’t work, try the next solution.
Run the Audio Troubleshooter
You can troubleshoot the audio renderer error by running the audio troubleshooter on your Windows computer. The Windows built-in Audio Troubleshooter can help you resolve some common audio-related problems. If you don’t know how to run the Audio Troubleshooter, you can follow the steps below:
- Right-click the Windows Start menu and choose Settings from the list.
- On the Settings window, select Update & Security.
- Then locate the Troubleshoot section and click on Playing Audio. Then click Run the troubleshooter.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to diagnose the audio renderer error on your computer.
If there is an audio issue detected, the Audio Troubleshooter will fix it automatically. After it is finished, you can restart your computer and check whether the audio renderer error gets fixed.
If the Audio Troubleshooter cannot fix the issue, please move down to the next solution.
Restart the Audio Device
Restarting the audio device can also help you remove the audio renderer error. If the above methods don’t work, you can try this method.
- Press the Windows log key + R keys on the keyboard to bring up the Run box. Type devmgmt.msc in the Run box and hit Enter to open Device Manager.
- In the Device Manager, find and expand Sound, video, and game controllers. Right-click on every audio adapter in there and choose Disable device.
- Wait for a few seconds. Then right-click every audio adapter and choose Enable device.
Then you can restart your computer and check if the YouTube audio renderer error is fixed or not.
Uninstall the Audio Driver
The audio renderer error could be caused by a problematic audio driver on your PC. In this case, you should uninstall the audio driver. Uninstalling the audio driver will also force Windows to reinstall the audio driver, fixing some driver issues on your PC.
So, if you encounter the “Audio renderer error, please restart your computer.” Error, you can try uninstalling the audio driver. If you don’t know how to uninstall it, you can follow the steps below:
- Press Windows log key + R keys on the keyboard to bring up a Run dialog box. Type devmgmt.msc in the box and hit Enter to open Device Manager.
- Expand Sound, video, and game controllers and double-click on your audio adapter.
- In the pop-up window, switch to the Driver tab and click on Uninstall Device. Then follow the prompts to finish the process.
- Then restart your computer. After restarting, the audio driver will be reinstalled automatically.
- After restarting, you can check if YouTube audio renderer error gets fixed.
Close Audio Mixing Programs
Audio mixing programs such as Mixcraft can take exclusive control of the audio drivers, preventing your browser from using them. If you have a similar program up and running in the background, exiting it completely before watching YouTube can help.
You can also prevent these applications from taking control of your audio devices. In Mixcraft, for example, head into File > Preferences > Sound Device and turn off the switch next to Exclusive Mode.
That can result in latency issues while using the program, so remember to enable Exclusive Mode (or its equivalent) when needed.
Disable/Enable Sound Devices
Disabling and enabling the default audio playback device on your computer is another potent fix to resolve the audio renderer error in Windows 10.
- Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
- Expand Audio inputs and outputs.
- Right-click your default audio device and choose Disable device.
Note: If multiple devices are listed, select the Volume icon on the system tray to figure out your default playback device.
- Select Yes to confirm.
- Right-click the audio device again and select Enable device.
Rollback Audio Drivers
Did the YouTube audio renderer error begin to pop up after updating any audio playback device or sound card-related drivers? In that case, try rolling them back.
Note: You can’t use the Roll Back Driver option in the steps below if you haven’t updated your audio drivers.
Audio Playback Device
- Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
- Expand Audio inputs and outputs.
- Right-click your default audio device and choose Properties.
- Switch to the Driver tab.
- Select Roll Back Driver.
Audio Card Drivers
- Expand the Sound, video, and game controllers section within the Device Manager.
- Right-click the audio card driver and select Properties.
- Switch to the Driver tab.
- Select Roll Back Driver.
- Repeat steps 2-4 if you see multiple audio drivers.
Update Web Browser
An outdated web browser can also cause issues in web apps such as YouTube. Although browsers such as Chrome and Firefox have been designed to update automatically, it’s always a good idea to double-check.
- In Google Chrome, open the Chrome menu, point to Help, and select About Google Chrome.
- In Mozilla Firefox, open the Firefox menu, point to Help, and then select About Firefox.
- In Microsoft Edge, open the Edge menu, point to Help & Feedback, and choose About Microsoft Edge.
