Getting Audio renderer Error while opening or watching Youtube videos on your computer. You may experience Audio renderer error on youtube after a recent Windows update, or changing the audio device and it’s not limited to a specific browser. Users report “Audio renderer error. Please restart your computer” while open youtube videos on their PC. Usually, this problem can be solved by reconnecting the Audio device (Headphones) or clearing the browser cache. Sometimes you need to go deeper, update or roll back Audio driver, run the Audio troubleshooter or Disable Hardware Acceleration to fix the Youtube audio renderer error on Windows 11.
Youtube audio renderer error
Audio renderer error on Youtube typically occurs when your computer encounters difficulties in processing and playing audio. Several factors can contribute to audio renderer errors, Outdated or Incompatible Audio Drivers, Software Glitches, Conflicting Applications or Malfunctioning or improperly connected audio hardware are common.
Again it may be because multiple playback devices are connected to the system, sound settings aren’t compatible with your audio hardware or Some important system-related files are missing or corrupt.
Restart Your Computer
Sometimes, a simple restart can clear temporary glitches that might be causing the audio renderer error on Youtube. Save any ongoing work and close all applications before restarting your computer.
Restarting your computer can clear temporary glitches that may be causing the audio renderer error.
If the audio renderer error only happens with YouTube videos, then Try clearing the browser cache files and then reload the Youtube video.
For a few Windows users, unplugged headphones and plugged them back in and the problem was gone. Reconnect the external device that you are using to ensure that there is no weak connection of the device with the system.
Disconnect the second audio playback device
If you have connected more than one audio playback device such as a speaker and headphones or Connected a Bluetooth speaker, there might chance of getting The Audio renderer error while playing a youtube video.
We recommend disconnect or unplug the second audio playback device and check if YouTube can play audio without any error.
Again Loose or improperly connected cables can contribute to audio rendering issues. check and Ensure that all audio cables and connections, whether internal or external devices are securely plugged in.
Run Audio Troubleshooter
Another potential fix that might help you fix the “Audio renderer error. Please restart your computer” error is to run the built-in audio troubleshooter. It’s a built-in utility that essentially contains a collection of repair strategies for common audio related problems that treat many common audio problems on Windows 11.
The built-in Audio troubleshooter Automatically diagnose and fix common audio-related problems
- Right-click on start menu select settings,
- Click Update & Security then troubleshoot
- You can also press Windows + R, type ms-settings: troubleshoot and click ok to open the same screen.
- Click on the Additional Troubleshooter link (refer image below)
- locate and select playing audio, then click on run troubleshooter,
- This will start the diagnose process, select the device with which you’re encountering the “Audio renderer error. Please restart your computer” and follow on-screen instructions.
- Once done, reboot your PC and check if the Audio renderer error is resolved or not.
Restart Your Audio Driver
Sometimes due to a temporary glitch or bug, Windows OS may occupy some dynamic system files which may affect your audio device performance and cause the error. Well Restarting the audio driver could help release the occupied system files and fix the audio problem in Windows 10
- Right-click on the start menu and select Device Manager.
- This will display all installed device driver lists, expand the Sound, video and game controllers option.
- Here you should find the driver of your audio device, Right-click on it and select Disable device.
- After confirming the change, reboot your PC
- Again open the device manager and locate the audio driver this time right-click on the same device and select Enable device.
Now check if the issue has been resolved that was previously triggering the “Audio renderer error. Please restart your computer.” error.
Roll Back the audio driver
If the problem started after the Windows update or audio driver update, uninstall or roll back the audio driver following the steps below.
- Press Windows + R, type devmgmt.msc and click to open device manager,
- Expand the Sound, video and game controllers option, Right-click on the driver of your audio device select properties,
- Move to the driver tab, and look if the Rollback driver option is available,
- if yes, click on it and follow the on-screen instructions to revert the audio driver to the previous version.
- Reboot your device and check if the audio renderer error has been resolved.
Reinstall Your Audio Driver
Again corrupted or outdated versions of the audio driver can cause this audio renderer error on your device. If the above solutions fail to fix the “Audio renderer error. please restart your computer” try to reinstall the audio driver following the steps below.
- Press the Windows key + X and choose Device Manager.
- Locate the Sound, video and game controllers section and expand it.
- Right-click on the Audio driver select uninstall the device,
- Checkmark on delete the driver software for this device, and click uninstall When ask for confirmation.
- And follow the prompts to finish the process, Once done reboot your device.
- On the next start, the audio driver will be reinstalled automatically. or visit the device manufacturer’s website to download and install the latest audio driver on your PC.
- Now try to play any video on YouTube to check whether any error message comes up or not.
Change The Audio Format
Several users on the Microsoft forum have reported that they fixed the “audio renderer error, Please restart your computer” error message by changing the audio format only. You can try to change the audio format on Windows 10 by following the steps.
- Right-click on the speaker icon and choose ‘Sounds. ‘
- under the playback tab, you will see all connected playback devices.
- You have to double-click on the active playback device to open its properties,
- Now head to the Advanced tab and change the audio format. You can try ’16bit, 44100 HZ (CD quality)’. You can try any of them.
Disable the Hardware Acceleration
Again Some affected users have reported Disable the Hardware Acceleration option on the web browser helps them get rid of this Audio renderer error on YouTube. Therefore, you should disable hardware acceleration by following these steps:
To disable Hardware Acceleration on Google Chrome:
- Open chrome settings chrome://settings/system
- Here toggle off the “Use hardware acceleration when available” option under the System section.
- After doing this, restart Google Chrome.
To disable Hardware Acceleration on Mozilla Firefox:
- Open the Mozilla Firefox application and go to the Menu section.
- Choose the Options from the menu list, navigate to the General section and then untick the box next to the “Use hardware acceleration when available” button under the Performance section.
- Now, restart the Mozilla Firefox application.
In addition, If you’re using third-party audio management software (e.g., Realtek HD Audio Manager), ensure that settings are correctly configured and not causing conflicts.
Sometimes, Outdated browser is the reason why you are getting Audio renderer error. please restart your computer. consider downloading the latest browser update to fix the issue.
Again If you started experiencing the error after recent changes, performing a system restore can revert your computer to a point before the issue occurred.
Also read:
- Solved: Bluetooth Headset not showing in playback devices Windows 10
- 5 ways to fix sound not working “audio device is disabled” on Windows 10
- Solved: No sound for YouTube Videos on Windows 10 PC (Updated)
- Microsoft Edge won’t play YouTube videos on Windows 10? Here is how to fix
- Solved: Computer randomly restarts while playing games windows 10
