YouTube Error “Audio renderer error, Please restart your computer” Fix

While playing YouTube videos in your browser, users often come across this error message, “Audio renderer error, Please restart your computer“. If you have recently installed an update and switched the audio device, you may see this error.

It can show up on any Windows version and on any web browser. The good news is, this YouTube error “Audio renderer error, Please restart your computer” can be fixed and quite easily. 

Let’s see how.

 

Method 1: Through Device Manager

 

Step 1: Press the Windows key + X together on your keyboard to open the context menu.

 

Step 2: From the menu, select Device Manager.

 

 

Step 3: In the Device Manager window, scroll down to find Sound, video, and game controllers. Click on the arrow on its left to expand the section.

 

 

Step 4: Select the default audio output from the list. Here, we selected, Realtek High Definition Audio. Now, right-click on it and select Disable device from the right-click menu.

 

 

Step 5: Now, right-click on the default audio device again, and select Enable from the right-click menu.

 

 

Now, restart your computer and try playing the YouTube videos again in your browser. The audio should now play fine without any errors. If the problem persists, try the 2nd method.

 

Method 2: Through Sound Properties

 

Step 1: Go to the Start button (Windows icon) located on the bottom left of your desktop. Right-click on it to open the right-click menu.

 

Step 2: From the right-click menu, select Run to open the Run command.

 

 

Step 3: Now, type mmsys.cpl in the search box and hit Enter to open the Sound properties dialogue box.

 

 

Step 4: In the Sound dialogue box, under the Playback tab check if you have set the audio device you want as the default device.

 

 

Step 5: Now, select the Recording tab, and check if the desired device is set as the default device.

 

 

Step 6: If you want to set any other Playback or Recording device as the default device, simply select it and press the Set Default button towards the bottom of the window.

 

 

Step 7: However, if you still have a problem, select the desired Playback or Recording device, and left-click on the Properties button.

 

 

Step 8: In the Properties dialogue box, go to the Advanced tab and under Default Format, set the sample rate based on the quality you want.

You can press the Test button next to it to check the quality. Once done, press Apply and then OK to save the changes.

 

 

That’s all. This should fix the error and you can now play YouTube videos without any issues.