audio is freezing and tearing

Question

audio is freezing and tearing

Sebastian William Houmann Christensen 0

I dont know exactly how to fully explain it, but, for example, when I am watching YouTube then the audio of the video I am watching will begin to glitch, freeze, lag and tear. Then, as time progresses, so will the problem worsen! I've been trying to fix it, or search for a way to fix it, but I havent found any solution.

0 comments

3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Ferdinand Nanalig 33,405 Independent Advisor

Hi, let me help you.

Please try to open Task Manager while it's glitching and see if memory, disk, or one process keeps climbing. Then turn off hardware acceleration in your browser settings. In Chrome or Edge, open Settings, search "hardware acceleration," switch off "Use graphics acceleration when available" (or "Use hardware acceleration when available" in Chrome), then restart the browser. Test in a private window to rule out extensions. If it's still choppy, go to Settings > System > Sound, pick your output device, set the format to 16-bit 48000 Hz, and turn off audio enhancements. Setting your power mode to Best performance can help too.

If restarting the Windows Audio service (services.msc) fixes it for a while, it's most likely a driver, so check Device Manager for updates. Does it happen outside YouTube too?

Sebastian William Houmann Christensen 0 Reputation points

2026-09-21T13:03:39.51+00:00

I've tried my best to follow your advice/instructions, but I can't seem to tell any difference. As for your question, no, it apparently only is an issue with YouTube. Plus, whenever the audio glitches, so does the video itself.

Answer 2

Ferdinand Nanalig 33,405 Independent Advisor

Since it's only YouTube and both audio and video glitch together, that really points to the tab itself, not your system or drivers. YouTube tabs are known for slowly leaking memory the longer they run, especially with autoplay or a playlist going, so the tab just gets more and more bogged down until playback tears.

Try closing and reopening the YouTube tab every so often instead of leaving one running for hours, and see if that resets the problem. Also worth checking: go into YouTube's own settings (click your profile icon, then Playback) and see if playback quality is set to Auto or something high like 4K, since forcing it down to 1080p or 720p can ease the strain. If you use an ad blocker, try disabling it just for YouTube, since some blockers fight with YouTube's player scripts and cause exactly this kind of stutter. Clearing your browser cache (just for YouTube, or fully) is also worth a shot since a corrupted cache for that site specifically could be the cause.

Does it happen on YouTube in every browser you have installed, or just one?

Sebastian William Houmann Christensen 0 Reputation points

2026-09-22T15:46:08.27+00:00

update: first of all, I've just found out that, no, it's not just YouTube that's fucked (excues my language), it's my computor's audio in general that is screwed! and just to put the cherry on top, all of those tips/advice about checking my YouTube's settings is literally impossible. My guess is because of some sort of parental control (mind you, I'm old enough to be left unsupervised), and it has basically removed any and all ways to change my YouTube settings as far as I'm aware.

I'm honestally getting to the point where I'm desperate enough to just go to some computor store to get my computor checked, and or, hopefully fixed.

Answer 3

Hello again. Please Open Command Prompt as admin, type sfc /scannow, let it finish, then run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. These check for and repair corrupted system files, which fits a problem that keeps getting worse over time.

Also check Device Manager (right-click Start, Device Manager), expand "Sound, video and game controllers," right-click your audio device, and try "Update driver" then "Search automatically." If that doesn't help, right-click again and check "Properties > Driver" for a "Roll Back Driver" option, useful if this started after a Windows update.

One more: restart both Windows Audio and Windows Audio Endpoint Builder services together (services.msc, right-click each, Restart), since they work together and a mismatch between them causes exactly this kind of gradual glitch.