When playing an audio file, the sound doesn't finish and is cut off

Anki Help
1

Hello.

I’m having a problem playing audio in Anki for Desktop (Mac). When I try to play a specific audio file on a flashcard, the audio doesn’t finish playing; it cuts off prematurely and is very choppy.

Here are the details of my problem:

  • The text tag on the flashcard is correctly linked as [sound:fork.mp3].
  • However, when I play the audio file, it cuts off before the original file finishes playing.
  • I’ve checked in Check Media and tried troubleshooting methods found on Google and AI Chat, but the problem persists.

Can anyone help me figure out the cause? Is this an audio encoding issue, a bug in the Mac version, or a corrupted file itself? Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

2

Could you please confirm:

  • The problem occurs with just one specific audio file?
  • All your other audio files play just fine in Anki?
  • And, the problem audio file is named “fork.mp3”?

If you open the problem audio file with and play it using QuickTime Player, does the issue still occur?

3

There’s a problem with all the audio files.
;-;

6

When I open it in QuickTime Player, it’s fine. But when I attach the file to Anki, it exhibits the same problem I described earlier.

ในวันที่ อาทิตย์ 12 ก.ค. 2026 เวลา 06:04 Benjamin F. <notifications@anki2.discoursemail.com> เขียนว่า:

7

So, you are experiencing the issue with all your audio files. They play fine in the QuickTime Player app but have problems when played in Anki.

  • Where did these audio files come from? Did you download them from somewhere?
  • What type of audio files are these? Are they MP3 files?

Does the problem occur if you run Anki in safemode with add-ons disabled?

If you download this MP3 file of the English word “cat” from thefreedictionary.com, create a new Basic note, and add the audio file to the note, do you see the same problem with it?

8

  1. I use the text-to-speech website luvvoice

  2. All files I use in Anki are MP3s.

Regarding your suggestion to test with thefreedictionary , the results are the same; the problem persists.

This audio issue has been present since I updated to the latest version, 26.05.

9

Okay, the issue is not the audio files themselves.

  • I created an MP3 file on the luvvoice website, downloaded it, and added it to an Anki card. The audio plays just fine on my Mac with Anki 26.05.
  • The “cat” MP3 file from thefreedictionary is another known, good MP3 file that plays just fine.

Does the problem occur if you run Anki in safemode with add-ons disabled?

You said that the audio issue has been present since you updated Anki to 26.05. When you used older versions of Anki, did you see the problem then? Did the problem start when you updated to Anki 26.05?

What model of Mac are you using? And, what version of macOS is it running?

10

  1. I’m not using any external add-ons.

  2. The audio in Anki worked normally before the update.

  3. I’m currently using a 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 and macOS Golden Gate Beta 27.0.

Both before and after the Anki update, the macOS version was the same.

11

Okay, you are using an M4 MacBook Pro laptop with a beta version of macOS Golden Gate 27.0. You were previously using an older version of Anki with no problem, and the problem started happening when you updated to Anki 26.05.

For tracking purposes:

  • What specific beta version(s) of macOS Golden Gate 27.0 have you seen the problem with?
  • What version of Anki were you using before updating to 26.05?

Please try all the other Troubleshooting steps on the page I previously linked. I’m not sure if any of them might help, but hopefully they will. Even if they don’t help, performing the steps will at least help eliminate possible factors for the issue.

You might want to try downgrading/re-upgrading Anki to confirm that the problem was introduced in and is limited to Anki version 26.05.

Otherwise, it could be that currently there is some issue with Anki 26.05 on beta macOS 27. It could be that a workaround for now would be to use an older version of Anki. Hopefully, the issue might get resolved in a future macOS 27 beta version. Or, if the bug is still present when macOS 27 is officially released, once more people are able to see and reproduce the bug, hopefully it will be easier to troubleshoot the issue then.

12
  1. I have tried using the old version of anki 2.1.35 and the results show that the sound problem has disappeared. The sound plays normally.
  2. I have tried to test it on the web browser anki and it appears that there are no problems.
  3. I have tried playing Anki on both the iPhone and iPad versions and there were no problems.

When I returned to using the original version 26.05, the sound problems were gone again.

13

Are you saying that the problem is now gone and you are no longer experiencing audio problems with Anki 26.05? Or, did you instead mean that the sound problems returned?

In any case, thank you for that information.

I note that Anki version 2.1.35 is extremely old (from October 2020). If you ever test more recent previous versions of Anki, for example 25.09 or 25.02.7, please keep us informed about whether or not the bug occurs with those versions.

14

No, no, I’m saying that when I tested it with an older version, the sound problem disappeared

But when I switched to version 26.05, the sound problem returned.

15

I am using the latest macOS beta (Golden Gate Beta 3), and encountered the same issue in both Anki 26.05 and 26.08b1.

17

I think we have to wait a update Anki next ver bro

But you can use a browser website or use mobile ver instead

18

[macOS 27] Audio playback stops before completion in Anki 26.05 · Issue #5157 · ankitects/anki · GitHub Someone opened an issue here so we can follow up.

19

thx so much brother.