No Playback in MuseScore

Issue type

General playback bug

Description with steps to reproduce

MuseScore has stopped playing back scores at least since the v4.6.5 update (and possibly since the v4.6.4 update, but I'm having a hard time remembering when this issue started). MuseScore still produces sound when inputting notes and moving them up and down the staff and will still successfully export scores to WAV files that contain sounds. However, the playback scrolling bar doesn't appear on my scores when clicking the rewind and play buttons - nothing happens at all. This happens with all scores, not just one or two scores.

My system:
Windows 11 Pro
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS (8 cores)
RAM: 64 GB
Storage: 3.64 TB available

My available audio devices:
MOTU M4 (shows up as 'Out 1-2 (MOTU M Series)' in MuseScore's Audio & MIDI Preferences)
Presonus Eris 3.5" studio monitor speakers (these show up as 'Speakers (USB PnP Audio Device)' in MuseScore's Audio & MIDI Preferences)
The screenshots will show other audio devices, but these are either not connected or not viable.

I've tried fixing this issue using most of the suggestions offered on this thread: https://musescore.org/en/node/389641

• Switching the audio device in MuseScore Audio Preferences and making sure it matches the Windows audio device - didn't work
• Turning off Exclusive mode for each of my audio devices using the control panel - didn't work
• Updating drivers for my audio devices - didn't work
• Uninstalling and reinstalling MuseScore - also resetting it to factory settings, which was a suggestion from a different thread - neither worked

It's also important to note that the original poster on the linked thread believes their issues were linked to using SoundBlaster and related hardware that I don't use. Since I am definitely not using any of the same drivers and hardware, I think this issue is either not unique to that driver or hardware, or is a wider spread MuseScore issue.

The only suggestion on the above thread that I haven't tried is uninstalling MuseScore v4.6.5 and installing a prior version that didn't give me playback issues, such as v4.6.3 or prior. While I'm open to trying this, I suggest looking into this issue for the current version.

Supporting files, videos and screenshots

[Screen Recording 2026-03-14 153957.zip] (https://github.com/user-attachments/files/26000213/Screen.Recording.2026-03-14.153957.zip)

I was having trouble uploading the screen recording just as an MP4 file, so hopefully uploading it in a zip file works. If not, please let me know. Please also note in the image below that MS Basic is disabled.

In which versions of MuseScore Studio is this issue present?

4.6.5

Regression

Yes, this used to work in a previous version of MuseScore 4.x

Operating system

Windows 11 Pro

Additional context

No response

Checklist

• This report follows the guidelines for reporting bugs and issues
• I have verified that this issue has not been logged before, by searching the issue tracker for similar issues
• I have attached all requested files and information to this report
• I have attempted to identify the root problem as concisely as possible, and have used minimal reproducible examples where possible