How to Fix WhatsApp Desktop App Crashing?

WhatsApp is one of the most popular chat applications and a pioneer in its niche. Many users love to use it on the big screen and for this purpose, the desktop app of WhatsApp is used. But recently many users reported random crashing of the WhatsApp Desktop app.

Some users encountered the issue when making a call, while some reported facing the issue when downloading or uploading a file. The issue adversely affected older Windows machines (Windows 8, Windows 7, etc.). The issue occurred on the regular clients as well as with the multi-device beta clients.

The WhatsApp desktop app might crash randomly mainly due to the following factors:

Update the OS of your PC to the Latest Build

The desktop app may crash randomly if the desktop’s OS is outdated as the OS may not be compatible with the latest WhatsApp client. Here, updating the OS of your PC to the latest build may solve the problem.

1. Click Windows, type, and open Check for Updates.

   

2. Now, in the right pane of the resulting window, click on the Check for Updates button.

   

3. Then, wait till the updates are fetched and if some updates are available, download and install the updates/ optional updates.
4. Once the system is updated, restart your system and upon restart, check if the WhatsApp Desktop app crashing issue is resolved.

Update WhatsApp’s Desktop App to the Latest Build

If the WhatsApp desktop app is outdated, then it may become incompatible with the OS of your system, resulting in the crashing issue at hand. Here, updating the WhatsApp desktop app to the latest build may solve the problem.

For MS Store Version

1. Click Windows, search, and open Microsoft Store.

   

2. Now, search for WhatsApp and then open the result of WhatsApp Desktop.

   

3. Then, check if an update of WhatsApp is available, install the Update.

   

4. Once updated, restart your system, and upon restart, check if the WhatsApp desktop app has stopped crashing.

For EXE Version

Firstly, try to update the desktop app through the WhatsApp client but If you are not offered an update in the WhatsApp window or it crashes before that, then you may follow the undermentioned steps:

1. Launch a web browser and navigate to the following path:

   https://www.whatsapp.com/download

   

2. Now download the version as per your OS and once downloaded, launch it as administrator (do not uninstall the older one).
3. Then follow the prompts to complete the process and afterward, reboot your PC to check if the WhatsApp desktop client is working fine.

Disable Sound and Notifications of WhatsApp

You may see the crashing of the WhatsApp desktop client if the Sound and Notifications API of WhatsApp (due to a software glitch) is not compatible with the OS. In such a case, disabling the Sound and Notifications of WhatsApp may solve the problem.

1. Launch the WhatsApp Desktop client and click on the three horizontal ellipses (near the top of the right panel).

   

2. Now select Settings and open Notifications.

   

3. Then uncheck all the options present there like Sound, Desktop Alerts, Incoming Call Alerts, etc.

   

4. Now relaunch the WhatsApp desktop app and check if it is working normally.

Re-Run the Update.exe File of WhatsApp

If a WhatsApp update failed to be properly applied to the client, then the WhatsApp desktop app may start crashing randomly. In this context, re-running the Update.exe file of WhatsApp may patch the bug and thus solve its crashing problem.

1. Firstly, make sure no process related to the WhatsApp client is running on your system.
2. Then, right-click Windows and select Run.

   

3. Now navigate to the following path:

   %localappdata%\WhatsApp

   

4. Then, in the resulting File Explorer window, right-click on Update.exe and select Run as Administrator.

   

5. Now, wait till the update process is completed, and afterward, restart your PC.
6. Upon restart, launch the WhatsApp desktop app and check if it is working fine.

Rename the Update.exe File of WhatsApp

If the EXE file of the downloaded WhatsApp update is corrupt, then the WhatsApp desktop app might crash randomly, and renaming the same may solve the problem. When we update it, it will automatically fetch the new file from the servers.

1. Firstly, make sure no WhatsApp-related process is operating in the Task Manager of your system.
2. Then, right-click Windows and select Run.
3. Now navigate to the following:

   %localappdata%\WhatsApp

4. Now right-click on the Update.exe file and select Rename.

   

5. Then, rename the file (e.g., oldupdate.bk) and restart your system.
6. Upon restart, launch the WhatsApp desktop app and check if it is working fine.

Use the Older Installation Folder of WhatsApp

If the new update could not be completely applied to the previous installation and some files are missing from the installation directory, then the WhatsApp desktop client may start crashing randomly. In this scenario, copying the older installation files to the new update directory may solve the problem.

Launch the WhatsApp Client from the New Update Folder

1. Navigate to the following folder:

   %localappdata%\WhatsApp

2. Now, open the newest of the folders present there (e.g., e.g., 2.2144.11) and right-click on the WhatsApp file.

   

3. Then select Run as Administrator and once WhatsApp is launched, check if it is working fine. If so, then you may create a shortcut for the new WhatsApp client from the above-mentioned folder as the newer update could not replace the older shortcut.

   

If launching from the newer version did not work, then check if launching the WhatsApp client from the older folder (e.g., app-2.2142.12.0) in the AppData directory solves the problem.

Copy Files from Older Installation Folder of WhatsApp to the New Update Directory

1. Firstly, exit the WhatsApp desktop client and end its related processes from the Task Manager.
2. Now, right-click Windows and select Run.
3. Then, navigate to the following path:

   %localappdata%\WhatsApp

4. Now, you may notice two folders with the app in the name (e.g., app-2.2142.12.0 and app-2.2144.11), if so, then open the older folder (e.g., app-2.2142.12.0) and copy all the files in it.

   

5. Then, navigate to the newer folder (e.g., app-2.2144.11) and paste the files.
6. If asked to, do not overwrite any files in the new update directory and let the system only copy the ones that are not present in the folder.
7. Once done, restart your system and upon restart, check if the WhatsApp client is working fine.

Delete New Update Folder of WhatsApp

1. Close all the WhatsApp-related processes in the Task Manager of your system and navigate to the following folder:

   %localappdata%\WhatsApp

2. Now delete the newest folder e.g., app-2.2144.11 (if you want to play safe, just rename the folder), and restart your system.

   

3. Upon restart, check if the WhatsApp desktop is working fine.
4. If not, navigate to the above-mentioned path and open the older installation folder (e.g., app-2.2142.12.0).
5. Now, right-click on the WhatsApp.exe folder and select Run as Administrator.
6. Once the app is launched, check if it is clear of the crashing issue.

Reinstall WhatsApp’s Desktop Client

The installation of the WhatsApp desktop app may become corrupt due to many factors like a sudden power failure of the system or due to a partially applied WhatsApp update. This corrupt WhatsApp installation may cause the crashing issue at hand. In this context, reinstalling the WhatsApp desktop app may solve the problem.

1. Right-click Windows and open Apps & Features.
2. Now expand WhatsApp and click on Uninstall.

   

3. Then confirm to uninstall WhatsApp and follow the prompts to complete the process.
4. Once uninstalled, restart your PC and upon restart, right-click Windows and select Run.
    
5. Now navigate to the following path:

   %localappdata%

   

6. Then delete the WhatsApp folder and afterward, reinstall the WhatsApp client from the Microsoft Store to check if the issue is resolved.

   

7. If that did not work, then check if uninstalling the WhatsApp desktop client (as discussed above) and installing WhatsApp from the following URL solves the issue:

   https://www.whatsapp.com/download

8. If the issue persists, then check if using the other architectural installer clears out the issue (i.e., if the issue is occurring with 32-bit, then install the 64-bit client and vice versa).

   

If none of the above worked for you, then you may use the WhatsApp web in a browser (till the complete resolution of the issue).