Forum Discussion
Play and Stop buttons greyed out in Timeline
Sometimes my Play and Stop buttons are greyed out (and can't be used) in my Timeline in Storyline. What could be causing this, and how can I reactivate them?
Thanks!
Hello Everyone! ✨
I'm happy to share that we have released a new update for Storyline 360 (Build 3.76.30446.0).
In this update, we have implemented a fix for:
- Timeline preview buttons weren't always clickable.
As a first step, I recommend updating Storyline 360 to the latest version. Here's how:
If you have any questions, please let us know in this thread or privately in a support case.
Have a great day!
Hi Darin,
That's an interesting observation, I'm curious were your audio files particularly long? Do you see this only upon the first time opening the .story file or every time moving from slide to slide?
This is happening to me, and I do not have any audio on the slide in question. None of the workarounds above solved the problem for me.
Windows 10
Storyline 3
Working from local fileHi Andrea,
Thanks for sharing that image, is this happening on each slide you're viewing? I don't see that our team has replicated this yet, but we'd like to take a look at your .story file to see if there is something else specific there.
I'm working on Windows 10 SL 360 and having the same problem: play and stop audio button on timeline graying out intermittently. I haven't detected a pattern. It is very time consuming and irritating. My project file at this point is 53MB.
Hi Linda,
Thanks for reaching out. We do still have this issue open with our team.
Are you on the latest version of Storyline 360, which is Build 3.24.17733.0?
This will repair your install as well.
Do you have two instances of the software open when this issue is happening?
I am using Windows 10. Storyline 3 - Update 5: 3.5.16548.0 My file size is 743,362KB
I have 7 scenes. three of which are only one slide at this point. I am also getting the greyed out play and stop button on the timeline viewer. I previously had Storyline 2 and it did the same thing. I had hoped that it would be fixed when I got storyline 3. I only have one instance of the software open. I also noticed that there are times when it will, out of the blue, have an error and it closes. I reopen it and have to save it again. I assumed that it was because I had not saved it more than a couple times a day.
If I open and close the file multiple times, it will finally fix itself.
Sorry you've hit this snag too, Michelle! This is still an open issue for Storyline 3 and Storyline 360, and while our team continues to investigate, luckily most folks have shared one of the following workarounds helps:
- Saving, closing Storyline 3/360 and restarting
- Switching between scenes and slides
- Zooming in and out of the timeline
Great news, Eric :)
Thanks for chiming in to share.
I get the same issue with Storyline360. It's trial and error. Sometimes it comes back to life by moving the playhead to another position, or choosing an object, or unselecting an object or switching slides.
I'd also like to report the issue. I've got animation heavy slides, with audio. Closing and reopening the project solved the problem.
Windows 10 PC, Storyline 3
Thanks for reporting it, Merritt. Our team is still looking into this one, but I'm glad closing the project gets you back to working normally again. Can you also check that you're on the latest update of Storyline 3, build 3.6.18134.0?
I am up to date, thanks!
Glad to hear it, Merritt! That way you can fully take advantage of Storyline 3. I'll keep you posted here once we have more info on a fix for this issue.
I am having this issue as well with 360. It's very frustrating and time consuming. I hope there is a fix soon.
Hi Lynn,
I'm sorry you've hit this issue too. Our team is still narrowing down the root cause, as it's not consistent or reproducible every time. It would help to know more about your Windows environment, how/when you see this behavior, and if it's a recent issue for you.
You can share those details here with me, or connect with our Support Team too.
