Forum Discussion
Problem with importing audio files into Storyline Projects
Dear Community
I am no longer able to import audio files into my storyline projects for a while now. I have tested it with several different projects and with different audio files (of different size and different formats), but the files just won't import.
However, recording audios directly in Storyline still works.
Also, I don't have any problems with importing videos.
Did anyone already face this problem as well?
Thanks for helping me out!
Fabienne
9 Replies
Hello Fabienne,
Sorry to hear that you ran into this snag.
As a troubleshooting step, you can try re-encoding your audio files using third-party tools like Audacity to see if this will help address the issue.
If the issue persists, would you be willing to share a copy of your audio files here or in private by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening? We'll delete them when we're done testing!
JoseTansengco Fabienne_Werder I know this is an old topic, but was there any solution found? My teammate is having the same issue. Audio wont upload, SL shows a different message about saving the slide and then nothing happens. When she opens a file that has existing audio in it, the audio vanishes.
Hi Richard
Hm for some reason this problem just never occured anymore...I don't know if it was after a Storyline update or what the reason was, but for now it is working. Are you working with the most recent version?
Sorry that I am not of bigger help here... :/
I'm having the exact same issue. re-rendered audio to either wav or mp3. Won't import or asset can't be replaced. Happened out of nowhere.
ok, well this is a new one. I fixed it but it wasn't Storyline as far as I could tell. Next to the folder I was importing from, seen either from the OS or from Storyline there is a tiny black dot next to the folder. I created a new folder that didn't have this dot, moved the audio asset there, and then that was able to import. GPT says something about a folder being possibly synced to a cloud thing but the web says something else. For whatever it's worth I'm running this on Mac via Parallels but regardless never seen this before.
annnnd to add to the weirdness. I saw this dot on yet another folder I created but I had no issue importing from that one. Whatever the case with the audio one importing to another folder fixed the issue. The black dot may or may bot be related. Yay computers and software.
Hi galaga00,
Thanks for sharing the detailed follow-up, and great job tracking down that folder issue!
What you’re seeing makes sense. Storyline can sometimes have trouble accessing or saving media when it’s stored in cloud-synced or virtualized folders, especially when running on a Mac through Parallels. That can lead to odd behavior, like files not importing or disappearing after you save.
The black dot you noticed is likely a status indicator from macOS or a sync service, showing that the folder is being monitored or synced. That could explain why moving the audio to a regular local folder without sync involved fixed the issue.
The workaround you found, moving your audio into a regular local folder, is precisely what we recommend. It ensures Storyline has full, stable access to the file path. We usually suggest avoiding synced folders (like OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox) or shared network drives when working in Storyline projects. You can find more details in this article: Storyline 360: Tips for Managing Project Files.
If this issue comes up again, please feel free to open a support case so we can take a closer look at your setup.
EricSantos thanks for checking in.
To be clear here though: I never really changed my methods for it to start working. The files were all coming from my local Mac drives simply accessed by Parallels. I never work from files from the cloud. I merely created a new folder in the same directory the non-working folder was in and then it worked.
The only thing I can imagine is creating this black dot sync deal is that I use GoodSync software that monitors a directory and backs everything up automatically to an external drive. However, those files are merely copied and I am not accessing those files in production.
this is a big "maybe" but maybe Parallels recognizes that an item is being synced and marks it as such. All that said...this Good Sync software has been running forever and this issue never happened until just this one particular file. So, I'm inclined to not think it's that.
