Social Networks

Quick Fix for WhatsApp Desktop error “ffmpeg.dll not found” or not launching

Fix ffmpeg.dll not found error in WhatsApp

Update 2: WhatsApp released another update on 15th October which pushes WhatsApp Desktop to version 2.2140.7. Unfortunately, the problems originally introduced continue to exists. Once updated, WhatsApp does not launch at all without any error messages. The following solution is still applicable and will help you to get back into your WhatsApp account.

Update: WhatsApp pushed a new version 2.2138.14 on 7th October, which brings even more problems. WhatsApp Desktop now fully fails to start and does not give out any warnings or errors. When you click the icons, it does nothing at all. Thankfully, the following solution is still applicable.


The latest silent update (version 2.2138.13) to WhatsApp desktop (Windows) has almost broken the program. WhatsApp halts with the error: “WhatsApp.exe – System Error – The execution cannot proceed because ffmpeg.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem“. The update installs automatically without user interaction, which is why it is affecting almost everybody right now. Thankfully, there is a quick fix to use WhatsApp Desktop temporarily until the Facebook engineers fix this problem.

What is causing the issue?

It appears that the latest WhatsApp update is failing to update its files properly. If we check the WhatsApp Desktop’s install folder, we can spot that there is no ffmpeg.dll file in the directory, but there is a ffmpeg.dll.diff. From the name, it appears to be an incremental file that was supposed to merge with the existing files of the previous version of WhatsApp Desktop. However, due to some merge issues (such as a failed checksum), it failed and lead to the problem.

How to fix the issue and use WhatsApp Desktop again?!

Luckily, WhatsApp does not fully delete the previous version of the app when it installs an update. Hence, it is relatively easy to launch the previous version (2.2134.10) and continue using WhatsApp desktop normally. You do not need to log in again. Here’s how to do that:

Time needed: 1 minute

You can easily launch an already installed previous version of WhatsApp Desktop to continue using it while WhatsApp engineers try to fix the problem.

  1. Open WhatsApp’s install folder

    The older version of the WhatsApp app is available in the installation directory of WhatsApp. In order to access it, we need to open that folder.
    If you have a WhatsApp icon on the desktop: Right-click on the icon and select “Open file location”.
    Right click the WhatsApp icon on desktop
    Else, click the start button and then type “WhatsApp”. Right-click on the result and select “Open file location”. Then, do the same on the WhatsApp shortcut in the resulting folder.

  2. Open the folder for the older version of WhatsApp

    In the install folder, you will notice a number of files and folders. The versions of the WhatsApp app are divided into the folder. For example, in the screenshot below, I have versions 2.2134.10 and 2.2138.13. We know that versions 2.2138.13 and 2.2138.14 are the ones causing the issue.
    So, open the folder for the older version (which is 2.2134.10 in my case; yours can be different).
    Open older version of WhatsApp app from the install directory

  3. Launch older version of WhatsApp Desktop

    Finally, scroll down through the files in the older version of WhatsApp. The last entry will be for WhatsApp.exe. Simply double-click to launch it and start using WhatsApp Desktop again.Launch older version of WhatsApp

  4. Add a shortcut for easy access

    Until WhatsApp engineers fix the problem, you can add a temporary shortcut of the app to your desktop or taskbar. And then you can use that to launch WhatsApp Desktop instead of the lengthy steps you followed here.
    Right-click on the icon and choose Send to > Desktop. Or drag and drop it to your taskbar to pin it there.Create a shortcut on desktop to easily launch older version

Hopefully, WhatsApp will fix the problem shortly. Until then, you can fix the “ffmpeg.dll not found” WhatsApp error and continue your WhatsApp Chats and Calls using the older version. Or in case you only use WhatsApp for chats, then you can rely on the WhatsApp Web app instead.

Another alternative solution is to re-install WhatsApp Desktop. However, this will only work until WhatsApp automatically upgrades to the problematic update again. So, the solution shared in this post is a better way to handle the problem.

30 Comments

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  • most annoying & simply obnoxious … Whatsapp doesnt refer to any of this “ffmpeg.dll” stuff on their pages/support/faq. I mean .. ” wth man” !!!

    thanks for your help – thousands of people will have used your workaround, but you will only receive a few ” thumbsup” !! thanks

  • The current WhatsApp version available is not working still on PC. My older version has been uninstalled by me when attempting to download WhatsApp setup to re-install it (Sigh!). Fortunately, older versions of WhatsApp are still available on UptoDown.com. Just managed to download WhatsApp 2.2134.10, re-installed and launched it successfully.

  • I understood what happened with the update. The dumwits switched the “delta” and “Full” update contents, so the donwloader retrieved the full and applied like a full update but only the delta files were downloaded. you can manually replace the files in lib if you manually download the “Full” archive and extract it. HINT: take a look at SquirrelSetup.log

    • BTW When I say the full archive I mean the one named “delta” that has the full contents (it hasn’t been fixed as on now)

  • Hi there,

    I had this issue (ffmpeg.dll not found) in my computer (Win 10) and as recommended by Whatsapp tech support, I uninstalled and installed the app again.
    After the installation, the program opens normally. If I shut the app, I am not able open it again.

    Any help, please?

    • Hi, please follow the guide in the article to launch the older version. The new update that WhatsApp released is also broken and causes WhatsApp to not start up and does not show any errors either.

  • Thanks for the work around, had been reinstalling whatsapp desktop everytime i close the program, and it’s getting annoying.

    Note that the program cannot be run if it is pinned to the taskbar on Windows 10. It will somehow seek for the latest version of Whatsapp.

    • Hi Jim, I believe the problematic update has been pulled by Facebook. So, what I have done is that I have deleted the folder for the new version from the install folder. And now, WhatsApp Desktop works fine from the old icons and shortcuts and it hasn’t updated itself as well.

  • Great! I works! But while I’m using the old version, how will I know when the working update has finally been released?

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