Reporting bugs and issues

If you have found a bug or an issue, please let us know! On this page, you can find the preferred way to do this.

1. Make sure that the issue has not yet been fixed

Unless you are using a very recent development build, the issue might have been fixed already. It is worthwhile to check if the issue also occurs in the latest development version; please see the "Nightly builds" section in Downloading and running test builds for instructions to obtain the latest version.

2. Check if the issue has been reported already

The issue might have been reported already by another user. Please go to https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues first and search for similar issues before creating a new one.

It might happen that you have done your best and didn't find anything, so you created a new issue, but then somebody else marks your issue as a duplicate. In that case, don't worry!

If you see an issue that covers the same problem you are experiencing but feel you can add more information, please write a comment on the existing issue.

3. Report the issue

To report the issue if necessary, go to https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/new/choose.

3.1 Tips for writing the issue

• Choose the correct template (bug report, feature request, etc.).
• Don't forget to give the issue a descriptive title.
• Please fill out all fields as thoroughly as you can.
• In case of a bug, please provide clear steps to reproduce it. If we can't reproduce it, we can't fix it.
• If possible, please add screenshots and videos.
  • On macOS, you can make a screenshot or recording using the built-in tools. Press CommandShift5 to activate them.
  • On Windows, a tool like Greenshot can help; there are plenty of distinct tools available online.
• When attaching a video, please make sure there is an empty line above and below the link to the video. This way, GitHub will render the video inline instead of requiring the reader to click the link (which may not work well in the Safari browser).
• It is often helpful for developers to see full information about which version of MuseScore you are using; go to Help > About MuseScore Studio... (macOS: MuseScore Studio > About MuseScore Studio...) to open the "About MuseScore Studio" dialog, and click the clipboard icon next to "Revision" to copy all information we might need. Paste this into the description of the issue.
• If the issue occurs in a specific score, please upload the score itself, not just a PDF or image.
  • GitHub does not allow uploading mscz files directly; to upload one, you must either pack it in a zip file or simply rename it to change .mscz to .zip. An mscz file is in fact just a special zip file.
• Try to keep issues as clear and concise as possible. Put any supplementary information in the "additional context" section at the end of the issue template, or consider hiding it with the <details> tag as demonstrated below.

After you report an issue, team members may edit the title and/or description for clarity and brevity, and comments within issues may be edited or hidden for similar reasons. Please don't be offended if this happens. If you disagree with our edits, please leave a polite comment on the issue to let us know (e.g., if you think we misunderstood the problem).

Details (click to show/hide)

Team members spend a significant amount of time reading issues and comments to determine what information is pertinent to the task at hand. It is necessary for us to highlight that information once found and hide other information to save others time. However, we understand that it can be difficult for contributors to know what is relevant before posting, so the fact that we edited a comment should not necessarily be interpreted as a sign that the original comment was unwelcome.

3.2 Attaching files

In order to attach a MuseScore Studio file, you need to ZIP it first, or rename it so that it has .zip after the .mscz.

Note that attachments sent via GitHub's "Reply via email" feature don't come through. Upload them directly to the issue webpage instead.

3.3 Diagnostic files

In order to investigate an issue, we may need diagnostic files. These include log files, crash dumps, and some of your UI settings. To export a ZIP file containing these files from MuseScore Studio, click Help > Diagnostics > Save diagnostic files (release builds) or Diagnostics > Save diagnostic files (development builds).

In case you cannot run MuseScore Studio, please look up the folder mentioned at https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/wiki/Resources#user-app-data (under "User app data") and ZIP it manually.