HandBrake Freezes While Encoding Problem Fixed

- "Today Handbrake let me down: one of my DVDs froze at the same place every time on two different computers. When I checked episodes it had apparently ripped, again using Handbrake 1.0.7 on two different computers, I found they were pixellated with dropped frames, and the audio was either staccato or absent."

HandBrake is the most popular open source encoder. As it's free with no tech support, it's no surprise that users can easily go wrong with it. In this article, we will focus on a common HandBrake error that bothers users a lot – HandBrake freezes the entire computer while encoding or HandBrake just hangs on encoding. If you happen to search for the solution to fix "HandBrake freezes while encoding" problem, look no further, here you can get the best answer.

Quick Fixes to Solve "HandBrake Freezes While Encoding" Error

-- "I'm trying to encode some movies to iDevices for my kids and keep getting freezes during encoding. Handbrake seems to freeze (for an hour or more) at any point in the process from less than 1% to 90%+ encoded. Once Handbrake freezes I have to force quit Handbrake."
-- "I use Handbrake to convert a DVD to mp4, and it keeps freezing. It's a DVD folder and it freezes at different times. So far it has done it three times. Is this common? Is there a fix?"

Searching on online forums and communities, we find that a considerable number of HandBrake users are experiencing HandBrake freezing issues while encoding videos and DVDs. The above is just a tip of iceberg. Many other HandBrake freezes issues are out there. So, how to fix?

Solution 1. Restart the system, try the same encoding process again and check if it fails at a different point. If the encode fails at a different point, for example, the first time at 60% and the second time at 85%, the HandBrake freezes problem likely happens due to CPU overheating. If this is the case, you'd better close other applications and encode videos with HandBrake later. Apart from hardware issues, we can't rule out other possibilities. Maybe, there are some bugs in HandBrake. If you fail to fix "HandBrake freezes while encoding" with this solution or have had enough of other HandBrake freezes problems like "HandBrake freezes computer" and "HandBrake freezes at 100", you are suggested to give HandBrake alternative a try.

Solution 2. Check CPU temp. If you have a CPU temp application installed, check the CPU temp in the real time.  Does the CPU temp spike up over 70c at any time? (70c is a common temp for motherboards to clamp down the CPU for safety, but it's sometimes as high as 85c) If the temp is too high, you'd better replace your cooler and that may fix the Handbrake freezes.

Solution 3. Hardware problem. In addition to the cooling, it can be the problem of a bad memory, bad temp sensor, bad ram, lousy mobo power delivery, underperforming PSU, etc. It will get complicated to check each component.

Solution 4. Are you encoding X265? If the freezes error only occur when encoding x265 codec, then it's your computer that is too old to let Handbrake encode x265 smoothly. H265 is an advanced codec and it requires more modern SIMD ones to decode/encode. Handbrake video encoding is performed by hardwrae encoder, but on lower-end hardware, you need to disable any other adjustment.

Or you can try a faster video converter for advanced video codecs like Winxvideo AI. It supports Level-3 Hardware Acceleration to smoothly convert any 4K/8K videos into HEVC, H.264, MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, and more.

Solution 5. OpenCL resizer errors. Handbrake can freeze the encoding from the beginning if something goes wrong with the OpenCL resizer. Try to turn it off in the video settings or download the latest nightly build which has removed the OpenCL resizer.

Solution 6. Freezes when ripping protected DVDs.

Handbrake won't support any protected DVDs. To deal with encrypted titles, libdvdcss is required. Even though, Handbrake can only convert DVDs with CSS DRM only. Some advanced protection measuare like 99-titles, navigation schemes are not supported. Therefore, Handbrake freezes can be caused by DVD encryptions. First, install VLC libdvdcss and try again. If the error continues, try a more power DVD ripper.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum is a professional DVD ripper, capable of ripping regular and also copy-protected DVDs to MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, FLV, 3GP, iPhone 6/6 Plus, iPad Air/2, Apple TV, Android Samsung, HTC, Sony, Mocrosoft WP8, Xbox and so on. It is superior to HandBrake in many aspects, such as, the capability to rip copy-protected DVDs, a lot of preset output profiles, the cutting-edge technologies (High Quality Engine, Hyper-threading technology, Deinterlacing, etc.), and the ease of use and so on. It allows users to set CPU use (up to 8) flexibly.