Common stuck points

Most first-week problems are one of these. Match what you see, then change one thing.

What you see	Do this first
Imported, list still empty	Wait for the scan, then open Inbox
Clicked a song, bottom player did nothing	Double-click the track, not single-click to select
Progress moves, no sound	System volume, ECHO volume, back to System output
Song sounds faster, slower, or pitch-shifted	Turn off speed change and upsampling, switch back to System output
The song exists, search misses it	Shorter keywords, then check tags
One album split into several	Make album and album artist identical
Lyrics are the wrong song or drift	Pick another candidate, or offset this track only

One change at a time

After every setting change, play the same song to confirm. Change three or four switches at once and you will not know which one fixed it — or which one broke it.

If you only want sound, use Quick start. Details below.

Imported, but the list is empty

Do not rebuild the database first.

1. Check whether the middle pane is still scanning. A few tracks are fast. A large folder takes time.
2. Open Inbox on the left. New imports often land there first.
3. Open Songs and search for a title you remember.
4. If it is still empty, confirm you imported the music folder, not Desktop or the whole C:\ drive.
5. If the files live in a cloud folder, confirm they finished downloading. Placeholders will not play.

Folder layout is in How to keep music folders tidy. Import steps are in Import audio sources.

Clicked a song, the bottom player did nothing

A single click only selects. Real playback replaces the bottom player with the track and moves the progress bar.

1. Double-click the track, or select it and press the play button.
2. Check whether the bottom player now shows the title and cover.
3. If the progress bar moves but there is no sound, see the next section.
4. If the progress bar does not move at all, try a normal MP3 first. If that also fails, the file may be corrupt or the format undecodable.

Progress moves, no sound

The track is playing. The problem is output, not the library.

1. Windows volume is not muted or at 0.
2. ECHO’s player volume is not 0.
3. The output device is the headphones or speakers you are using.
4. Switch back to System output. Bluetooth headsets use this too.
5. Turn off EQ and loudness tools, then play the same track.
6. Try a normal MP3.

Still silent? See Audio output. Tracks that jump in loudness: Why some songs are much louder.

Song sounds faster, slower, or pitch-shifted

The library is not broken. This is almost always a sample rate or DSP mismatch somewhere in the output chain.

1. Open Settings -> Playback and switch the output mode back to System or WASAPI Shared.
2. Turn off speed change, pitch change, upsampling (ECHO SRC), DSD, and HQPlayer.
3. Play a normal MP3 to confirm recovery.
4. Check whether the default format in Windows sound settings was pushed to a very high sample rate. Cranking it up actually invites half-speed, double-speed, and crackling.

Full causes and recovery steps: Why did my songs change speed.

The song exists, search misses it

Search reads tags more than file names.

1. Search two or three easy characters, not artist + album + year in one box.
2. Search the artist, or open Albums and scan by eye.
3. Try the other script if the title is Chinese.
4. If it still misses, open the tags. The title may be 01 Track or mojibake.

Fix tags in Library. Daily search habits are in Daily listening.

One album became several

Split albums usually mean inconsistent tags.

1. Open Albums and note which tracks belong together.
2. In Songs, select those tracks.
3. Edit tags from the context menu.
4. Make Album and Album artist exactly the same.
5. Set track numbers to 1, 2, 3. Add disc numbers for multi-disc sets.
6. Save, then check Albums again.

Fix one album at a time. Full steps are in Library.

Lyrics are wrong for the whole song

Classify the miss first:

What you see	Do this
Completely different song	Pick another candidate
Whole song early or late	Offset this track only
Starts right, drifts later	Different version. Change lyrics, do not keep nudging offset
No lyrics	Wait for a candidate, or use a local .lrc

There is no official platform MV search. If a video you attached does not line up, use the same version or turn MV off. Details: Lyrics.

Skip these first

Caution

These rarely help and make everything messier. Work through the symptoms above before touching any of them.

Skip this	Why
Clear the library or rebuild the database	None of the problems above need it
Exclusive mode, ASIO, EQ, and a full remote sync at once	Too many changes to know which one broke things
Maxing out the Windows default format sample rate	Invites speed changes and crackling — see Song speed changed
Using ECHO as a streaming search box	There is no official platform search. See Switching from streaming apps

On Steam, Workshop no-op, silent Listen Together, or an empty library after a PC switch belong in Using the Steam edition and Steam Workshop. Say whether you installed from Steam or the website installer.

Still stuck? Use Quick navigation or FAQ. When you ask for help, include the steps you clicked, what the screen showed, and the Windows and ECHO versions.