If you are into FLAC files, then you would have observed that many of your FLAC files become unreadable after being edited. This is due to a bug on Windows 10 operating system which has finally been fixed by Microsoft. And for all the audio files in FLAC format that have gone corrupt or are unplayable, a simple Powershell command will fix them too.
FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec which is an audio compression format but does not compromise on quality or lose any part of the original data. It is an open-source format and can be played by all major audio playing software like VLC and MPlayer. It is almost six times the size of a normal MP3 file.
Microsoft Support Website states that all those FLAC files that contained an ID3 frame before the header were unaccounted for by the FLAC property handler and this rendered the file unplayable. The ID3 frame contains information about the title and artist of the audio clip. This issue can now be fixed by installing the May 25, 2021—KB5003214 update.
And for those files that have been corrupted due to this error, users will have to run a Powershell Script which makes the file readable but will not restore the edited metadata. Here are the steps to run the PowerShell script.
Step 1: Open Notepad and paste the entire script from the Microsoft Support Website.
Step 2: Save the file in your desired location and name the file as FixFlacFiles.ps1 keeping the Save as type box to Text Documents (*.txt).
Step 3: Make a right-click on the file you just saved and select Run with PowerShell.
Step 4: A prompt will appear where you have to type in the file name of the FLAC audio file that is not working followed by Enter.
These steps have worked fine when tried and tested but erase all edits that were made before the files were corrupted which means you will have to do it all over again. The PowerShell Script is complicated and too long. It is important to copy the exact and complete script from the Microsoft official support website to avoid any errors.