United States · Scratch help · Grades 1 to 8

Scratch not working? How to fix it

It is 8:40 on a school night, the project is due tomorrow, and Scratch has just said the project failed to save. Or the cat moves on the family laptop but sits still on the school iPad. Or the district Chromebook will not load scratch.mit.edu at all. These problems have known causes, and the Scratch Team explains most of them in its own Help Center. This page gathers those answers in the order you need them: first work out which kind of problem you have, then follow the fix for it. Where Scratch itself is fine and the code is the problem, two worked block fixes show how to think it through.

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In short

When Scratch is not working, the usual causes are a browser or device Scratch does not support, a sound or image over 10 MB (or project data over 5 MB) that stops saving, an account signed in on two computers, cookies switched off, or a school filter blocking Scratch domains. Save a copy with File, then Save to your computer, before trying anything else. Modern Age Coders teaches this live online for US students, in a batch or one to one, and the first class is free.

Help with a live teacher

Three courses for a child who wants to get better at Scratch

Each class is live, and the teacher works on the child’s own project rather than a worksheet.

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SNW / 01

Scratch coding for kids

Grades 3 to 8. Games, animation and debugging habits.

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Coding for kids with blocks

Ages 6 to 12. Scratch first, then apps and AI.

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Python and AI for kids

The step from Scratch blocks to typed code.

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Start here

Which kind of Scratch problem do you have?

The Help Center articles behind this page cover six broad groups of problems. Find the row that matches what you see, then jump to that part of the page. Our table, built from the Scratch Help Center articles named below it.

Symptom, likely cause and first thing to try (ours, from the Scratch Help Center, read 17 October 2026)
What you seeMost likely causeTry this first
"Project Failed to Save."A sound or image over 10 MB, or project data over 5 MBSave to your computer, then shrink the largest sound
Signed out in the middle of workAccount open on a second computer, a second account in the same browser, or cookies offSign out everywhere else, allow cookies for scratch.mit.edu
The site will not load at schoolA network filter blocking a Scratch domainAsk school IT to allow the domains listed further down
A WebGL errorThe browser or its graphics settingsTry a different browser, as the Help Center suggests
Arrow keys do nothing on an iPadTablets cannot use "key pressed" blocksAdd on-screen buttons (worked fix below)
Cannot share, or cloud games will not runEmail not confirmed, or a New Scratcher accountConfirm the email in Account Settings

Before you change anything

Save a copy on the computer first. In the editor, open File and choose Save to your computer. Whatever goes wrong next, the work is safe in an .sb3 file you can load back with File, then Load from your computer.

Then write down exactly what happened: the message on screen, the browser, the device and whether it happened at home or at school. Those four facts point to the cause faster than any guess.

Change one thing at a time

If you clear cookies, switch browser and delete a sound all at once, you will never know which one fixed it, and the problem may come back next week.

Change one thing, test, and only then try the next. It is the same habit programmers use on their own code, and it is the habit our Scratch classes build from the first month.

Built from the official Scratch Help Center, read 17 October 2026; scratch.mit.edu/faq now points there. We are not connected with the Scratch Foundation or MIT.

Devices and browsers

Will Scratch run on this computer, Chromebook, iPad or phone?

American classrooms run on a mix of district Chromebooks, iPads and older Windows laptops, so this is often the real answer. The Scratch Team updated its requirements article in September.

Where Scratch runs, from the Scratch Help Center article on system requirements (modified September, read 17 October 2026)
DeviceScratch in a browserThe downloadable Scratch app
Windows laptop or desktopWindows 10 version 1709 or higherWindows 10 and higher
MacmacOS 10.13 or highermacOS 12 and higher
ChromebookRecent ChromeThe Android and ChromeOS app, Android 8.0 and higher
iPadiOS version 10 or higher (Tablets only)Not listed
Android tabletAndroid 8.0 or higher (Tablets only)Android 8.0 and higher
PhonePlay and comment onlyNo phone app

The browser rule

Scratch develops its features against the Baseline Widely Available web standard, and they are supported on versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari released within the last 30 months (2.5 years), on any operating system those browsers support. Other browsers may work but are not officially supported.

In practice that means a browser that has not updated in three years is the first suspect. On a district device, updates are controlled by school IT, so a student cannot always fix this alone.

Tablets and phones

Scratch says it runs on most modern browsers on desktops, laptops and tablets, but it does not currently support creating or editing projects on phones. On a phone you can play most projects and leave comments.

Tablets have two limits worth knowing before a child builds a whole game on one: there is currently no way to use "key pressed" blocks or right-click menus. A game built on a laptop with arrow keys will not respond on an iPad until it has on-screen buttons.

If a project loads but the stage stays blank or shows a WebGL error, the Help Center advice is short: try a different browser.

Saving

When a Scratch project will not save

Scratch auto-saves projects every two minutes, and the browser usually warns you before you leave a page with unsaved changes. When saving still fails, the Help Center lists a small number of causes.

Size limits on the Scratch website, from the Scratch Help Center (read 17 October 2026)
ItemLimitWhat happens over it
Whole project"There is no limit to the total project size."Nothing by itself
One sound or image10 MBThe project will not save; a "Project Failed to Save." message appears
project.json (code and sprite data)5 MBA large project with many sprites and scripts may not save
The downloaded Scratch appNo explicit limitBounded only by memory and disk space
  1. Make a backup. File, then Save to your computer. Do this before every other step.
  2. Check the internet. A project may not save if the connection drops while saving. If the whole Scratch site is slow, export the project and try again later; the export is your backup.
  3. Check you are still signed in. If you were signed out, the project cannot save to your account. Sign in again on this computer only.
  4. Check whose project it is. If you opened someone else’s project with See inside and started changing it, those changes are not saved. Use Remix to make your own copy first.
  5. Find the big sound. Long music files are the usual problem. In the Sounds tab, select part of the sound, press Copy to New, and repeat until the whole song is in pieces, then play them one after another with play sound until done blocks.
  6. Slim the code. If the project has dozens of near-identical sprites, replace them with one sprite and clones, and turn repeated scripts into a block of your own with Make a Block.
  7. Sign out and back in. After a very long session, the Help Center suggests signing out and in again, once your work is saved to the device.

How many pieces a long song needs

Our arithmetic, for planning: a sound file of 24 MB is over the 10 MB limit, and 24 / 10 = 2.4, so it needs at least 3 pieces. In practice we cut one or two more, because each piece must sit comfortably under the limit.

Auto-save every two minutes also means the most a sudden crash usually costs is about two minutes of work, or 2 x 60 = 120 seconds of clicking. Saving manually before a big change costs nothing.

Checking the size yourself

The Help Center describes a check for anyone comfortable with zip files: download the project (it ends in .sb3), rename the ending from .sb3 to .zip, unzip it, and look at the size of each image, sound and the project.json file inside.

The fixes it suggests are simple ones: shorten long lists, remove duplicate sprites and use clones instead, swap images for lower-resolution versions, and cut sounds so none is over the limit.

Accounts

Signed out, cannot log in, cannot share

Account trouble is common in families where a child uses Scratch at school and at home, or where siblings share one laptop.

Account problems and the Help Center fix (read 17 October 2026)
ProblemWhy it happensFix
Signed out without warningSigned in on more than one computer, or a second account opened in the same browserSign out of computers you are done with; one account per browser at a time
Signed out right after signing inCookies are blockedAllow cookies for scratch.mit.edu in the browser settings
Password does not workOften the username is typed differentlyRequest a reset at scratch.mit.edu/accounts/password_reset and type the username exactly as the email shows it
Tried to log in with an email addressScratch logs in by usernameUse the username; the Help Center says you cannot log in with your email address
Profile says "Student of..."A class account made by a teacherAsk the teacher to reset the password
Share button does nothingThe email address is not confirmed yetAccount Settings, Email tab, resend the confirmation
A cloud game will not workNot signed in, or the account is still a New ScratcherSign in; cloud variables open up once the account becomes a Scratcher

School email addresses

Many US students sign up with a school address, and many of those end in .edu or block outside mail. The Help Center warns that a student email may not receive messages from Scratch; the Scratch Team can confirm the address if you send them a message, though not for large numbers of accounts.

A password reset email can go astray the same way. If it has not arrived an hour after asking, the Help Center suggests checking the spam folder (in Gmail, the Promotions tab), then using the Contact Us form with the email address and date of birth on the account.

Shared family computers

The Help Center is clear that sharing one account between people is not recommended, because it is a common cause of sign-outs and lost saves. Each child gets their own account.

On a shared computer, sign out at the end of every session. It takes five seconds and prevents the next person from accidentally working inside the wrong account.

School and district networks

Scratch blocked on a school Chromebook or network

District web filters are the reason Scratch loads at home but not in the computer lab. This part is for the teacher or the school IT team, who can change the filter.

Domains Scratch needs, from the Scratch Help Center article on domains to allow (modified May 2025, read 17 October 2026)
If the filter accepts wildcardsWhat it is for (our note)
*.scratch.mit.eduThe site, projects, assets, cloud data and downloads
*.recaptcha.net and *.gstatic.comSign-up checks and fonts
*.wistia.com, *.wistia.net and *.akamaihd.netTutorial videos

Without wildcards

The Help Center also lists every subdomain one by one for filters that cannot take wildcards, including api.scratch.mit.edu, projects.scratch.mit.edu, assets.scratch.mit.edu, cdn2.scratch.mit.edu, clouddata.scratch.mit.edu and uploads.scratch.mit.edu. It warns that new subdomains are added often, so the list can go out of date.

If uploads or cloud games fail but the home page loads, a missing subdomain on that list is the likely cause.

Blocked by a shared address

Scratch uses a content delivery network, and its servers can share an IP address with a site the school has blocked. If the filter blocks by IP address and caches the result, Scratch can be blocked by accident.

The Scratch Team recommends filtering by domain name rather than IP address, checking that the filter supports Server Name Indication (SNI), and then clearing the network cache.

Working offline is another route. The free Scratch app creates projects without an internet connection; it used to be called the Scratch Offline Editor or Scratch Desktop. One surprise: double-clicking an .sb3 file does not open it. Open the app first, then choose File, then Load from your computer.

When Scratch is fine and the code is not

Two block fixes: tablet controls and long decimals

Sometimes Scratch works perfectly and the project still misbehaves. We teach these two fixes early because the problems behind them are easy to hit. Both scripts are ours, written with standard Scratch 3 blocks; build them yourself to see the fix work.

Problem · the cat ignores a tabletscratch blocks
// Cat sprite: works on a laptop, silent on a tablet
when [right arrow v] key pressed
change x by (10)

when [left arrow v] key pressed
change x by (-10)

Nothing is wrong with these blocks. The Help Center explains that tablets currently have no way to use key pressed blocks, so on an iPad the scripts never start.

Fix · on-screen buttons that broadcastscratch blocks
// New sprite "Right button" (ours)
when this sprite clicked
broadcast [go right v]

// New sprite "Left button" (ours)
when this sprite clicked
broadcast [go left v]

// Cat sprite: keep the key scripts, add these
when I receive [go right v]
change x by (10)

when I receive [go left v]
change x by (-10)

Two small arrow sprites send a message when tapped, and the cat moves when it receives the message. The keyboard scripts stay, so the game works on a laptop and a tablet.

Fix · rounding before you show a numberscratch blocks
// Score uses decimals and shows a long tail (ours)
set [price v] to ((0.1) + (0.2))

// Round to two decimal places before showing it
set [shown v] to ((round ((price) * (100))) / (100))
say (shown) for (2) seconds

The Help Center calls the long tail of digits a floating-point error and suggests the round block. Multiplying by 100, rounding, then dividing by 100 keeps two decimal places.

Why the broadcast fix teaches more than it fixes

Broadcasting separates what happens from what caused it. The cat no longer cares whether the signal came from a key or a finger; it only listens for go right.

That idea, one message and many possible senders, is how real apps handle a click, a tap and a voice command with the same code. Children who meet it in Scratch recognize it later in JavaScript and Python.

Why computers struggle with 0.1

The Help Center gives the reason in one line: it is very hard to represent .1 in binary. Computers store most decimals as approximations, so adding them can leave a tiny error at the end.

This is not a Scratch bug, and every language has it. Rounding at the moment you display a number, not while you calculate, is the habit to keep.

Still stuck

Where to get help, and how to report a real bug

If none of the fixes above work, the Scratch community and the Scratch Team can help, as long as the request is specific.

  1. Search first. The Bugs and Glitches forum may already have your problem and a fix. The Help with Scripts forum is the place for project code that does not behave.
  2. Share a small example. The Help Center suggests sharing the project, even unfinished, and putting your question in the Project Notes so others can see it.
  3. Describe the bug fully. Include what went wrong, the steps to make it happen again, the project, your browser and its version, your operating system and its version, your Scratch username and any error you saw.
  4. Check the console if you are comfortable. The Help Center invites people to open the JavaScript console and include any errors shown there.
  5. Wait for search. A newly shared project can take a little time to appear in search. Typing scratch.mit.edu/users/ followed by the username opens the profile straight away.

For more on fixing your own code, read our guide on how to debug code, or see Scratch project ideas when the current project is finally working.

From stuck to independent

Four stages of fixing your own Scratch problems

Our description of the troubleshooting stages we teach toward, one stage at a time.

Stages of a young Scratch troubleshooter (ours)
StageWhat it looks like
1. PanicsSees an error and calls for an adult straight away
2. Saves firstExports a copy before trying anything, then asks for help
3. Tests one changeChanges a single thing, runs the project, and notes the result
4. Explains the causeCan say why it broke, and posts a clear question when stuck

For parents

You do not need to know Scratch to help at stage 1. Ask your child to read the message out loud and find it in the table at the top of this page.

Praise stage 2 loudly. A child who saves a copy before experimenting has learned the most important habit in all software work.

For students

If the code is graded homework, ask your teacher before you post it online; your teacher may want the work to stay yours.

Keep a short bug diary: what broke, what fixed it. You will be surprised how often the same three problems return.

The catalog

Nine courses for children who started in Scratch

Live and online, with the same teacher each week, in a batch or one to one.

I

Blocks

Ages 6 to 12
II

Next steps

Ages 8 to 12

SNW / NXT / 02

Game development for kids

Bigger games, better design.

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III

Thinking skills

Ages 6 to 14

SNW / THK / 01

Problem solving for kids

Break a problem into steps.

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Weekend mornings are a popular choice for younger children.

1-on-1

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Their project on screen

Children share the editor and fix it themselves.

Concepts, not answers

Graded work stays the student’s own.

Debugging every week

Save, test one change, explain the cause.

One teacher all term

Someone who knows your child’s projects.

Any US state

All you need is a browser and a quiet room.

Group or private

Batches of fifteen to twenty, or a teacher to themselves.

Student work

What our students made after getting unstuck

Finished work from learners who once had the same Scratch troubles. The student labs page has more.

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Fees

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What families say

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Common questions

Scratch not working: questions families ask

Why is Scratch not working?

The common causes are an unsupported or out-of-date browser, a project that is too large to save, being signed out because the account is open on another computer, cookies switched off, or a school filter blocking Scratch domains. Save a copy to the computer first, then check each cause one at a time.

Why won't my Scratch project save?

Scratch will not save a project with a sound or image over 10 MB, and project.json has a 5 MB limit. Saving also fails if the internet drops, if you were signed out, or if you are editing someone else's project without remixing it first.

Why does Scratch keep signing me out?

The Help Center lists three reasons: the account is signed in on more than one computer, a second account is signed in on the same browser, or cookies are disabled. Sign out of other computers and allow cookies for scratch.mit.edu.

Does Scratch work on a Chromebook?

Yes. Scratch runs in recent versions of Chrome, and the Scratch app for Android and ChromeOS supports Android 8.0 and higher on Chromebooks. On a school Chromebook, the district filter may still need to allow the Scratch domains.

Can you use Scratch on an iPad or a phone?

On a tablet, yes, with two limits: key pressed blocks and right-click menus do not work. On a phone you can play projects and comment, but Scratch does not currently support creating or editing projects on phones.

Why is Scratch blocked at school?

Usually the school network filter is blocking one of the Scratch domains, or blocking an IP address that Scratch shares through its content delivery network. The Help Center lists the domains to allow; school IT can add them.

Can I use Scratch without the internet?

Yes. The free Scratch app lets you create projects offline. To open a saved project, start the app first and choose File, then Load from your computer, because double-clicking the file does not open it.

Why can't I share my Scratch project?

You need to confirm your email address before you can share. Resend the confirmation from Account Settings, Email tab. Some school email addresses do not receive Scratch messages, and the Scratch Team can confirm them if you contact it.

Will you do my Scratch homework for me?

No. We never write graded assignments for students. A teacher explains the idea behind the problem, for example broadcasts or rounding, so the student can solve their own project and explain it.

What times are classes for US families?

Weekdays or weekends, flexible. Choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.

How much do Scratch classes cost?

The first lesson is free. After that, teaching is paid one month at a time, and the fees section of this page shows the monthly amount in US dollars.

More on this site

Related pages

Pages for US families once Scratch is behaving again.

Scratch coding classes

How our live Scratch lessons run.

Coding classes in the USA

The index of our US pages.

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How to debug code

The same habits, for any language.

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Every course for ages 6 to 14.

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Where many Scratch fans go next.

MakeCode Arcade help

MakeCode Arcade help: jumping, gravity, tilemap levels and lost projects.

Roblox Studio errors fixed

Roblox Studio errors from the Creator docs: 403, 502, HTTP, endless waits.

Khan Academy CS vs live classes

Khan Academy CS or live classes? A fair comparison, built from Khan Academy descriptions of its course.

Start here

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