Razer Synapse not opening? Try this to launch the software

Downloading Razer Synapse is the first thing you’ll want to do if you’ve just bought yourself a new peripheral from the brand. It’s the best place to make adjustments to your devices, from RGB lighting changes to mouse acceleration tweaks.

Sometimes, you may find that Synapse won’t open, or you can’t get it running on your computer or a laptop. If this is the case, then you’ll want to run through the following to get it working again.

Razer Synapse not opening? Try this

First things first, you’ll want to go into Task Manager, or Activity Monitor for MacOS users, and shut Synapse down. It could just be a small issue with the loading process, and closing the software down for a few minutes and re-opening it is always what you’ll want to try initially.

This may fix it for some, but if it doesn’t, the next thing to try is to go ahead and try to uninstall Synapse. When you’re doing so, hopefully it’ll bring up a repair tool that you can use to work out what the problem is.

If you’re lucky, then the repair tool will be able to work out what the problem is with your software, and give you the ability to fix it. If you’re not, then you’ll need to keep going to try and fix the issue.

Completely uninstall Synapse

razer

With no repair tool help, you’re going to want to proceed to completely uninstall Synapse off of your device. Not only the software, but you’ll want to delete any Razer files and data that’s already been saved to your computer.

This means that as well as uninstalling your software, you’re also going to want to go into your C drive and;

  • Clear C:\ProgramData\Razer
  • Get rid of C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Razer

After you’ve done this, you should be good to go with a completely fresh install. Log into your account and update it before you connect any devices to your computer.

For most people, this will be all you need to get Synapse working properly. But if not, then there are a few other things you can check too.

Make sure you have admin access

It’s not just the Razer Synapse software that can have problems running if you don’t have full Admin authority of your device.

Sometimes, if you’re on a guest account or alternative one, then it may prohibit your access to using the software. Typically with Windows, added users won’t have permission to edit some of the files in the C Drive that need to be modified when running Synapse.

Ideally, you’re going to want to go into the Admin account and grant full privileges to the account that you want to use Synapse with. You may need elevated permissions to run various softwares, so make sure that you’re either in the Admin account, or you’ve got access in a different one.

Double check your anti-virus software and firewall

firewall

Something else you’re going to want to take a quick look at is your anti-virus software and the firewall that you’re using.

In some cases, they may actually prevent the software from opening properly. Though they’re doing this as a precautionary measure to try and protect your device, it doesn’t always work how you want it to. And sometimes, it can block some programs from starting on your device.

If you can, go into your firewall and adding Synapse into the exception list, which should be filled with the programs you want to allow access to your device. If it doesn’t, then you can try switching the firewall and anti-virus off completely.

Update Windows

If you’re having issues with the .NET framework not working on your laptop or computer, then the easiest and quickest way to solve this is by updating Windows.

If you don’t keep Windows updated, then issues like this can happen. They usually update it to get rid of bugs and problems, so there’s a good reason why Window 10 needs updating.

You can also look at updating to the most recent release of the .NET framework too. It’s essentially just a tool we can use to build and run all of the programs and apps we want to on our computer.

Razer Synapse 2 vs 3

synapse-software

Which one of the two you opt for will likely come down to the devices that you’re using. Newer Razer devices will be compatible with the updated Synapse 3 software, whilst some older peripherals will only connect up to Synapse 2.

Although the main reason the software was updated was to improve the overall user experience, Synapse 3 definitely still has its critics. Whilst it does offer more customization options over your mouse and keyboard, its interface isn’t as friendly as 2.

It can be a little frustrating, especially if you have two devices that work better on a different software. Synapse 2 and 3 don’t communicate with each other whatsoever, so effectively you’re just having 2 separate softwares on your device, which is only going to slow you down.

As of 2021, you can only use Synapse 3 on a Windows computer, as it’s not compatible with the MacOS as of yet. Synapse 2 is compatible with both Mac and Windows, so in some cases, you may not have a choice between the two.

Conclusion

Razer Synapse may not be working for a couple of different reasons. Usually, closing down the software should work, and if not, then you’ll want to completely uninstall Synapse, as well as getting rid of any data and drivers that may be saved to your computer.

If you’re not using the right software version for your device, then it’s not going to work either way. So make sure that you’ve downloaded Synapse 2 if you have an older legacy device, and Synapse 3 if you’ve got a more recent release from Razer.

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About Nathan

Hello! I'm Nate. I work for an internet company during the week, so you'll probably see me on here jabbering about the internet and building websites, which is my main side hobby.

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