Every time I open the Footprint Editor in Win 11 it crashes?

Software
1

Hi, I can edit a footprint from within a PCB, but if I go to the editor via the main page, it will open, then just crash and close, with no error message. Are there any logs I can attach here to help work out what the issue is?

The issue is also version agnostic, getting the same thing with v7 and v9

2

You can start by posting your KiCad version from Help - About KiCad - Copy version info

3 
Application: KiCad x64 on x64

Version: 9.0.1, release build

Libraries:
	wxWidgets 3.2.6
	FreeType 2.13.3
	HarfBuzz 10.2.0
	FontConfig 2.15.0
	libcurl/8.11.1-DEV Schannel zlib/1.3.1

Platform: Windows 11 (build 22631), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW

Build Info:
	Date: Mar 30 2025 01:11:30
	wxWidgets: 3.2.6 (wchar_t,wx containers)
	Boost: 1.86.0
	OCC: 7.8.1
	Curl: 8.11.1-DEV
	ngspice: 44
	Compiler: Visual C++ 1942 without C++ ABI
	KICAD_IPC_API=ON

Locale: 
	Lang: en_GB
	Enc: UTF-8
	Num: 1,234.5
	Encoded кΊ丈: D0BACEA9E4B888 (sys), D0BACEA9E4B888 (utf8)

And

Application: KiCad x64 on x64

Version: 7.0.11, release build

Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.4
FreeType 2.12.1
HarfBuzz 8.2.1
FontConfig 2.14.2
libcurl/8.4.0-DEV Schannel zlib/1.3

Platform: Windows 11 (build 22631), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW

Build Info:
Date: Feb 21 2024 14:46:19
wxWidgets: 3.2.4 (wchar_t,wx containers)
Boost: 1.83.0
OCC: 7.7.1
Curl: 8.4.0-DEV
ngspice: 41
Compiler: Visual C++ 1936 without C++ ABI

Build settings:
KICAD_SPICE=ON

And on Kicad 8, but I have uninstalled that version, so I can’t give you any info on that. As I said, it seems to be a build-agnostic issue with Windows.

4

Check that your display drivers are up to date. The one that MS supplies may not be the most up to date. You may have to get it from the graphics chip mfr.

5

Is the footprint editor the only part of Kicad that crashes your Win 11? i.e. does the symbol editor or schematic or PCB crash?

6

Have you checked the Windows event logs? Might be some clue as to why it’s crashing.

7

I see you’re still running V9.0.1, while V9.0.2 has been released about a month ago:

In general, it’s advised to keep up with the bug fix updates (third digit) in KiCad. Especially in the first few bug fix updates after a new Mayor version a lot of bugs get found and fixed.

Your issue is probably not fixed in V9.0.2, but still, when you make a bug report, it’s mandatory to enter your version info, and bug reports without the version info from the latest stable version get closed by the bot automatically.

8

His issue is also with v7.

I would gamble the settings file is corrupted and they imported their v7 setting on upgrade.

The best thing to try is to go to

%APPDATA%\kicad\9.0 and delete fpedit.json

9

I am aware that he wrote He also has the issue in V7.

Concerning the corrupted settings. Good point!
Istead of deleting a single file in the appdata directory, you can also simply rename the whole %APPDATA%\kicad\9.0 directory, for example to: %APPDATA%\kicad\2025-06-28_9.0 If the directory does not exist, then KiCad simply creates a new one with default settings. And you have a backup which you can use to compare setting (and re-import) with a source code diff / merge program (such as meldmerge.org).

1 Like
10

Yep, just the footprint editor and on in the main menu, can get it working if I go through a PCB and edit the footprint.

11

I didn’t import settings when I did the v9 install. I try and keep the v7 and v9 install as separate as possible, as I just have v7 to support a legacy plugin.

No luck removing fpdedit

12

Faulting application name: kicad.exe, version: 9.0.1.42021, time stamp: 0x67e88cb7
Faulting module name: kicommon.dll, version: 9.0.1.42021, time stamp: 0x67e88c37
Exception code: 0xc000041d
Fault offset: 0x000000000028a412
Faulting process id: 0x0x2498
Faulting application start time: 0x0x1DBE825EBC178F3
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\KiCad\9.0\bin\kicad.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\KiCad\9.0\bin\kicommon.dll
Report Id: 1929689c-1c09-462c-9ca5-fb32b22cf4c0
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

13

Can you enable Data Collection (if you have it disabled), make it crash, then share the Id from Preferences?
image

It’s recommended to update to 9.0.2 first though.

14

I have no idea what the issue is, however if it happened to me I would delete everything Kicad.

Especially from: “C:\Users<userName>\AppData” both local and roaming.