Fix: “Some Tracks Contain Missing Frozen Samples” in Ableton

If you’ve opened your purchased Ableton project and see this message:

“Some tracks contain missing frozen samples. Do you want to unfreeze these tracks?”

Don’t worry — the project is not broken. This is a common file path issue and is easy to fix.

This guide will walk you through the solution step by step.

Why This Happens

This message appears when Ableton cannot find the rendered frozen track files.

This usually happens if:

• The project was opened directly from a ZIP file

• The folder structure was changed

• The project file (.als) was moved outside its main folder

• The project was moved to a new computer

Even if the sample folder is included (which it is), Ableton just needs to properly relink everything.

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Step 1 – Extract the ZIP File Properly

If you downloaded a ZIP file:

1. Right-click the ZIP file

2. Click “Extract All” (Windows) or “Unzip” (Mac)

3. Open the extracted folder

Important: Do not open the project directly from inside the ZIP preview. Always extract first.

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Step 2 – Check the Folder Structure

Inside the main project folder, you should see something like:

Project Name.als
Samples/
Ableton Project Info/

Make sure:

• The .als file is inside the main project folder

• The Samples folder is inside the same main folder

• Nothing has been renamed or moved

The folder structure must stay intact.

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Step 3 – Open the Project Again

Open the .als file from inside the extracted project folder.

If the warning appears again:

👉 Click “Unfreeze.”

This tells Ableton to rebuild the frozen tracks using the included samples.

In most cases, this fully resolves the issue.

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Step 4 – Manually Relink Samples (If Needed)

If some samples are still missing:

1. In Ableton’s left sidebar, click “Manage Files”

2. Click “Manage Project”

3. Click “Locate Files”

4. Click “Search Folder”

5. Select the main project folder

Ableton will scan the folder and automatically relink the missing files.

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Final Step (Recommended)

After everything is working:

1. Go to File → Collect All and Save

2. Confirm all boxes

3. Save the project

This ensures all samples are properly stored within the project folder going forward.

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If You’re Still Having Issues

Please send us:

• A screenshot of your project folder structure

• A screenshot of the Ableton error message

We’ll help you resolve it quickly.