How to Reset All Howler.js Instances

This article provides a quick guide on how to reset the state of all Howler.js audio instances simultaneously. You will learn how to stop all active playbacks, mute global audio, and completely unload all instances from memory using the global Howler API.

To reset or clear the state of all active audio instances in Howler.js, you do not need to keep track of every individual Howl object. Instead, you can use the global Howler object (with a capital “H”), which controls the global audio context and all active sound instances.

Stop All Audio Playback

If you want to immediately stop all currently playing audio across all instances without destroying them, use the stop() method on the global object:

Howler.stop();

This stops all active sounds and resets their playback position back to the beginning.

Unload All Instances (Full Reset)

To perform a complete reset—which stops all playback, clears the audio cache, and destroys all active Howl instances to free up system memory—use the unload() method:

Howler.unload();

After calling Howler.unload(), any previously created Howl objects will no longer function, and you will need to re-create them if you want to play those sounds again. This is the recommended method when unloading a level in a game, navigating away from a page, or performing a hard reset of your application’s audio state.

Reset Global Volume and Mute States

If you also need to reset the global volume and mute settings to their default values alongside stopping the audio, you can apply these global commands:

// Stop all active playbacks
Howler.stop();

// Reset global volume to default (1.0)
Howler.volume(1.0);

// Ensure the global mute state is disabled
Howler.mute(false);