# ida\_kernwin.ask\_file(True, "", "") crashes IDA 9.4

**URL:** <https://community.hex-rays.com/t/ida-kernwin-ask-file-true-crashes-ida-9-4/793>\
**Category:** Bugs\
**Created:** [September 6, 2026, 2:47am UTC](https://community.hex-rays.com/t/ida-kernwin-ask-file-true-crashes-ida-9-4/793 "2026-09-06T02:47:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Harding](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.hex-rays.com/harding/32/37_2.png) [@Harding](https://community.hex-rays.com/u/Harding)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 2:47am UTC](https://community.hex-rays.com/t/ida-kernwin-ask-file-true-crashes-ida-9-4/793/1 "2026-09-06T02:47:07Z")

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In the GUI I wrote `ida_kernwin.ask_file(True, "", "")` and it crashes IDA Pro 9.4 (Win10). There is also no documentation on ask\_file that I can find, the official document ( [ida\_kernwin — IDAPython references documentation](https://python.docs.hex-rays.com/ida_kernwin/index.html#ida_kernwin.ask_file) ) say `ida_kernwin.ask_file(*args) → char* ` which is not really helpful.

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**Author:** ![teresa\_hexrays](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.hex-rays.com/teresa_hexrays/32/11_2.png) [@teresa\_hexrays](https://community.hex-rays.com/u/teresa_hexrays)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.hex-rays.com/t/ida-kernwin-ask-file-true-crashes-ida-9-4/793/2 "2026-09-10T15:13:24Z")

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Hi, Thanks for reporting! The fix for this issue (along with updated documentation) should land in the 9.5 release.