You’ve opened up Premiere Pro, and now you can’t drag a clip onto the timeline, frustrating right? It happens quite often, even after you’ve already dragged one clip onto the timeline in Premiere Pro. 

I can’t drag a clip onto the Timeline in Premiere Pro [Solution]

Sometimes it only allows you to drag the video but not the audio, which can be even more frustrating.

However, this issue occurs at any time. But, fear not, we have the solution that you need. Firstly, we show you how to solve this issue, and then we explain a few reasons why this may have happened.

Let’s get into it!

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“I can’t drag a clip to the Timeline in Premiere Pro” – The Solution

Here’s how you solve the age-old issue of not being able to drag your clip onto the timeline in Premiere Pro. These three steps will enable you to continue to drag and drop your video and audio files with no issue onto the timeline in Premiere Pro. 

Here are the three steps you need to ensure that your clips populate in the timeline efficiently and correctly with no hiccups. 

Load the clip

Select your clip in the Project Panel, or you can double-click on them to load into the Source Monitor

Enable the Source Patchers

Next up, enable the Source Patchers

Enable the source patchers

Look at the track headers (Image above) next to your timeline on the left. Ensure the V1 and A1 Source Patchers are enabled (All 4 of them). 

Drag the clip onto the timeline

Finally, you can drag your clip onto the timeline. With the Source Patchers enabled, your video and audio clips will drag over and populate correctly on the timeline. 

You may also find the article “What’s the best export settings in Premiere Pro CC for YouTube?” useful.

I can’t drag a clip to the Timeline in Premiere Pro – Why this may have happened.

Here are a few reasons for not dragging a clip onto the timeline in Premiere Pro; let’s check them out.

  • You may not have enabled all of the source patchers. Remember to enable all four of the Source Patchers before dragging the clip onto the timeline. Scroll below to part 2 for the solution to this.
  • Dragging the clip immediately can cause the above issue as the Source Patchers aren’t enabled. 
  • If you double click the clip from the Project panel, it will prevent the automatic Source Patch from failing.
  • Make sure you load the clip into the Source Monitor, marking the clips in and out points. It will also check the quality of your audio and video. Source patching at this point is far more reliable as well. 
  • If you select the clip in the Project panel, it should automatically set up Source Patching. It doesn’t always work, so always double-check it!
  • Auto Source Patching sometimes fails with files like H.264 and Long GOP type files. Always load the clip to the Source Monitor to be sure!

And that’s it, that is how to solve the age-old problem of: “I can’t drag a clip to the Timeline in Premiere Pro”. We hope this article was useful to you; let us know your thoughts below in the comments. 

Scroll a little further for our latest video editing blogs, resources and articles on Premiere Pro; happy filmmaking!