How to Relink Missing Media in Premiere Pro [SOLUTION]

Have you ever jumped back into some editingThe process of selecting, arranging, and assembling the visual and audio components of a film to tell a coherent and compelling story., and to your horror, your media files have vanished? I’m guessing you have – it happens pretty often. But how do you relink this missing media in Premiere Pro? 

Don’t worry at all; Premiere Pro has enabled us to fix the missing media link in minutes with a few simple steps. So that horrible Red screen displaying missing media will be soon gone. 

In today’s article, we will look at the possible situations in which you can lose the link between your video files and Premiere Pro and how you can solve it in minutes. 

Let’s check it out below!

Why am I getting a missing media notification in Premiere Pro?

Firstly, why are you getting a notification in Premiere Pro stating you have missing media. 

When you import video footageThe raw, unedited material recorded by the camera, measured in feet for film or minutes for digital media. into the project panel within Premiere Pro, the file has not moved from its actual location. Premiere Pro creates a map of where the files are stored and directly points to where your video footage is stored. 

An example of this would be if you were editing using an external hard drive and it was a video of your kitten names “Kittens 1st day at home”. 

The file setup will be the External Hard Drive > Folder Name > File Name.

This is where Premiere Pro looks to find the footage at any point and will follow this path when you open up your project within Premiere Pro. 

But, if you’ve moved the file anywhere else or renamed the video files name, the map Premiere Pro follows to locate the file becomes muddied. 

Premiere Pro will not locate the file, therefore triggering the error message that the media files link is missing.

If you ever look to move a file or rename it, ensure you redirect Premiere Pro to the new location, as if you don’t, it will not be able to display the media and show it as unlinked. 

That’s how you get the missing media notification in Premiere Pro, but don’t worry; the next part of the article is how you can solve it in a few simple steps. 

You may also be interested in: 6 ways to optimise Premiere Pro’s performance

How to relink missing media in Premiere Pro

Now it’s time to relink the missing media. But first of all, have a think of why this media may be missing in the first place and why Premiere Pro is flagging it as “Offline Media”.

Have you moved the file or the folder? Have you renamed the file or the folder? Have you unplugged your hard drive or disconnected it? 

Why does Premiere Pro say media offline?

If you have renamed the file

Here’s how to relink your media if you have renamed your file or changed the folder’s name. 

When you open your project up, you’ll find that you have a strange red screen where the media should display, showing you the “Unlinked Media” image. 

To start fixing the process, you need to right-click on your clip that has the missing media, select Link Media.

Once this happens, a file box will pop up, and you need to make a couple of adjustments. 

Firstly deselect the File Name default option under the Match File Properties title. 

Then you must deselect the second option for File Extension if you have converted a file from one format to another. I.e .MP4 to .MOV. 

Now you can select Locate; this will then allow you to find the file’s new location. Select the file and click OK. This will reconnect your footage, and you’ll be raring to go!

If you have moved the file location or folder location

The number of times I do this in haste and forget I’ve moved the file, meaning I’ll fire up the Mac to edit and see the red screen of doom. Only to remember, I’ve moved the file location. 

Don’t worry; we are here to help! It’s as simple as the solution above. 

Here’s how to relink missing media in Premiere Pro caused by a file/folder being relocated. 

Firstly, when this image pops up: 

This lets you know that you have missing media (or offline media) and need to relink your media. If you don’t see it, you will see the image below in red. The media offline, red screen of doom.

Simply right-click on your file and select “Link Media”. When the dialogueThe spoken lines between characters in a film, driving the narrative and revealing character traits. box pops up, you will want to leave all settings as they are and leave them on default. 

Now select the clip name and click on the Locate button.

In this window, Premiere Pro will show you where the last place it was able to locate the file, including the names. On the left-hand side, you can use this window to navigate the new location of your footage in which you want to relink missing media in Premiere Pro.

If you find the missing media through this, you can simply click on it and click OK. This will relink the media to the new file location.

However, there is a chance that you will not be able to locate the media immediately, but fear not! Here’s another solution to solve this.

Click on the Search button. There you can search the old file name, and you will find the new location. Therefore selecting the clip and relinking your media in Premiere Pro.

The final chapter

We hope this article on How to Relink Missing Media in Premiere Pro was helpful to you. Check out at the top Philip’s video tutorial if you’re a visual learner!

Let us know if you want to see more video-based articles in the comments below. Or, if you’re going to finesse your Premiere Pro skills further, simply scroll a little further and read more of our exceptional Premiere Pro guides. 

Happy editing!