Premiere Pro is one of the industry leaders when it comes to video editing software, but sometimes it has its issues too! One of the common statements we hear is that Premiere Pro is not exporting my file.

Premiere Pro Won't Export - Featured Image

This can be infuriating, especially if you’re under time constraints and need to get the video out immediately, and Premiere Pro is not letting you export your video.

Today’s article looks into the issues that cause Premiere Pro not to export and the solutions to fix this issue. 

Let’s get into the article! After you read, there is a video located at the bottom for you convenience.

Premiere Pro won’t export my video – Solutions

Here’s a list of solutions to help you solve the issue of Premiere Pro not exporting your video files.

Switch it off… Then on again

Yep, the usual off and on trick. It’s the perfect place to start, though! Yep, it’s the “state the obvious” option, but incredibly effective.

Simply restarting your computer can iron out any existing issues and resolve these, allowing you then to export with ease. 

If this doesn’t work, begin exploring the following options to help you troubleshoot and work out why Premiere Pro is not exporting correctly.

Install the latest updates to Premiere Pro

Yep we know, pretty obvious again – but you’ll be surprised how many times an update is the cause of Premiere Pro not exporting video. Honestly, it happens a lot, and we mean a lot. 

Adobe is always updating their software, which is a great thing – but it can leave you a version or two behind. But if you’re struggling to export, maybe check if there is an update. 

You may also be interested in Most common After Effects issues and how to fix them immediately

Check your storage space.

There is a small chance that your storage is full on your computer, meaning you’ll not be able to export from Premiere Pro. Free up some space, and then try again. 

This issue can also occur if you’re using an external hard drive – especially if you’re receiving any of these errors: I/O Error, Invalid output drive error or Disk Full. Try exporting with and without the external hard drive, and see if this now lets you export from Premiere Pro.

Use the Adobe cleaner tool.

If you’re not able to export your video in Premiere Pro, it’s worth checking out the Adobe cleaner tool. This essentially removes old versions and corrupted versions of Premiere Pro, which will fix any underlying issues with the program. 

This will remove any of the old versions of Premiere Pro and clean up your Adobe Cloud pretty efficiently; in general, it’s worth using on a regular basis!

Close all programs

“Unable to save file” is another warning message you’ll get in Premiere Pro; this will be another reason for Premiere Pro not to export

Or you may receive either of these error messages: Destination file is in use by Premiere, or destination file is in use by Adobe Media Encoder error. 

If so, simply close any other program trying to access the file or accessing the Premiere Pro folder; this will allow you to export the video smoothly.

Check for folder permissions.

Firstly check for folder permissions in Premiere Pro. To do this, simply: 

  • Find the folder location where the exports are stored, and Right Click on the folder and click on Properties.
  • Now, open the Security tab and click Edit. Now look for your name under Group or Usernames. 
  • Click Add if you can’t see your username under there. 
  • You now can add your Username and click Check Names. Click OK; this will add the new user. 
  • Now under Permissions for username, review the Full Control. Finally, click Apply and select OK. This will save your changes.
Security tab
Step 1
Premiere Pro is not exporting - Edit
Step 2
Premiere Pro is not Exporting - Permissions
Step 3

Premiere Pro needs to have at least read-only permission to access the files, and if not set, it can cause the export to fail. By reviewing these permissions will allow Premiere Pro to read the file and therefore allow you to export your latest project.

You may also be interested in How to export a video from Adobe Premiere Pro

Change the rendering optimisation preferences in Premiere Pro

Is Premiere Pro Not Exporting?

If Premiere Pro is not exporting your latest project, there’s a chance that it could be related to the “Virtual Memory”. There’s a simple fix to this. 
If you change the rendering optimisation preferences in Premiere Pro and change it from Performance to Memory – this will solve the problem.

If Premiere Pro is not exporting your latest project, there’s a chance that it could be related to the “Virtual Memory”. There’s a simple fix to this. 

If you change the rendering optimisation preferences in Premiere Pro and change it from Performance to Memory – this will solve the problem.

Here’s how to do this, simply: 

  • Open up Premiere Pro, then select Edit > Preferences
  • Now, click Optimise Rendering For > Memory.
  • Then click OK to save your changes and close Premiere Pro. Finally, reopen Premiere Pro for the above changes to come into play.

This will improve your rendering optimisation in Premiere Pro and solve the issue of not exporting a clip in Premiere Pro.

Review your media and check for any corruption.

Another issue that can hinder your efforts to export a clip in Premiere Pro is media corruption within Premiere Pro. 

It may be the case some footage or some frames may be corrupt within Premiere Pro. To fix this, you will need to disable all tracks but one. Then export the video. Do this for every track until you come across the one track that will not export.

If you find the track isn’t exporting, make sure to name the project differently. Then remove the problematic frame or video. Now create a new project, open the track or frame causing the issue, and save it with a new name. 

Open the video you just exported, and import the newly save corrupted frame/video into the newly completed project; this will allow you to export the video. 

When exporting it, you should now be able to render the video without any errors.

You may also be interested in reading: [SOLUTION] How to relink missing media in Premiere Pro

Review the codec format.

To review the codec format, simply: 

  • Open the Export Settings
  • For the format, click the menu and select “Quicktime” or None. The for Video Codec, select Photo and choose JPEG from the menu. 
  • Now, try and export the video again. Premiere Pro uses the h.264 format by default for rendering videos, although this may cause compression issues. 

If you get the error message, simply follow the above and try to export the video again; this will resolve any outstanding Codec issues and allow you to export your video from Premiere Pro efficiently.

Looking for More Premiere Pro Tutorials?

If you are looking for more tutorials, walkthroughs and troubleshooting on Adobe Premiere Pro, here are some additional posts about Premiere Pro:

How to Fix Can’t export media in Adobe Premiere Pro problem

As mentioned above, here’s a quick video showing you how to solve the export issue.

We hope this article on “Premiere Pro is not Exporting – Solved!” was useful to you today and helped you solve the exporting issues that may have occurred. Let us know your thoughts below in the comments or any other problems you’ve experienced; we’re happy to help!

Happy filmmaking!

One Comment

  1. For years and years I got ZERO errors when exporting in Premiere. Nowadays (starting last year I think) I get them constantly. Wonder what changed.

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