Occasionally you’ll get the offline screen of death and wonder why does Premiere Pro say media offline? Well, there is a reason for this. Basically anytime you rename, move or delete a video file that is referenced within your Premiere Pro video. This is when you will have the “Media offline” error.
Let’s get back into it.
Why Does Premiere Pro Say Media Offline?
Here’s why Premiere Pro says media offline:
- You have deleted the video file referenced within your video.
- The video file has been renamed.
- You’ve moved the file that’s linked to your video.
No worries if you have done any of the following, we will show you the solution! Here’s how to fix it:
How Do I Fix Media Offline in Premiere?
Firstly, locate the missing file within your Premiere Pro Project. If Premiere Pro can’t find your media link you will have the red Media Offline screen appear. To begin resolving this you will need to find which clips within your Project are offline.
To do this simply;
Go to the Project Panel or you can click Shift + 1. You will now see in the Project Panel that all the clips missing the media link will now have a question mark next to them.
Now select all of the question mark clips and then Right Click > Link Media.
Next, locate the original file.
Now you’ve completed step one, it’s time to locate the original file used in your Premiere Pro project. The media browser box will pop up:
The media browser is similar to the media browser you’d typically use on Mac or PC. Select the file you wish to link and then click on “Locate”.
Now, find the clip that’s missing and select “OK”.
NOTE: If you got the Media Offline error because you moved the folder to a different area on your computer, there’s a chance it will relink any other videos missing, but entirely depends on your folder structure. You may need to do this for each missing file individually.
Read Next: How to clear cache in Premiere Pro
Finally, verify the files
Your newly linked files should be fine, but to ensure they are linked correctly to your project you can go back and check.
It’s good to check to ensure you linked back to the correct file. Or, if you have connected to the wrong file or another proxy file you can simply update this. Right-click on the incorrect file in your Project Panel and select Replace Media.
Then repeat the second step to ensure you’ve reconnected the correct file.
Additional Premiere Pro Resources
If you are looking for more tutorials, walkthroughs and troubleshooting on Adobe Premiere Pro, here are some additional posts to consider:
That’s how to resolve the question “Why does Premiere Pro say media offline?”. If you need more information or want another in-depth tutorial to resolve the issue, read our in-depth relinking guide here: In this video, we look at why Premiere Pro says media offline and look at our tutorial on how you can relink missing media.
We hope this article on “Why does Premiere Pro say media offline?” was useful to you and help you solve the mystery of the Media Offline error.
Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments, and scroll a little further for more Premiere Pro tutorials.
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