Unable to render or export Premiere Pro project

Last updated on Jun 24, 2025

Learn how to troubleshoot when Premiere Pro hangs, freezes, or becomes unresponsive while rendering or exporting.

Before you begin

Attempt to resolve export issues by following some standard troubleshooting steps mentioned here.

  1. Try exporting your project to a different file format. Check the formats that Premiere Pro supports for direct export.

  2. Go to Preferences > Media and deselect Enable hardware accelerated decoding (requires restart) to export to H.264 or HEVC.

  3. If you are not exporting to H.264, or if the issue persists, select File > Project Settings > General, and in the Video Rendering and Playback section, select Mercury Playback Engine Software Only.

    Note:

    Software Only mode isn't available on Apple computers that use Apple Silicon processors.

    Enabling the Mercury Playback Engine Software Only option may slow down the rendering speed.

  4. If you’re using a custom export preset, change to a built-in preset. Go to the Export Settings dialog box, select the Preset dropdown menu, and choose a built-in preset that matches your desired output format.

  5. Select Queue to open Media Encoder to export your project using Adobe Media Encoder. An added advantage to using Media Encoder is that you can work on other projects in Premiere Pro.

  6. If you’re using a third-party transition or plugin, remove that temporarily from the project and export again.