Premiere Pro Export Failed, Frozen or Stuck

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Turn off hardware encoding

   Copy steps
   1. Open the Export tab
   2. Under Video > Encoding Settings set Performance to Software Encoding
   3. Export again; some users report a 10-minute export dropping to about a minute
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Disable GPU Accelerated UI Rendering

   Copy steps
   1. Open Edit > Preferences > General
   2. Uncheck GPU Accelerated UI Rendering
   3. Restart Premiere Pro and open Export again
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Change the renderer and driver

   Copy steps
   1. Open File > Project Settings > General and pick the GPU renderer (CUDA or Metal), or software only to test
   2. Install the NVIDIA Studio driver on Windows
   3. On Windows, try turning off Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling in Settings > System > Display > Graphics
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Use a different codec or Media Encoder

   Copy steps
   1. Export with a ProRes or DNxHR preset to test; H.265 can be very slow
   2. If Media Encoder stalls, end PProHeadless in Task Manager and retry
   3. Queue the export in Adobe Media Encoder instead of exporting from Premiere
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Roll back or update the version

   Copy steps
   1. Open the Creative Cloud app > Premiere Pro > More actions > Other versions
   2. Try the newest patch first; if the bug started with an update, install the previous version
   3. Note that projects saved in a newer version may not open in the older one
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Export progress stops at a percentage, Premiere freezes at export, Media Encoder hangs at 'Preparing content credentials', or an export that should take minutes takes hours.

Why it happens

• Hardware encoding bug with certain NVIDIA GPUs and driver combinations
• GPU Accelerated UI Rendering glitching the Export workspace
• Windows hardware GPU scheduling
• Export plugin or unsupported settings disabling hardware encoding
• Regression in a recent 25.x or 26.x release

This guide also covers

• premiere pro export stuck
• premiere pro export freezing
• premiere pro export slow
• hardware encoding not working premiere

The same problem in other apps

All export, render & quality loss guides →

• DaVinci Resolve Render Job Failed Error (DaVinci Resolve)
• Final Cut Pro Export Failed Error (-536870181, -41561, 10004) (Final Cut Pro)
• CapCut Export Failed Error (CapCut)
• Filmora Export Failed (Filmora)
• PowerDirector Export Failed (Produce Error) (PowerDirector)

Other Adobe Premiere Pro errors

• Premiere Pro Error Compiling Movie
• Premiere Pro Hardware Encoding Greyed Out
• Premiere Pro Playback Lagging and Stuttering
• Premiere Pro Media Offline
• Premiere Pro Keeps Crashing
• Premiere Pro Not Responding or Project Won't Open
• Premiere Pro No Audio in Timeline
• Premiere Pro 'File Has an Unsupported Compression Type'