Premiere Pro Hardware Encoding Greyed Out

How to fix it

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

1. 1. Use settings that support hardware encoding

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   1. Pick H.264 or HEVC
   2. Set Bitrate Encoding to VBR 1 pass or CBR
   3. Check that Performance now offers Hardware Encoding
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Check GPU support and drivers

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   1. Confirm your GPU has NVENC, Quick Sync or Apple Media Engine
   2. Update to the current Studio driver or macOS
   3. Restart Premiere Pro
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Remove export plugins

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   1. Close Premiere
   2. Move third-party export plugins such as WebM out of the Adobe plugin folders
   3. Reopen and check the dropdown
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

The Performance dropdown in Export only offers Software Encoding, or shows a message that settings do not match hardware encoding.

Why it happens

• VBR 2-pass or certain rate controls not supported by hardware
• Old GPU without NVENC, or a CPU without an integrated GPU
• A third-party export plugin (for example WebM) disabling it
• Outdated drivers

This guide also covers

• hardware encoding greyed out premiere pro
• premiere pro hardware encoding not available

Other Adobe Premiere Pro errors

• Premiere Pro Error Compiling Movie
• Premiere Pro Export Failed, Frozen or Stuck
• 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'