Kapwing Export Stuck or Taking Forever

How to fix it

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

1. 1. Re-export the stalled project

   Copy steps
   1. If the percentage has not changed for 2+ hours, go back to the editor
   2. Click Export again
   3. Or click the three dots on the project thumbnail and choose Edit, then export
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Lower the video quality

   Copy steps
   1. Click Settings in the top-right corner
   2. Set Video Quality to Standard (720p) instead of High (1080p)
   3. Click X to save, then export again
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Switch Processing Speed to Slow

   Copy steps
   1. Click the gear icon above the canvas on the right
   2. Set Processing Speed to Slow
   3. Slow exports are not split across servers, so they take longer but avoid some outlier failures
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Retry outside peak hours

   Copy steps
   1. Standard-quality exports take at least as long as the video's duration
   2. Try late in the evening US time if the queue is slow
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Report a problem

   Copy steps
   1. On the download page click Embed, then Report a problem
   2. If a single export stage runs over 60 minutes, contact support
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

The export progress bar sits at one percentage for a long time, or the export never finishes.

Why it happens

• Long video, many layers (each subtitle counts as a layer), or effects like Chroma Key and animations
• 1080p export of a long project
• Busy server times (Kapwing says Monday/Tuesday mornings EST are slow)
• Free workspaces get lower priority

This guide also covers

• kapwing export stuck
• kapwing export taking forever
• kapwing stuck processing
• kapwing export not working

The same problem in other apps

All export, render & quality loss guides →

• CapCut Export Failed Error (CapCut)
• Canva Video Export Stuck or Video Won't Download (Canva)
• DaVinci Resolve Render Job Failed Error (DaVinci Resolve)
• Premiere Pro Export Failed, Frozen or Stuck (Adobe Premiere Pro)

Other Kapwing errors

• Kapwing Export Failed or Error
• Kapwing Watermark Still Showing After Upgrade
• Kapwing Upload Failed or Stuck
• Kapwing Auto Subtitles Not Generating (No Audio Detected)
• Kapwing Subtitles Inaccurate or Wrong Language
• Kapwing Editor Slow, Laggy or Freezing
• Kapwing Lost My Project Changes
• Kapwing No Sound in the Editor