Premiere keeps crashing ever since updating to 26.2.2

I found the following solution: I switched to Resolve, and the problems went away, so I canceled my Premiere subscription. With Relink (relink.co), you can easily convert Premiere projects to Resolve.

Iam sorry Adobe but this is absolutely rediculous!!!!! Premiere Pro is a total mess right now. Every action I take iam worried my application freezes up. It is a scandal that you are even let people pay for this. Pardon my French but it is what it is. I feel like i'am beta testing an editing software. Get this fixed or I will be cancelling my subscription and those of my team.

PS: I ran through all the supposed fixes, disabled hardware encoding, changed memory alocations and also deleted all my media caches.

Has anyone found a fix for this? I've been through several rounds with my IT department and even tried calling Adobe customer support, without success. Premiere functions fine for about 30 minutes to an hour after I open it, but after that it enters the Windows “not responding’ state every time I adjust a parameter or access the top menu (File, Edit, etc...). Most of the time it recovers after a minute, but sometimes it crashes completely. It will even sometimes crash if I attempt to save with Ctrl S.

im spending 100 buc a month on a software that cant move a layer or operate ui in a year 2026... unbelievable.

I've been experiencing the same issue with 26.2.2. Pulling fancy edits in latest after effects causes no issues with software or pc, yet i can't do anything with the Premiere timeline without it freezing. 

Issue appeared after last upgrade, and disappears if i revert back to 25. Unfortunately i cant revert back to 25 for the project that i have to finish.

Try this method it has helped me however it’s a band-aid and less freezes.
for a premium product to be proforming this bad is not good for everyday users
GET IT FIXED ASAP ADOBE or i’m going to RESOLVE!!!

Premiere Pro version 26.3 has a widespread, documented bug where H.264/HEVC hardware decoding causes severe UI lag and timeline freezes on NVIDIA systems.

1. Disable Hardware Decoding (The Quickest Fix)

Because of the Premiere 26.3 driver conflict, turning off hardware decoding ironically makes the timeline smooth and stops the crashes. 

• Go to Edit > Preferences > Media.
• Uncheck the box that says H.264/HEVC hardware accelerated decoding.
• Note: Keep hardware encoding enabled under your export settings so your 2070 Super still handles the final render quickly.
• Restart Premiere Pro.

  2. Switch to NVIDIA Studio Drivers

  Ensure you are using the version optimised for stability in creative apps rather than the gaming version.
  
  3. Change NVIDIA Power Management

  Your GPU might be downclocking or losing power during heavy effect application. [1]

• Right-click your desktop and open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
• Go to Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings tab.
• Select Adobe Premiere Pro from the dropdown menu.
• Scroll down to Power management mode and change it to Prefer maximum performance

Pretty much everything in your list tracks with my experience. Still no resolution for me either...just working around the issue for now.

Add me to this issue

Premiere Pro 26.3.0 and 26.2.2 constantly becomes "Not Responding" during normal editing (Windows 11, Intel Core Ultra). Are there any known issues, workarounds, or logs I should collect before opening a support case with Adobe?

1. System specifications

• Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6
• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 5 235U
• GPU: Intel Graphics
• RAM: 32 GB
• Storage: NVMe SSD
• Operating System: Windows 11 Enterprise (Build 26100)
• Creative Cloud: Up to date
• Camera Raw: Up to date

2. Problem

Premiere Pro constantly becomes "Not Responding" during normal editing.

It does not crash. Instead:

• The window becomes dimmed.
• Windows shows the blue spinning cursor.
• Premiere is marked as "Not Responding".
• After approximately 2 to 10 seconds, it recovers by itself.

The problem happens repeatedly throughout the editing session.

3. It happens when:

• Saving the project (Ctrl+S)
• Moving text layers
• Opening menus
• Moving clips
• General timeline editing
• Basic UI interactions

It is not limited to playback or rendering.

4. Project information

• Happens with existing projects
• Happens with brand new empty projects
• Happens even before adding media

5. What has already been tested

• Cleared Media Cache
• Reset Premiere preferences
• Reinstalled Premiere
• Updated from 26.2.2 Build 3 to 26.3
• Updated Creative Cloud Desktop
• Updated Camera Raw
• Disabled:
  • H.264/HEVC hardware accelerated decoding
  • H.264/HEVC hardware accelerated encoding
• Restarted Premiere after changes
• Tested with and without Wi-Fi
• Tested different projects
• Tested a completely new project
• System Compatibility Report shows "No conflict to report"
• Windows Event Viewer shows no Premiere errors or Application Hang events
• CPU, RAM, SSD and GPU are not saturated during the freezes.

6. Additional observations

Using Analyze Wait Chain in Windows Task Manager shows:

One or more threads of Adobe Premiere Pro.exe are in waiting status.

However, Premiere is not waiting on any external process (such as OneDrive, Defender, Explorer, etc.). The wait chain only shows Premiere's own threads.

7. Other Adobe applications

Photoshop, Illustrator and other Adobe applications work normally.

8. Older versions

I installed Premiere Pro 25.5 alongside 26.x.

A quick test with a new empty project in 25.5 did not reproduce the freezes.

Unfortunately, I cannot continue working in 25.5 because my current projects require compatibility with Motion Graphics Templates (.mogrt) created for the newer version.

Add me to the list of people experiencing this problem: “Not responding” but no crash reports. Here are my (extensive) details:

CURRENT PROBLEMS

“Not responding” anytime I click on any of the menu options (File, Edit, Clip, etc.)

“Not responding” any time I try to work with text (change anything in the Properties panel)

HISTORY

I’ve been using Adobe Premiere on my current machine for 3 years with no problems. In fact, until the recent problems, it has been extremely nimble.  That includes working with 4K video and mixed frame rates. All of my current problems have been with 1080p projects. I did add a Wacom Cintiq to my setup a few months ago with no apparent problems. As noted below, I think I’ve addressed the possibility that it caused the problems. I’m having zero problems with any of the other programs I use daily: After Effects, Photoshop, Cinema 4D, or Maxon Autograph.

COMPUTER DETAILS

CUSTOM BUILD by AVADirect

PROCESSOR – 13TH Gen Intel Core i9-13900KF (3.00GHz)

INSTALLED RAM – 128GB (128GB usable)

GRAPHICS CARD – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (16GB) latest driver installed 6/27/26

STORAGE: 2.73T (1.65T used)

OS: Windows 11 Pro – last updated on 6/27/26

ADOBE PREMIERE: Version 26.3.0 (Build 93)

THINGS I’VE ALREADY TRIED (NOT NECESSARILY IN THIS ORDER)

Uninstalled and reinstalled Premiere

Updated Windows

Updated NVIDIA drivers

Cleared Media Cache

Checked RAM Allocation (RAM reserved for other applications: 12GB/RAM available for Ae,Pr,Me, and Au: 116GB)

Set Program Panel to Lower Playback Quality

Cleared Temp Files

Optimized my hard drives

Removed all unnecessary startup apps

Moved the project to the Desktop and made sure all files are stored on local drive

Reencoded video via Movavi

Uninstalled Wacom-related files and disconnected the Cintiq.

ONE FINAL TEST I TRIED

Created a project with no assets at all. Premiere works a little better, but still gives me a “Not Responding” message.

Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve installed the update, but the problem persists. The UI keeps crashing. Premiere might respond a bit quicker after a freeze. There’s no crash report.