Non-primary windows disappear after exporting in 23.5

[KarthXLR]

As the title says. I have a multi-monitor setup and whenever I export my second window just vanishes. I can't figure out how to get it back without relaunching the program. I can't afford to waste anymore time on this so I'm just downgrading to the last stable version for me (23.3).

Version 23.5

Windows 10 64-bit

[KarthXLR]

@jstrawn Go for it, anything that can help this annoying bug bite the dust is a positive.

[gideonmuzy]

di you try ctrl+shift+0  ??

is no the big solution but reset your workspace

[KarthXLR]

@gideonmuzy Sadly that doesn't work, the only thing that fixes it is to switch to another workspace and then back. It's almost like the program forgets I have a second window at all so any changes to the workspace is like "Oh, well that doesn't exist so I didn't do anything". The only thing that works is swapping workspaces or restarting the program. 

[Joren Leferink]

Hello Adobe / Jstrawn, since around one year we also experience this problem, on several Windows 10 computers.

Our workaround was always closing Premiere after export, and restarting. Or changing workspaces.

And hoping for an update.

Now with Premiere 2024 we're still experiencing the problem, and I came across this topic.

We also recreated the problem by starting a new Premiere project, creating a timelime, assets, and exporting it.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/Jvhrh9jmZsk

In this example, the first export at timecode 1:50 doesn't have the problem. But at the second export, at 2:20, the second screen stays away. At 3:50 and 4:30 the problem also happens.

Is there a fix on the way?

Kind regards, Joren

[defaultj630smruscqx]

One year and several versions later, same problem persist on CC2024.

When i send my timeline to media enconder to export, whatever premiere window i have on my second screen just disapear when the export mode window is enabled.

The only way to bring it back is pressing Alt + shift + 0 (Window>Workspace>Reset Current Workspace).

Reseting my workspace whenever i'm exporting anything IT'S A WASTE OF TIME.

Please delete that useless import and export mode windows. The whole community will thank you for that.

[R Neil Haugen]

Last thing first ...

"Please delete that useless import and export mode windows. The whole community will thank you for that.

Not ... hardly. You'd have a lot of people howling over removing that Import page at this time.  As rather a lot of users, including many high end professionals, use that import page heavily and love it, for certain things. Even though many of us don't use it at all.

On the Facebook pro editors group, I just learned that it actually is one of the more solid ways of importing additional spanned footage to a current project. Which has always been a MediaBrowser panel thing only, right? Yea ... so a lot of folks using spanned media are now very into that Import page. Because it actually can be faster and just as good to flip to the import page for heavy spanned media.

Huh. Learn something every day, right?

As to your issue: I'm one of those, btw, who's been arguing their entire UI relationship with monitors needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. It's so 1994 ... rather than based on the physical monitors, it's really seems to be coded more by relative relationship to the upper left pixel, of whichever the OS thinks is the "main" monitor. Most everything other pixel is calculated from that pixel, something like "+1080-1920" or something like that.  And it all goes wonky if the 'main' Pr window, with the top menu system, isn't on that 'main' monitor. Or if the Program monitor is moved to a different screen than the main window. And other things.

As to that issue you're having, where panels can flipping disappear ... yea, agreed that's annoying.  And you have all my sympathy too. As ... there are some annoying things with color processes especially using control surfaces. Which ... in general ... is a ton better in Premiere than in Resolve, as BlackMagic barely allows non-BM kit to function and you can't change their intentionally limited mappings.

That said ... there' some things that are clearly 'bug' behavior, but as they affect only a very few users, I've been told (very politely) that ... realistically ... even though it's acknowledged, fixing a couple issues high on my list is gonna be so low on any user-requested dev's list, that it might just be a long, long time before they get to a couple things. As in a ... LONG ... time.

Annoying? Oh Hades, yes. But actually, I do understand the reasoning on the prioritization of dev's time. Sadly, for me, but ... Life is what it is. And I've had to be practical about working through the annoyances. 

All this to say, I live with, to me, a painful issue, but recognize most of you don't give crud about my painful issue, because ... it doesn't affect you at freaking all. Which is totally normal human behavior. Right?

Your issue affects undoubtedly more than mine does. Thankfully for you! 

But ... most users hit by this have found practical ways around at least some of the annoyance. Typically by changing their custom workspaces and panel practices some.

I think "we" can find a way to at least mitigate most of the pain. As that's probably the most practical suggestion at this time.

And as thee and me can't change the devs work schedules. at least, for practical use, we users can probably help you find a less annoying way to get around this. IF we know enough about how you setup your monitors in the OS, and how you use panels in Premiere.

And again ... I totally want the devs to rebuild the entire monitor using UI ... please Dear Deity, please?

[engineeringfilmmaker]

I am in 24.1 but it has happened for the past few updates. 

I have 3 monitors and use 2 of them when editing. I have my main monitor with my Program, Effects, Text, Effect Controls, and timeline. 

Screen 2 has my Project, Essential Graphics, and Media browser.

When I export any video using the "export" tab in the top left and come back to my timeline, my second screen panels are gone. I have to switch to another workspace then go back to the one I want in order for it to come back. Its quite annoying when trying to edit and export short form content since I export after every edit. 

I have tried the typical problem solving methods like clearing cache, restarting PC, trying a new timeline, and other normal solutions. This seems to be a built in problem to the software and not a computer related issue. This has also happened throughout multiple iterations of the Beta so any updates did not help. 

[jstrawn]

@engineeringfilmmaker Thank you for taking the time to report this. The problem you described is the same as on we've been hearing from some users for a while. So I'm merging your post into the existing one so that we can hopefully work together to find a common repro case that could lead to a fix for the root problem.

[stu@ohboy]

Very annoying. The only way for me to go back to my workspace is to exit and then open the program again.

[gideonmuzy]

I don't understand
each of us pays adobe monthly to receive the programs
This discussion began at least in June 2023
In a couple more months it will be a year
and Adobe still can't solve this?
Adobe can run a script in the program that closes and opens the project after exporting
or have the script run control alt 0
to reset the workspace
but why continue suffering and work unprofessionally?
Isn't it time to put the engineers to work on some of these basic solutions?

[Bacuba13]

@jstrawn  

This is also happening to me. I'm running Windows 11 Pro on a 4090 with the latest studio drivers. 

I beleive the main problem is in a Windows environment, when undocking the program monitor for it to take up the secondary monitor, it takes the secondary program monitor as a non main window. Meaning I don't even have the option to maximize the window for full screen with the maximize button. This is serperate from having it recognize it as an output monitor where it takes up the whole monitor space without being able to adjust sizing or rotatin within the program moitor.

There is also a problem that has been reported here multiple times that MXFs (regardless of codec) cannot be imported within Premiere Pro unless it is done through the Media Browser (which has not been fixed). Again Windows 11 Pro latest studio drivers and on a 4090. Something is causing issues between nvidia drivers and Premiere possibly.  
Source post: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-bugs/premiere-pro-23-2-crashes-when-importing-loading-mx...

[andrewm27929095]

Hello! I would like to share my experience of solving this problem. How do i avoid and temporarly solve this interface bug. I'am using Premiere 2024 on Win11 pro, 4070 ti Studio (the same problem was in 2023). In 2024 there like bounding box (thin semitransparent frame around panels on second monitor). I was set this panel size that this "frame" was within my second screen edges and after the disappearances was stopped. On Pr2023 almost the same, except it doesn't have that frame. Hope my post will help. Best regards. Bye

[R Neil Haugen]

Sounds like "pixel creep" ... it's been a problem for some time. 

Because if you create a panel group on a second/third/fourth screen, and one line of pixels is actually "on" another monitor's space ... which you often can's see due to the bezels ... madness ensues.

I work on four monitors, and make sure that the panel groups of my custom workspaces are built with a thin line of monitor background showing around all four edges. I wish they'd make this a more modern UI but ... ah well.

[KarthXLR]

I don't think the pixel creep is the issue, as I have a pretty clear margin dividing my second window and the edge of the monitor and it's still having the same issue. Sometimes it disappears after using the export window, sometimes it doesn't. I cannot see any differences in the way I'm approaching it.

[andrewm27929095]

Soz i forget about may be an important thing... Before all of stuff that i described i was disabled the windows taskbar on second monitor. Leave it only on first monitor.

[Keith38537327hak2]

I can confim this is still happening in 2024. I work for a telvision network and this has been a huge pain to deal with. I've had numerous chat sessions with Adobe and it still hasn't been resolved. They've done everything from reinstall Premiere to clean out all my internal folders in windows. Everytime this happens now I have to switch between workspaces to bring back the timeline. I really don't know what else to do it this point and it doesn't seem like Adobe is ever going to properly address the problem.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hello Community,

I'm sorry that some of you are still experiencing this bug. As you've read, the devs cannot reproduce the issue.

If you have time, please message @jstrawn  and work with him one-on-one to resolve this issue.

I'm sorry that the community's information and screen movies have not been enough to reproduce this issue on our side.

Sorry for the frustration.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Luis Philippe31771499wl1q]

Actually, I don't think this is a matter of reproducing the issue. I honestly think it's leaning towards good will or lack of competence. There are numerous comments describing the issue, several videos showing what's going on. But the thing is: The costumers are still paying us every month despite the problems. Why should we bother? But you see, this is a dangerous territory. DaVinci Resolve is getting better by the day, and we only have to pay for it one time. Have you ever asked yourselves why the costumers keeps paying you every month? Maybe this is a question that needs an urgent answer because maybe we are getting tired of excuses... Maybe we're getting tired of losing our time to find workarounds for problems that weren't created by us. 

The problem is actually pretty simple. Just read every comment and see every video, paying attention, and your develop team will find a solution. Deflecting, isn't taking you anywhere. The only thing that is happening is that your subscribers are getting tired. Adobe isn't the only company in the world.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hello @Luis Philippe31771499wl1q,

I am Kevin from Support. I'm one of the moderators here. Thanks for your comments. I'm not on the team, so I can't address your concerns directly, but I will try to help you find someone that can.

The team hasn't seen complaints on this issue lately. Sorry to hear that you and @Keith38537327hak2 are still experiencing the problem. I see that our developer @jstrawn was working with this bug before. I will let him know about the issue and see if he can help.

Sorry for the frustration.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Keith38537327hak2]

Hey Kevin, this issue has been ongoing for months now. I've tried numerous attempts to work with Adobe on this and their troubleshooting has always been the same steps over and over. None of which have ever solved the issue. This is ultimately a bug on Adobe's part and a wider issue when using dual monitors, which is almost every editor's setup. A lot of industry folk and major networks are using Premiere everyday. This really needs to be addressed, so Adobe doesn't go the way of Final Cut and lose customers. By the way, thanks for the quick response.    

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hello @Keith38537327hak2,

Thanks for your reply. It's weird that it only affects a select group of people, not "everyone." I'm sorry your past attempts to work with our support and dev team have not proved fruitful either. It's tough to reproduce that bug if our staff does not have the same setup. It sounds like we're stuck in that spot right now.

In my experience, "sometimes" bugs usually involve a faulty or misaligned hardware component, software, or driver shared by others experiencing the same bug. A UI anomaly might also be in play (you cannot overlap central panels from monitor to monitor—even by only one pixel).

I have called on them to look at this issue again. I hope they can figure something out here for you.

Sorry for the hassle.

Thank You,

Kevin

[R Neil Haugen]

I've worked with four monitors for years in Premiere. On a PC ... and have never had this happen. It isn't all that common across the several million daily users.

For those who have it, it is a ROYAL pain, no question. And I've been there/done that with other things over the years.

I do hope they get this sorted, but the first part required for fixing something is being able to replicate it. As they can't, they can't fix what they can't find. Which is why data from the users having something is so crucial to a timely fix.

[Luis Philippe31771499wl1q]

And this is why I often get mad with Adobe's team. It's much easier to blame a random thing than to try to find a satisfying answer.

I'll tell why your answer is completely faulty. My Premiere Pro was working just fine until the day you released an update and from that day forward everything went to hell. I think I don't need to point out that updating a software doesn't cause misalignment in hardware. And if it is a driver thing I also don't think I need to say that it is also your fault. Your comment would make sense if I had replace something on my hardware or if I had replaced my pc. It's not the case! 

So once again we're back to square one. And your customers are here saying to Adobe: We need this fixed ASAP! Or you can freeze my payment until the day this bug gets fixed. How about that?

[R Neil Haugen]

"Adobe" can speak for itself. I know and like some of the staffers, but I don't care pigs about corporations per se.

Personally, I've known Kevin for years. He's long experienced as an editor and colorist prior to working for Adobe. And has been tireless advocating for users in his time with that firm. His knowledge and advice are worth listening to in professional workflows. 

Apparently, you may not have great knowledge of software versus hardware these days. There is absolutely no way to guarantee that any software will work perfectly on all systems with all media and workflows across several million daily users. It's an absurd thought even.

And yes, "local" things can jump up that the devs don't ever see. Such as the infamous onedrive.dll incident a few years back.

Some of us started get really weird behaviors, and couldn't work at all. For about a month or two, there were a ton of posts here ... and I was one of the ones who spent most of that time trying to help troubleshoot meaning asking detailed questions. You have to find the differences between no-problem and problem, of course.

But then a couple weeks in, my system went nuts if I tried to use Premiere. And one amazing, wondrous, awesome user finally went through his system and started one by one deleting those dll "library" files in Windows. There's a few thousand or so, rather a daunting task. All required for operation of one program or another.

He'd delete a dll, reboot, check it was still gone, then launch Premiere. Over and over.

He was working alphabetically, and of course, hand-writing each dll as he removed it. Around several hundred dll's later, he got to onedrive.dll, rebooted, launched Premiere ... and it was working fine.

So he came are reported that on this forum. Like many others, I immediately deleted onedrive.dll, and voila! ... functional Premiere again.

I don't think anyone ever figured out why this was an issue for maybe at most 1% of the PCs with onedrive.dll on them. Or why that would be fine for weeks, as with my computer, then one day, bork me too.

Because on the vast majority of Windows PCs, onedrive.dll was never a problem.

[Ifihadahifi]

Still present in 24.6.1 October 2024.

Alt+Shift+0 (Windows) / Opt+Shift+) (Mac) is a quick shortcutr to reset windows to your saved layout but it is annoying.