Premiere Pro 2025 Freezes and Crashes on MacOS

[astonished_customer7329]

I have been using Premiere Pro 2025 since it released, and I've been having issues with the program freezing up my entire computer (spinning wheel, unable to click anything including outside of the program). I'm able to move the mouse for a minute or two before the entire computer seizes up and I have to hard reset the entire machine.

1. Premiere Pro 2025 25.2.3 (but this has occured with previous versions of 2025)

2. MacBook Pro 2019 (i9 Intel) with 32GB RAM and 5500M GPU running MacOS 15.5

3. Open project. Edit for an indeterminite amount of time. It usually happens while clicking around on the timeline, either moving clips or copy+pasting something, but I've yet to determine the exact trigger. Project freezes sometimes as soon as the first click on the timeline, and sometimes after a couple hours of editing. Cannot regain control of the computer once this starts. Have to reset via holding power button for 10 seconds to force a shutdown.

4. Expected result: no freezes at all.

Obviously this is extremely destructive to my productivity and trust in Adobe Premiere 2025 as a viable product. I have reinstalled the program from scratch, reset user preferences, etc. It will also crash while exporting via Media Encoder 2025.

It does not seem to crash in Premiere Pro (Beta) or prior versions. I've currently resorted to using Premiere Pro 2024 for the time being.

[Dani_V.]

Hi @astonished_customer7329,

Welcome to the Premiere Pro forums and sorry you're experiencing issues.

Is this project-specific or have you noticed this with new and other projects as well? Could you provide any additional details on your project, like what kind of media are you working with, do you have proxies attached, and are you using any third-party plug-ins? Where is your project and media stored?

Have you noticed any processes happening in the background or in the Progress panel?

Have you gotten any Crash Dialogue windows? If so, we can take a look at the reports if you added your email when the report was sent.

Sorry for the frustration,
Dani

[astonished_customer7329]

This is not project specific. My projects are usually a mix of 4K MXF files and 1080p MP4s from Canon cameras. No proxies. No third party plug ins. Project and media are stored on an external hard drive. I don't get crash dialogue windows because the computer completely freezes and I must reboot. MacOS tells me that my computer shut down unexpectedly, but I never get an error specifically about Premiere. I am usually not running very much in the background. Sometimes iMessages or Discord.

Is there a Premiere-specific crash log I can check for?

[Dani_V.]

Thank you for the additional information @astonished_customer7329.

You can check if anything has been created following this path:
~/Library/Caches/Adobe/<product_name>/<version>/ SentryIO-db/reports

In case the program becomes unresponsive but you can still use other applications, you could also go to Activity Monitor, select Premiere Pro and try creating a few Sample Processes clicking the '...' icon at the top and save.

Any chance you have High Quality Playback selected if you right-click in the Program Monitor? I would try deselecting it if it is.

[astonished_customer7329]

I checked that folder and there is no report available. I am unable to launch Activity Monitor when the program starts to freeze. My mouse clicks become unresponsive. Sometimes the mouse will revert back from the spinning wheel to the regular mouse briefly. I have tried to wait out the freeze but it just causes a full lock up (mouse no longer moving) and eventually the computer screen blacks out and it hard reboots itself.

[astonished_customer7329]

High Quality Playback is not selected.

[Dani_V.]

That's very frustrating @astonished_customer7329, I understand. Another thing you could potentially try before you start editing and the issues start, is if you go to the top menu > Help > System Compatibility Report > Export Report (even if there is 'No conflicts to report'), that will export a couple of .txt files that could provide more information.

Otherwise, I would usually recommend using proxies if dealing with 4k MXFs mixed with .mp4s on an Intel Mac, but if you weren’t before and you are not seeing these issues with 2024, would you be interested in sharing your project and some of the files that seem to be contributing or causing issues? I can send you a direct message if you’d like to share.

[astonished_customer7329]

I don't have any compatibility issues to report. What would be a good way to provide you with some sample footage and project file?

[Peru Bob]

Try updating to version 25.3.

[Dani_V.]

Sent you a message @astonished_customer7329!

[astonished_customer7329]

I upgraded to 25.3 today, and have been working a few hours. Just got my first crash. Same behavior as before. Complete lock-up, entire computer needed a hard reset. I was clicking on the timeline (adjusting a title graphic) at the time the program crashed. It usually seems to happen on a click, but I haven't been able to quite determine if that's true or just coincidence since I am clicking fairly often.

[Dani_V.]

Sorry that happened again @astonished_customer7329, I sent a message to your Community inbox if you'd still like to share the project. Where do you have your media cache saved? Have you tried clearing it?

[autonomy16]

I've been experiencing similar problems with this too. Constant FREEZING with one particular project file that's been solid before. Been wrestling with all kinds of attempts to "work around" all weekend 😞

I'm working on a Macbook M3 Max, 128gb RAM, Premiere Pro 25.2.0 (Build 147), OS Sequoia 15.5 *I WAS ORIGINALLY TRYING ON 25.3 (Build 84) but due to separate Audio issues I was having, a work around for that exists in 25.2

I am trying to update a particular project file (about 24MB) as part of a feature I'm making. Media has been working successfully on a RAID 5 setup with USB3 connection. However, I just transferred all my media and necessary files to 3 external SSD drives (which are twice as fast as the RAID 5). Media Cache is set to its very own SSD (so 4 fast SSD drives here total)

I've been working with many different video sources, mostly 4k files (raw files from Sony FS7, Canon C300) and some 1080 files (dot movs C100, Canon 5D, mp4, various) off and on for many years now. My timeline is 1920x1080

For the most part, PP has been fine with throwing a lot of different things into the timeline and utilizing various effects. Things were running smoothly in PP 23  AND THEN I UPDATED...

I made the rookie mistake, never upgrade software in the middle of a project. To be honest, I have upgraded a few times bc this project has been going on for years. I upgraded this time to work on another unrelated paid project- which was much less intensive and worked fine. Ok, that's now in the past and I really want to make this version work for my more complicated feature. I'm near the end and PP2025 has been a total disappointment so far.

But since v25 has come into my life the timeline lags and eventually everything FREEZES while it never did before. I'll get the perpetual spinning beach ball and can save the project but very little else. I usually have to FORCE QUIT everytime and start all over.

I've tried dumping the preferences. I've cleared the cache. I went back down to v24.0 (then upgraded again) and still experience the same thing. I'm now suspecting whatever is corrupt here is one or several of my clips. I've started to make prores files from the suspected ones. Before, whenever the timeline is playing, where it stops and freezes I figure that particular clip was the problem. I'd go create a prores substitue and it seemed to get over the hump before it randomly stopped (and froze) again.

As I mentioned above, I've worked on other much less intensive projects in this new version and PP worked fine. In fact, another project file (same feaeture project; different files) works ok in 25 so far. This particular project's timeline only goes to about 18 mins of the film. There's a healthy mix of various clips and a couple of nested clips. About 8 tracks of video and 8-10 tracks of audio in use.

Now, the project ends up freezing before I have the chance to actually reneder and replace any of my clips. PLEASE HELP!

[Dani_V.]

Hi @autonomy16, sorry you've been experiencing issues. Are you using any third-party plugins or effects at all? What about proxies (particularly for the raw files)? Do the suspect clips have anything in common like file format or effects applied?

Since this project has already gone through a few updates, have you tried starting a brand new project from scratch, and importing the project through the Media Browser? This can often fix project-specific issues. Are you getting a crash report dialog box after force quitting? If you add your Adobe account email in the dialog box, the team can look up the reports and see if anything is standing out.

[autonomy16]

Hi @Dani_V. 

No, I don't believe there are any 3rd party plugins involved. Clip format wise, its a mixture of prores, mp4 and camera originals. Yes, a lot of various effects being used (speed manipulation, filters like ultra key, black & white, lumetri color, some warp stabilizer and others). Again, its a mix of clips and nested clips in the timeline.
Everything was playing back just fine in version 2022. This is part of a large feature I've been working on for years. Addressing another issue with random audio clips playing back full of white noise (while the originals were fine) I discovered in another thread here that working in 25.2 (not the current version) remedys THAT issue. So, I'm now trying to make this all work in v25.2

I opened another project file (same feature) with differnet clips yet twice as long as the problematic project file. After a few small hiccups, I was able to get that particular file to work so far. Less intensive effects wise, but the same mix of formats as described above. So, there's something in the first file not jiving with premiere 25 in general ( I have tried all other versions including the last update of 23 and 24, with similar problems of serious lagging or freezing).

YES, I did try (in different versions) starting a new project and importing the old one. No dice. I get the dialog box asking if I want to send the crash report to adobe and I always hit yes. I don't know how to access those. So, next time that happens I should add my email there? I never realized that was the key 🙂

[Dani_V.]

Thanks for the information @autonomy16 . Yes, if you get a dialog box and send a report again, add your email in so we can find it.

Just clarifying, when you say the timeline lags and eventually freezes, is this specifically occurring while playback is happening, or with clip selection and/or timeline navigation/scrubbing? And were you having these issues before or right after transferring all you media?

Since there are a few effects being used, have you tried using the Global FX Mute button (the 'fx' icon in the Program monitor) and see if there is any improvement? That could potentially help narrow down if it's an effect. There is also a little bit of red in the yellow render bar right before the 12 minute mark; any specific effects being used there or have you tried rendering this section? And double-checking but I'm seeing some red clips after the 12 minute mark, is there any offline media around this area, and is that intentional?

[autonomy16]

HI @Dani_V. 

Thank you for following up again. I've replied to each of your questions below 🙂

when you say the timeline lags and eventually freezes, is this specifically occurring while playback is happening, or with clip selection and/or timeline navigation/scrubbing?

Nothing specific. All of the above. And if just idles long enough, things will freeze.

And were you having these issues before or right after transferring all you media?

I started experiencing these issues BEFORE deciding to transfer everything to SSD drives. It all started with the upgrade to 2025. Keep in mind I was actively editing this project in 2022 before. I would do other unrelated projects in newer versions and had no real issues. Since I just upgraded to 25 recently, again for an unrelated project, that went well, I decided to see if this older giant project of mine would work... alas, here we are

Since there are a few effects being used, have you tried using the Global FX Mute button (the 'fx' icon in the Program monitor) and see if there is any improvement? That could potentially help narrow down if it's an effect.

I just tried it for the first time. With all the effects turned off in the timeline, the problem still persists. At first, as I am scrubbing around a short section of the timeline, there is a lag. Then I stop and select a couple clips checking to see I had rendered and replaced those yet for prores clips... now, everything is frozen again. I can't do anything but "save" and expand my timeline. When I go to quit, the perpetual beach ball reappears and I wait.... then ultimately have to force quit. This time no crash report was offered. 

There is also a little bit of red in the yellow render bar right before the 12 minute mark; any specific effects being used there or have you tried rendering this section?

Yeah, that's from a nested clip where one (of two clips within that nest) has a Warp Stabilizer effect

And double-checking but I'm seeing some red clips after the 12 minute mark, is there any offline media around this area, and is that intentional?

Since I shared this frame grab, I had corrected that and that offline clip is working again.

So, after the last force quit I opened up the project again (from the project I recently saved) and the first thing I did was to go to the two clips in the timeline I mentioned before. I attempted to render and replace them for prores, and got the window where it immediately got stuck and everything just sat there. I left it alone for a few minutes (these clips are very short and this should've taken a few seconds at most).  Anyway, I hit CANCEL then got the corner window with the warning "Transcoder Failed" and I couldn't quit! I had to force quit AGAIN. No crash report this time either.

[Dani_V.]

Thank you for being thorough @autonomy16. Ok a couple of other things: instead of Render and Replace, go to Sequence > Render In to Out (you can try doing sections instead of the entire sequence) to create preview files, instead of a file replacement. Have you tried attaching ProRes proxies to the original media files (right-click clips in Project panel > Proxy > Create Proxies...) or if you think it's the media files themselves, have you tried transcoding them outside of Premiere Pro? How's the storage space on the SSDs and on your computer drive? 

If Premiere Pro becomes unresponsive and you're getting a spinning beach ball, open the Activity Monitor app while this is happening, find and select Adobe Premiere Pro, click the '...' icon at the top > Sample Process, and then rename and save. 

Would you be interested in sharing the project, and a couple of the suspect files so the team can take a look? I can message you directly if you'd like to share either the project, or if you are able get any sample processes.

[autonomy16]

Hi @Dani_V. 

Sure, I can share with you and your team some suspect files and the project file. I would very much like to make this work in Pr 25.2 if possible. I've tried rendering IN to OUT before and am still experiencing crashes, etc. What is the difference between creating proxies and render and replace if both end files will be prores? Other than smaller sizes associated with Proxies, anyting else? Again, media from the outside is fine. I haven't set up any transcoding possibilites outside of Pr yet but have dilligently checking these original files in my finder to find each one of them working properly. SSD drives have at least 15-20% headroom. That's what the recommended space that I read online should be re performance. 

Ok, I just opened it up again and and tried rendering IN to OUT near the place in the timeline it crashes on me. Lo and behold it got this far (see pic) and froze. I waited 10 mins before force quitting. FYI, this timeline in this pic has a different TC because I had moved these suspicious clips into a new, shorter timeline. I can correlate what point this is with what you've seen before if need be. Or maybe you have enough to identify with just the clips name and how they look on the tracks.

Yes, please message me of more info. I saved a Sample Process report as well.



Thank you,

Jim G.

[Dani_V.]

Just sent you a message @autonomy16!

[Mathrochs]

Same issue. Premiere 2024 works well, but all versions of 2025 chashes the Mac. 

[astonished_customer7329]

More crashes in Premiere Pro 2025 with a different project. I apologize for not replying to your direct message as I could not figure out how to package that project in a way that I could transfer it. It was nearly 1TB. This current project is small enough that I could potentially upload it to you. Very simple. One video track, two audio tracks, a few photos. Still causing crashes that freezes the entire computer until I hard reset.

[Dani_V.]

Hi @astonished_customer7329, sorry this has been ongoing and yes we can take a look at that. Since there's been more crashes since and no crash report windows, any chance you see any .dmp files in this folder path ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/Premiere Pro/<version>/ SentryIO-db , that have been created since? Have you tried clearing your media cache as well?

And welcome to the Premiere Pro forums @Mathrochs, and sorry for the frustration. There are two different issues being discussed in the post that are causing problems, but if you can provide any more information on your hardware specs, projects, and the steps that are leading to a crash, we can better try to help. Please see: How to Report a Problem.

[astonished_customer7329]

There are no .dmp files in that folder. I cleared the media cache when troubleshooting this issue before, but I'll do it again tomorrow when I sit down to work on the project again.