"Relink other automatically" doesn't work. Using PR2025 version

[nana36722464ffx2]

I have all the project files and the footages stored in an external hard disk. Created the project and start edit on MacOS. But when connect the same external hard disk to another computer (Windows OS), I have to re-link the clips one by one. It used to be able to relink all the footages automatically. I am sure that I have ticked the "Relink others automatically".

I have tried to make all videos offline and relink them back once I have opened the project file, but unfortunately, i still have to relink the footages one by one. Is there any solution to this? I have like hundreds of footages to relink, i don't want to spend so much time to do it manually.

[cizkek_]

I can confirm this is the case in latest 2024 and the 2025 edition. If I'm not mistaken between OS's premiere pro changes the MOV to mov or vice versa. The "match extensions" check box does not function even when the expected extension case size is the same with the file. It requires user to manually select and relink footages.

Even after manually linking the files, closing the locate & relink dialogue box results in either wrongly relinked files, or having no files relinked at all.

I am a Windows user and my coworker uses macos.

This case is even worse if you try to relink the files from NTFS. Original linked files were on an Exfat drive and we tried both using an exfat drive and NTFS drive on MacOS to link the files.

On Windows premiere pro fails to relink the same files if you try using an NTFS drive with or qithout the same drive letter. Folder structures and file names match on all drives.

In my case the original project file was created on a Windows PC.

[nana36722464ffx2]

@cizkek_ Can I ask, there won't be issue if I edit it on 2 different machines, as long as both are the same OS? If that's the case, I will stick to Windows OS computers until the bug is fixed. It is not possible for me to start the project on either one machines and stick to it as sometimes I need to edit videos on the go.

[cizkek_]

I'm sorry but I just don't know. I experienced this problem even with my project created on a Windows computer while trying to relink on a Windows computer. Currently I can't make any tests because the recognized external Exfat drive is working and the NTFS one (same brand and model disk, same file structure) had problems relinking files. I had to manually change the cap sizes of the extensions of problematic footage several times so that it wouldn't cause any issues in relinking them.

I believe there is certainly a problem with the "match extension" check box in the windows because it doesn't do anything. I tried so hard to get my project back to a working state and had to manually link around 300 files so I just couldn't take the chance on figuring out what was causing the problem.

Honestly, I'm not even sure if my changing of cap sizes in file explorer were a solution to the problem at all.

I think this issue is also affecting the use of proxies because some folders linked the original footage back as proxies or were never able to discover them. I was so confused about why my project wasn't previewing properly I thought maybe the proxies got broken and discovered this (proxies are in the same dolder as the footage in a proxy folder).

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi, @nana36722464ffx2 and @cizkek_,

Thanks for providing the details. Can you have more information about your system and media? See, How do I write a bug report?

Were these projects OK before updating Premiere Pro?

Sharing projects across Windows and Mac shouldn't ever be an issue. However, as an editor, I would always strive to finish cross-platform projects before migrating to major new versions, like this one.

If you have time, you might try seeing if the operation is reliable across new projects created in 25.0. Let the team know of any findings with your tests. I will also let them know about this.

Sorry, this is happening. I hope we can help you soon.

Thanks,
Kevin

[cizkek_]

    Issue - A short description of the problem.

Relinking files and automatically relink other files does not work as intended. Fails to automatically relink. Manual relink does not work for some files. Match extension checkbox does not function. Going to a spesific folder path to link a spesific collection of footage results in PP also searching for footage for other files in other folders even though the "Search" button was never used because we don't want it to relink some Sony A7-3 file with a similar name accidentally.

   Adobe Premiere Pro version number:

Latest PP24 before the 25 update.

PP25.0.0 (Build61)

    Operating system - Windows or macOS, and which version of those operating systems?

Windows:

Windows10 lates update as of oct15.

RTX3070 (15oct latest studio driver)

AMD RYZEN 7 5800X

SEAGATE 1TB

TOSHIBA P300 2TB

SAMSUNG EVO SSD 1TB

Footage is in the following external drive which we have 2 of. One is NTFS and one is EXFAT. Files & file structure is the same.

WD ELEMENTS EXTERNAL 10TB (WDBWLG0100HBK-XB - 4324Q - R\N G4C - PDCMFD) - USB 3

MacOS:

Sonoma 14.6.1

Mac Studio M2 Max

PP 24 Latest before 25 update.

Footage is in the following external drive which we have 2 of. One is NTFS and one is EXFAT. Files & file structure is the same.

WD ELEMENTS EXTERNAL 10TB (WDBWLG0100HBK-XB - 4324Q - R\N G4C - PDCMFD) - USB 3

    Video format: MP4, MOV, H265 AND H264 Files 8 bit & 10 bit, mixed bitrates, framerates etc.
   

Workflow details: Tell us any specific info about the project or sequence.

Project file is from a 5 day music festival. It includes many first assembly sequences of daily footages from Sony ILCE73, Fujifilm XT4, DJI Drone (Probably mini 3 pro or 4 pro), DJI Mini 2 SE, Zoom H6, iPhone 14Pro, Xiaomi Mi9 Lite, Go Pro Hero 8 Black. Phone footage is converted to CFR using handbrake production - standart preset. In addition to the first assemblies of source footage there are B-roll selection sequences, artist spesific and festival day spesific after movie edits.

    Steps to reproduce - (Very important!) In a numbered list, the exact steps are needed to reproduce the problem.

1. Copy project file to Macos.

2. Plug-in error free, exfat or ntfs deive to mac.

3. Open project.

4. Try to relink footage.

5. PP takes a long time to relink.

6.Ends up not linking anything or just takes out footage from the list as relinked but when all footage looks relinked, the dialogue is closed amd most footage is not relinked.

7. Some footage requires manual relinking in the dialogue and when the fialogue finishes they are also not linked.

1. Go back to windows.

2. Change drive letter so PP needs to find the footage and relink dialogue opens.

3. Plug in the exfat or ntfs drive.

4. Open project. See link files prompt.

5. Try to relink.

6. Go to a sub folder for a spesific day > spesific camera > sd card folder.

7. Select files from this certain folder.

8. PP tries to look for files outside of the selected ones and outside of this selected spesific folder to link files.

9. THIS IS IMPORTANT, WE DO NOT PRESS SEARCH BUTTON. WE SELECT THE EXACT FILES IN EXACT FOLDER AND CHOOSE THE OPTION TO LINK THE FILE.

10. Go to the folder of iphone footages, some have MOV and some have mov extensions, uncheck match extension box.

11. Try to link files.

12. PP Links only a single file.

13. Manually link all files.

14. Dialogue box closes.

15. Files are not linked.

16. Try to do the same again in project browser, fail.

17. Manually change case size for files.

18. Try several times with deleting cache in between attempts to relink and restart the pc.

19. Somehow an unknown lucky combination occurs and I'm able to link the files on PC from the external drive in a gradual way. Had to link most of the footage manually and create save files in between linking attempts to not lose progress.

We gave up on Macos. I'm the lead editor in this project and my coworker was going to help me in his free time with choosing the broll. We tried all this in v24, and later on I tried to update v25 thinking maybe it would fix this issue. Same occured with the NTFS drive when I tried to see if the problem persisted, so I continued with the working EXFAT drive on v25.

It is important to mentioned that I was able to link the footages folder by folder. Each day and each sd card received from the videographer has their own folder so every piece of data is on their own isolated section.

I had created the files structure as Bins in PP, so while relinking I went on a bin by bin basis so that PP wouldn't try to look for other unlinked footage in other Bins. So lets say that Bins A through C linked automatically without issues. However, Bin D linked only a single file on the first try, wince the match extension box didn't work properly I checked and tried to make all the extensions Upper case or lower case for the bin in the source folder. If only a single file got linked, I took a deep breath and manually linked each file from the project window, one by one, confirming that it loaded between each try. When I was able to batch link files, I waited until the circle progress bar for relinking files on the top right side of the screen showed that the process is completed before moving onto other bins.

    Expected result - What should have happened after the last step?
    Actual result -  What did happen after the previous step?

[cizkek_]

@Kevin-Monahan

Edited my comment to provide additional details. I apologise for the typos.

Also please forgive me if my comments on the type size and ui related topics were rude, It's just that I wasn't aware that community experts were volunteers. Not being able to see the UI has put an additional layer of stress on my mind, and at the time I thought it was a good idea to get additional attention on the topic by doing that, I now believe it was unkind and was a mistake.

[nana36722464ffx2]

Hi!

@cizkek_ 

I actually found the workaround, but I do hope that Adobe can really fix this bug. But for now, the workaround is to disable the 'File Extension' on the bottom left when you try to link the medias.

@Kevin-Monahan , FYI, the same issue persists in Adobe Premiere Pro Beta version too. I used the same workaround as above and it solved the issue. However I hope that the bug can really be fixed because to enable the file extension is pretty important to me

[personal information removed by moderator]

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @nana36722464ffx2,

Thanks for the reply. Why is file extension so important when relinking? Please let the developers know so they can address the issue. I believe that the option to relink without file extensions was created for cases such as yours. Sorry for the hassle, but I'm glad you're back on track.

Thanks,

Kevin

[cizkek_]

@Kevin-Monahan 

Its is important because of the following:

In my case all of the original files had their extensions in lower case characters except for a few.

When the missing files prompt came up and the relink window opened, I noticed that PP was expecting all of the files with their extensions written in upper caee characters while in fact no modifications were made to the files, the file structures, or to the extensions.

Checking and unchecking the check-box for file extensions didn't have any effect on some bins I had when especially there was mixed case sizes in the bins and folders in the disk.

[nana36722464ffx2]

@Kevin-Monahan there were cases where some files share the same name but different extension are saved in the same folder. so when i relink the files, it relinked to the wrong file if i do not enable the 'file extension' option. this is actually crucial for the people who is not familiar with my working style to quickly relink the files without having to waste too much time to browse thru the files to check which are the correct ones. This may not make sense to you, but that happened to me few years back. It linked to the wrong files, I have to close the project and relink them all over again. Since then, I'll just make sure I have enabled the 'file extension' option to make sure that it will link to the exact file that it was linked to. this can really minimize the possibility of linking to the wrong file that shares the same name.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @nana36722464ffx2 and @cizkek_,

Thanks for the replies. I hope this information will be useful to the developers working on this case. I can understand both use cases and the challenges they present.

It’s quite odd to have the same file type with different capitalizations causing relinking issues. Is this clip from a mobile phone? When I anticipate such issues, I often take my raw clips into Bridge and rename them, making sure to place a log note next to these clips for future reference.

Regarding issues with identically named files, if you’re working with card-based media, the metadata that comes with the clip during the ingest process should help differentiate between them. However, many people import clips directly rather than ingesting them through the Media Browser, which is the method that ensures the metadata is carried along with the media, preventing such linking anomalies.

Is this card-based media? Have you tried ingesting the entire contents of the folder set via Media Browser instead of cherry-picking the media files for drag-and-drop import or importing them otherwise? I’m fairly certain that this workflow is detailed in the user guide.

I hope this helps! If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask. We’re here to support you!

Thanks,
Kevin

[nana36722464ffx2]

Hi @Kevin-Monahan 

Noted on that. Yes, some are card-based media while some are the video files I received from the clients. I will try to ingest the medias through Media Browser to see if it is indeed helpful for my work.

However, I really do hope that I can still turn on the 'file extension' when i'm relinking the medias as it is really helpful for me to making sure that I am linking the correct media. Hope it can be fixed! It is useless to have the option there when I couldn't use it, right?

[cizkek_]

My case with files are similar to Nana's. Card based media and phone footage along with additions from the client, and my own conversions from VFR to CFR (commonly for phone media) or to edit friendly codecs for materials requiring it.

I pay extra caution and meticulously craft my folder structures so that each fike type, revision, conversion or SD card received gets their own folder.

For example,

A videographer provided me with 3 sd cards from his Sony DSLR camera, but woth each card file names began with C0001.MP4. So I have them in seperate folders and categorically organized in the file & folder structure. When importing these, before the import process I create the exact folder structure through bins.

ProjectName > Footages > Videographer A > Camera Name > SD card number (or date) > Copy of Sd Card Contents

To import the files, I navigate to the relevant bin and use the import dialogue from the project browser, and select all the files, import them and organize them in sequences.

However, during the relinking process which opens first when you open a project, I discovered that even though I choose only a set of files inside a specific folder to relink, and then select the exact files, premiere pro begins to try linking other unlinked files from the list and this becomes a problem because there is a discrepancy between what PP expects as the extension and what the actual adn previously linked extensions were.

Doing this relinking on a bin by bin basis minimizes the potential for errors since the time I have faced this error. After this problem I have started to rename each Sony file or ones sharing similar names to SD1_C0001.MP4 for new projects, but as far as I know it is not advisable to cause changes in the structure of files and have been advised to keep them the way they were present in the card.

[snehal_41003]

Do this Select folder to link > Link media > Locate > Select the main folder instead of choosing a single clip and click search. PP will search the clip automatically. Select the clip and click OK