We're always working hard to improve the Clipchamp video editor and ensure it runs smoothly regardless of the type of computer you're using.
However, there are some things you can do to help avoid errors and slow processing, ensuring your video editing experience is the best it can be.
On Windows, use the latest app version
Keep the Clipchamp Windows app up to date through the Microsoft Store. Before you update, wait for your changes to save and for any uploads or exports to finish.
To check for updates, open the Microsoft Store and select Check for Updates. Install any available Clipchamp update, then reopen the app. For help, see Get updates for apps and games in Microsoft Store.
If Clipchamp isn't installed, follow the Windows installation guidance.
Note
On a managed device, your IT administrator can control whether you can install, update, or run Clipchamp. If you can't install, update, or open the app, ask your IT administrator for help. For work or school account requirements, see How to access Microsoft Clipchamp with your work or school account.
Use an up-to-date desktop browser
For Clipchamp in a browser, use the latest desktop version of Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome. These recommendations apply to personal, work, and school accounts. For supported platforms, see Which web browsers does Clipchamp support?.
Before you restart your browser, wait for your changes to save and for any uploads or exports to finish.
To check for updates in Microsoft Edge:
Select Settings and more (...).
Select Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge.
Follow any update and restart prompts.
In Google Chrome, select More (...) > Help > About Google Chrome. If prompted, select Relaunch. For details, see Update Google Chrome.
If your organization manages browser updates and you can't update the browser yourself, ask your IT administrator for help.
Clear the browser cache, then restart Edge/Chrome
Follow the steps in this Edge support article or this Chrome support article about clearing items from the browser cache.
Note: Make sure you select "All time" for the time range, and select "Cached images and files". You don't need to clear any other browsing data.
When you've followed the steps, type chrome://restart or edge://restart respectively into the address bar and press Enter.
This is useful if you experience loading issues for media files (slow progress, freezing, crashing) when editing your video or if there are interruptions while playing back a video.
Free up processing resources on your computer
This helps to ensure there's more memory and GPU power available to process your editing project.
- Close other browser tabs, only keep Clipchamp open in one browser tab.
- Keep the Clipchamp browser tab open and in the foreground, otherwise, Edge (or Chrome) might take away processing resources from it.
- Close other applications running on your computer.
Make sure your computer has sufficient disk space
There needs to be enough free space available on your computer's internal drive. This is required for temporary project files and space during the video processing and exporting phase.
The available free space should be more than the size of the media files you're using in your project.
Use smaller and fewer input media files to reduce loading times
This is an optional step if you're experiencing slow performance after adding files to an editing project. Larger and longer files take more time to process before they're available to be used.
Adding multiple media files at once can also increase processing times. If you're using 4K clips, for instance, it can help to compress these files to 1080p first before using them in a Clipchamp editing project. To compress your videos without visible quality loss, there are free video compressor tools available when you search for them online.
Check for corrupted input media files
We've seen cases where a faulty source media file caused problems when loading it in Clipchamp.
Our import process handles a large range of video, audio, and image files, however if you notice that a particular file that you're adding to a project does not load, or if exporting your edited video project keeps failing at the same point during the processing, try converting the media file in question and use the newly converted version in Clipchamp.
There are well-working open-source converters for video and audio files you can find online.
Check browser extensions if Clipchamp won't open
If Clipchamp won't open in your browser and you suspect a content-blocking extension, start with a site-specific test instead of turning off protections for every website.
Check the extension's own help for an option to allow Clipchamp or pause blocking on that site. That site-specific exception is different from granting an extension permission to read or change your site data.
Use the address of the Clipchamp page where the problem occurs:
- For personal accounts, use app.clipchamp.com.
- For work or school accounts, use the address shown in your browser. Depending on how you opened Clipchamp, the page might be on a Clipchamp site or your organization's SharePoint site.
If you need to temporarily turn off an extension to test, change one suspected extension at a time, reload Clipchamp, and check whether it opens. Turn the extension back on after the test. For steps, see the extension guidance for Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome.
On a managed device or browser, ask your IT administrator before changing extension controls.
Make sure your internet connection is stable
Unlike other online editors, Clipchamp does not rely on the uploading and downloading of large files, making it less dependent on internet speeds. However, it still requires an active internet connection to function and to save your editing progress.
For best performance, and to avoid losing changes to your project, ensure you have a stable internet connection when using Clipchamp.
Don't delete the source files from your computer
There are situations where Clipchamp might ask you to relink the video, audio, and image files you used in a project.
In Clipchamp's personal version, if you are not using the content backup feature and delete, rename, or move source media files on your computer, it could cause problems when you reopen the editing project, so be sure to keep these files.
In Clipchamp for work and school accounts, media files you add to an editing project are stored in the project's Assets folder on your work OneDrive/SharePoint. Make sure to keep this folder and the media files in it in place. Otherwise, you might also get asked to locate the source files again before you can continue editing your video.
Hardware requirements
Your computer needs to satisfy some requirements to ensure Clipchamp works as expected.
The available memory/RAM should be at least 8 GB (16 GB or higher is better) and your machine should be a 64-bit computer running a 64-bit OS and the 64-bit version of Edge or Chrome.
The graphics card is another important factor and should be a recent model. This is important because video editing is compute-intense, uses both the CPU and GPU, and can bring older devices to their limits.
You should also have enough free space on your computer's internal drive, which is required for temporary files and space during the video processing and exporting phase. The available free space should be more than the size of the video files you're using in your project.
If you're working with an older computer that doesn't meet these requirements, the editor may still function, but be aware that you could encounter problems like slow performance, freezing, and crashing, and would have a better experience on a different computer.