When you add footage, image, and audio files to your video, Clipchamp temporarily saves copies of these files in your browser cache.
If the cache has been emptied, or these temp working files have been removed by the browser for some other reason (e.g. there is not enough space in the cache or low memory), Clipchamp might ask you to locate them from your computer's drive when you re-open the video.
Note that you can avoid locating files in the future by using our content backup feature. You can also reduce the risk of the browser evicting your media files from the cache by closing other browser tabs and applications on your computer to free up some extra memory.
Another option that can help is to reduce the file size of the video files you're editing by compressing your source videos and then using the smaller file versions in Clipchamp. Smaller files take up less memory space and reduce the chance of the browser cache getting too full.
How to locate your files
1. To restore your files to a video, click on locate asset button on the video preview window.
2. In the window that appears, click on the locate folder button.
3. In the file search window, locate the folder with the original files and click on the upload button to connect them to your video again.
4. A warning will appear asking you if you want to upload the files.
5. You can also choose to locate files individually if you don't want to upload a whole folder. Simply click on a file in the list.
6. Next, find the file on your computer and click on the upload button.
7. Repeat this process until all files are located. Located files will be added automatically to the your media library and they will appear in your timeline if they were on there before.
8. Once all your files are located, the window will close automatically and you'll be able to edit your video again. If you'd like to go back to the editor without locating all files, simply click return to editor at the bottom of the window.
NOTE: if you've used stock footage and audio in your video, you won't need to locate them. These files are always available online.
To avoid locating files in the future, you can make use of the content backup feature, which is available in the Essentials plan.
What if I can't find my files?
Clipchamp is fast and private because it doesn't upload your video, image, or music files to an online location for processing by default. Your files always stay on your computer, unless you choose to back them up online using our content backup feature.
This does, however, mean you have to keep your original files, and if you've lost them we have no way of retrieving them for you. If you've deleted them, we suggest retrieving the files from your original source – e.g. many smartphones keep backups of deleted videos for a certain number of days.
Problems with locating files
If you have added an unsupported file type this can sometimes cause problems locating them. If this happens we suggest reloading the page, or, logging out of Clipchamp and logging in again, then attempting to reopen the video.
