How to Render in Premiere Pro (3 Easy Steps)

If you’ve ever hit play in Premiere Pro and your video stutters, lags, or just doesn’t look right, rendering is probably what you need. Rendering helps Premiere play back your timeline more smoothly by creating temporary preview files. And when you're done editing, you'll also need to render during export to get a clean final file.

Let’s walk through both: how to render for playback and how to render when exporting your project.

1. Mark the area you want to render

Before you hit any buttons, you need to tell Premiere which part of the timeline you want to render.

1. Move the playhead to where you want the render to start.
2. Press I on your keyboard (this sets the In point).
3. Move the playhead to where you want it to end.
4. Press O (this sets the Out point).

You’ll see a grey bar above your timeline between those two points. That’s the section that will be rendered.

2. Render for smooth playback

If playback is choppy or effects aren’t showing correctly, rendering can help.

To do this:

1. Go to the top menu and click Sequence > Render In to Out

Premiere will process that section and turn it into a preview file. Once it’s done, that grey bar turns green, which means it should now play smoothly.

You can also choose:

• Render Effects In to Out if you only want effects-heavy clips rendered.
• Render Audio if you're having issues with sound playback.

3. Export your final rendered video

When you're ready to save your finished video:

• Go to Export Tab
• Or press:
• • Windows: Ctrl + M
  • Mac: Cmd + M

This opens up the Export Settings window.

Here’s what you’ll want to check:

• Format: H.264 is a good default for most uses.
• Preset: Match Source - High Bitrate works well for general exports.
• Choose where you want the file saved by clicking on “Output Name.”
• Then click Export (or use Queue if you're using Adobe Media Encoder).

Premiere will now render and compress everything into one final video file.

Wrapping Up

Rendering in Premiere Pro isn’t just about exporting. It also helps make editing smoother while you're still working on your project. Whether you're trying to fix laggy previews or get that polished final export, these steps should keep things running cleanly. Once you've done it a couple of times, it becomes second nature.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I render a file in Premiere Pro?

To render a file for export, go to File > Export > Media or press Ctrl + M (Windows) / Cmd + M (Mac). Choose your format and settings, then click Export. For timeline rendering, use Sequence > Render In to Out or press Enter/Return.

What is the key to render in Premiere Pro?

The shortcut key for rendering selected parts of the timeline is:

• Windows: Enter
• Mac: Return
  Make sure you've set an In and Out point first so Premiere knows what section you're trying to render.

How do I render and export in Premiere Pro?

1. Set In and Out points on your timeline.
2. Press Ctrl + M (Windows) or Cmd + M (Mac) for export settings.
3. Choose format (like H.264), adjust presets as needed.
4. Pick an output location.
5. Click Export.

How do I render playback in Premiere?

To improve playback performance:

1. Set In/Out points around laggy sections.
2. Go to Sequence > Render In to Out.
3. Or press Enter (Windows) / Return (Mac).
   This creates preview files so those sections play more smoothly during editing.