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A slow or stuttering editor usually traces back to a few fixable causes: system resources, a heavy project, or a setting or two. Work through the checks below to speed it back up.
Having trouble loading a project?If a project is stuck loading, showing a “This is taking longer than normal” message, or won’t open at all, try the steps in our dedicated troubleshooting guide: Project won’t load or open.
If you’re experiencing strange or non-reproducible issues:
  • Reload the project. In a web browser, click the Refresh button or use the Command/Ctrl + R shortcut. In the desktop app, use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Cmd/Ctrl + R or select Window > Reload from the main application menu.
  • Restart your computer
Missing visuals?Missing audio?
  • Check if a layer is solo’d in the Layer list of the Properties panel.
  • If you’re a Windows user, verify Exclusive Mode is disabled.

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How to disable Exclusive Mode (Windows only)

Exclusive Mode in Windows sound settings can prevent multiple apps from using your audio devices at the same time. Disabling it may resolve audio issues.
  1. Right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar and select Sound Settings.
  2. Scroll down and select More sound settings.\
  3. In the new window, under Playback, right-click your output device and select Properties.\
  4. Navigate to the Advanced tab.
  5. Uncheck the boxes related to Exclusive Mode.\
  6. Click Apply and then OK to save your changes.
Exclusive Mode in Windows sound settings can prevent multiple apps from using your audio devices at the same time. Disabling it may resolve audio issues.
  1. Right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar and select Sound Settings.
  2. Scroll down and select More sound settings.\
  3. In the new window, under Playback, right-click your output device and select Properties.\
  4. Navigate to the Advanced tab.
  5. Uncheck the boxes related to Exclusive Mode.\
  6. Click Apply and then OK to save your changes.
Projects with several GBs of files, long compositions, or lots of edits can slow things down. If you’re seeing performance issues, try breaking your work into smaller compositions or separate projects. There’s no one-size-fits-all rule — your device specs also play a big role — but if things start lagging as your project grows, this could be the reason. Learn how to copy a composition to a different project.
Closing high-usage apps like web browsers or video conferencing tools can help free up memory and improve Descript’s performance. Even background apps can make a difference — close anything you’re not actively using.
Descript runs best when your device has at least 20GB of free disk space. Free up space on Mac | Free up space on Windows
For the best experience, your device should meet (or exceed!) our recommended system specs. If you’re running into slowdowns, crashes, or export issues, double-checking your hardware is a good place to start. View system requirements
Extensions that interact with text — like Grammarly or other script-reading tools — can interfere with Descript and affect performance. How to disable Grammarly | Disable Chrome extensions
We’ve seen reports that McAfee can interfere with Descript’s performance. If you’re noticing lag or instability, try disabling McAfee while you work — or add Descript as an exception to avoid conflicts. How to disable McAfee
Descript currently supports one GPU at a time. If you’re on a machine with both integrated and discrete GPUs, make sure Descript is using the high-performance option.
Set default GPU on macOS
  1. Open Activity Monitor and navigate to Window > GPU History.
  2. Start exporting a composition.
  3. See which GPU is being used. If it’s not the discrete one (like AMD), turn off Automatic Graphics Switching in Energy settings.
Note: Apple Silicon chips have integrated GPUs that should default correctly.
Set default GPU on Windows
  1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) and go to the Performance tab.
  2. Start exporting a composition.
  3. Check which GPU is being used. If needed, change it in your GPU settings.
Switch to the dedicated NVIDIA GPU
  1. Open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
  2. Go to 3D Settings > Manage 3D settings.
  3. Under Program Settings, select Descript.
  4. Choose High-performance NVIDIA processor as the preferred GPU.
  5. Save your changes.
Switch to the dedicated AMD GPU
  1. Open AMD Radeon Settings from your desktop context menu.
  2. Go to System > Switchable Graphics.
  3. Find Descript in the app list and set it to High Performance.
If you’re on Windows and experiencing persistent playback issues (some symptoms are a blank scene editor, a endlessly spinning play button, or disappearing visuals)—your system may be having trouble with hardware-based video decoding.In most cases, playback will work briefly after restarting Descript, but the problem returns after a few minutes or when switching between projects.Enable Force software video decoding in your Descript app settings, then fully quit the app by clicking the Descript D icon in your menubar and selecting Quit Descript Completely. Reopen Descript to apply the change.
When toggled on: Descript bypasses your GPU and uses your processor (CPU) to decode video. This can reduce visual bugs and playback stalls, especially on systems with Intel Arc graphics or other GPU compatibility issues.
Occasionally, files with an unsupported or invalid format may trigger a playback error. If this happens, try re-encoding the original file using a tool like VLC or QuickTime. Once re-encoded, you can use the Replace File feature in your project or re-import the file into a new one.
If you see this message when using Chrome (which is a supported browser), please navigate to chrome://settings/system and toggle ON use graphics acceleration when possible.
If you’ve tried everything else and you’re still running into issues, a clean reinstall can help: Uninstall | Reinstall

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Still stuck?

Most performance issues are resolved with the steps above. If you’re still having trouble, contact our support team. We’ll typically need a link to the associated project (see our Project Links page) and a screen video demonstrating the problem so we can assess next steps.  Use Descript’s Screen Recorder or your OS’s built-in recorder. Here’s how you can find and use the built-in screen recorder for your operating system: Mac | Windows.