A new version of Descript is rolling out. This update introduces faster editing, transcription, importing, and exporting, instant AI effects like Eye Contact, Studio Sound, and green screen, instant project loading with 4K streaming, and cloud-based processing and storage that frees up your local drive. Some workflows may differ from previous versions as we continue to refine the experience.
In older versions of Descript, projects were managed differently. If you're familiar with an earlier version of Descript, here’s what you need to know about how file storage worked before the transition to cloud-first processing.
How Descript managed files on your computer (Older Versions)
Files recorded or imported into Descript were stored in a system folder on your computer to ensure that your media was always available. These files were synced to the cloud as a backup but persisted locally while you worked on them.
Over time, you may have found that projects started occupying a lot of space on your hard drive. To manage this, earlier versions of Descript included tools to check storage usage and remove local files for inactive or completed projects.
Checking Descript file storage
In older versions of Descript, you could check the size of individual projects by navigating to the Drive view and looking at the Size column.
Can't find the Size column? If the Size column was not displayed, your Descript window might have been too small. Expanding the window size would expose the column.
How to remove downloaded files for inactive projects
Since older versions of Descript stored all your files locally, clearing space was an important step for managing large projects. Once you were finished working on a project, you could free up storage space on your computer by removing the local copies while keeping the files available in the cloud.
You could do this directly from the Drive view inside Descript by selecting Remove downloaded project from your hard drive.