Reference Manual
Descript layout and interface
-
Navigating Descript
Welcome to Descript Descript is a powerful creative platform that br...
-
The editor interface
The project editor is the workspace where you'll edit your audio and...
-
Manage the editor layout with the View menu
The View menu (available with the new timeline toggled on in Labs) l...
-
Customize the editor
Optimize your editing workflow by customizing the layout of the edit...
-
Drive view
The Drive view is your main hub for organizing projects in Descript....
-
Properties Panel
The Properties panel is where you adjust everything in a scene or la...
Set up & access Descript
-
Create your Descript Account
You can set up your Descript account in a couple of different ways: ...
-
Download and install Descript
Descript is currently available as a desktop application for both ma...
-
Descript system requirements
If Descript isn’t performing as expected — your recordings are glitc...
-
Descript for Web
Descript for Web lets you edit, transcribe, and publish directly fro...
-
Updating Descript to the latest version
Descript automatically checks for updates while running to ensure yo...
-
Why does Descript open when I start my computer?
Launch at Login From Descript's Screen Recorder settings, you have t...
Your Descript account & preferences
-
Refer others and earn rewards
Love Descript? Now you can share it with others and get rewarded whe...
-
Access your account or reset your password
If you’re having trouble signing in to Descript or need to reset you...
-
Update your account email address
If you created a Descript account with a username and password authe...
-
Customize your profile image and name
If you would like to change the name on your profile or add a custom...
-
Switch between multiple Descript accounts
To switch between Descript accounts (with different email addresses)...
-
Account data and privacy
Enterprise drives do not have the option to toggle data sharing, whi...
Import and upload content to Descript
-
Import Brand Studio media into your project
If your Drive admin has set up Brand Studio with fonts, media, or ot...
-
Import and upload files into Descript
Import media into a project from your computer, an existing Descript...
-
Upload a file from your computer
Upload audio, video, or image files saved on your computer directly ...
-
Import files from other projects
Import media files directly from other Descript projects without re-...
-
Upload media from your phone to Descript
Upload files from your phone directly into a Descript project — no c...
-
Upload a slide deck (PDF) into Descript
Import a PDF of your presentation into Descript to turn your slide d...
Drive and team management
-
Brand Studio: Permissions
Drive owners and admins can control which brand assets — fonts, colo...
-
Brand Studio
Brand Studio brings your team's branding tools together in one centr...
-
Set up and manage your Drive
A Drive is where your projects, members, and settings live. You can ...
-
Drive membership roles: how to invite and manage team members
Invite others to your Drive to collaborate with your team in one sha...
-
Project access and collaborator roles in Descript
Drive Owners, Admins, and Editors can invite collaborators to a spec...
-
Drive admins
Drive admins are members with extra permissions to manage the Drive,...
Billing
-
Top Ups: Buy Additional Media Minutes and AI Credits
Top ups let you purchase additional Media Minutes or AI Credits when...
-
Lenny’s Bundle Promo
For a limited time, annual subscribers to Lenny’s Newsletter are eli...
-
How billing works in Descript
Here are a few key points to help you understand how subscription bi...
-
Invoice history
You can view and download your monthly or annual subscription invoic...
-
View and manage your Drive subscription
Manage your billing, plan, and seat settings from the Plan tab in yo...
-
Upgrade your plan
Upgrade your plan to access more monthly Media Minutes and AI Credit...
Projects and compositions
-
Projects and compositions overview
Projects serve as containers for all your content in Descript. Withi...
-
Create a new project
You can create a project from your Drive View or while working on an...
-
Move projects
Move projects between workspaces or Drives to keep things organized,...
-
Duplicate a project, composition, selection, or layer
Duplicate an entire project, a composition, a section of your script...
-
Deleting a project
Projects can be deleted from the drive by the project owner. Delete...
-
Project settings
You can manage your project settings by the menu in the top left of ...
Transcription
-
Automatic transcription
Descript automatically transcribes speech from your audio into text....
-
Supported transcription languages
Descript can automatically transcribe audio and video in 26 language...
-
Transcription accuracy
Descript's automatic transcription is up to 95% accurate. The accura...
-
See your transcription activity
You can see your transcription history and all the transcriptions yo...
-
Use your own transcript
Want to bring an already edited transcript into your Descript compos...
-
Realign words in a transcript
When an automatically transcribed file returns with misaligned text ...
Avatars
-
Avatars Overview
Avatars are animated presenters for your content. They can stand in ...
-
How to use avatars in Descript
Avatars let you add an on-screen presenter to your videos without re...
-
Custom Avatars
Descript lets you create AI avatars that animate in sync with your s...
Underlord & AI Tools
-
Underlord (beta): Your AI co-editor in Descript
Underlord is Descript’s AI co-editor, an expert, fast, and tireless ...
-
AI Tools Overview
Descript's suite of AI tools help streamline common editing tasks li...
-
Extend video with AI
Extend video generates additional frames for clips that are too shor...
-
Create and save your own templates
Templates are reusable creative briefs that tell Underlord how to cr...
-
Last frame: create custom AI video transitions
Use Last Frame to generate smooth transitions that morph between two...
-
Generative image and video models in Descript
Descript lets you choose which AI model powers your generated images...
Scenes
-
Scenes overview
Scenes control how and when visual content — like video, images, tex...
-
Scene properties
Each scene in Descript has its own properties, which you can view an...
-
Scene boundaries
Scene boundaries define where one scene ends and another begins in y...
-
Edit a scene transition
A transition controls how one scene or clip visually moves into the ...
-
Splitting vs. creating a new scene
Splitting a scene To split a scene, insert a forward slash (/) in yo...
-
Reorder scenes
Move or change the order of scenes in your Descript composition by d...
Script editor
-
Add a file to the script
Descript works a little differently from most video editors. Instead...
-
Wordless media in your script (beta)
Wordless media is disabled by default. Wordless media refers to sect...
-
Write mode
Write mode lets you draft your script directly in Descript—before yo...
-
Edit like a doc
In Descript, you edit audio and video by editing text. When you edit...
-
Selection toolbar
The selection toolbar shows up when you highlight a portion of your ...
-
Deleting vs ignoring script text
Deleting and ignoring text or wordless media in your script is how y...
Scene editor
-
Save a frame from your video
You can save any frame from your video as a PNG and store it in your...
-
Scene editor overview
The Scene Editor is your main workspace for arranging and editing vi...
-
Scene editor tools
You can manage visuals in the scene editor using a set of contextual...
-
Aspect ratio and video settings
You can adjust your composition's aspect ratio, increase or decrease...
File management and actions
-
Stock Panel
The Media panel gives you access to Descript’s library of stock vide...
-
Project Panel
The Project panel contains all the media in your project—uploaded fi...
-
Stock media
Descript includes a built-in stock media library with high-quality v...
-
Project file actions
The Files section of the Project panel lets you take action on any m...
-
Repair audio drift
Have you ever noticed an unexpected echo effect after enabling Studi...
-
Replace file
The Replace file tool can be used to update or substitute an existin...
Timeline
-
The Split button: how to split scenes and layers directly in the timeline
Use the Split button to divide your timeline into scenes, to trim ex...
-
Timeline overview
The timeline gives you fine-tuned control over how your composition ...
-
Advanced timeline tools
The Advanced Timeline Tools let you fine-tune how you trim, split, a...
-
The wordbar
The wordbar tells you exactly what words a waveform represents, and ...
-
Wordless Media Labels
Descript's label feature allows you to tag ranges of wordless media...
-
Automatic microfades
For anyone who has spent time editing audio in a traditional digital...
Layers and clips
-
Multi-select: move, resize, and align layers together
Multi-select lets you work with multiple layers at once in the Scene...
-
Add and style captions
Descript automatically generates captions from your script, so you d...
-
Replace media (b-roll, images, audio) in your composition
The Replace Media option lets you swap out media without losing edit...
-
Placeholder layers
Placeholder layers let you visually mark where media should go in yo...
-
Layer and clip overview
Layers contain all the visual and audio elements in your Descript pr...
-
Add layers to your composition
Layers are the visual and audio elements you add to your Descript co...
Sequences
-
Sequence overview
A sequence lets you edit multiple sources as if they were a single f...
-
Create a sequence
Create a sequence to bundle multiple tracks—like camera angles, mic ...
-
Edit individual tracks with the Sequence Editor
Use the Sequence Editor when you need to adjust a single track witho...
-
Fix duplicate transcripts or mic bleed
If you're hearing echo or delayed audio, or if your transcript looks...
-
Detach audio
Descript's Detach audio feature lets you edit a video’s audio track ...
Recording
-
Recorder overview: the Editor Recorder and Screen Recorder
With Descript, you have two recording options: the Editor Recorder ...
-
Record with Descript's built-in teleprompter
Descript includes a built-in teleprompter you can use while recordin...
-
Record a slideshow presentation with Descript
Turn your live presentation into a polished, reusable video. With De...
-
How to use the Screen Recorder in the Descript desktop app
The Screen Recorder is a lightweight recording tool available in Des...
Effects and color correction
-
Visual and audio effects overview
Descript includes a wide variety of audio and video effects to help ...
-
Applying and adjusting effects
Descript includes visual and audio effects you can apply to scenes, ...
Animations and transitions
-
Smart Transitions
When you add a new scene, Descript automatically applies a Smart Tra...
-
Add a zoom effect with a custom animation
Select the layer you want to animate. In the Properties panel, scro...
-
Ken Burns Animation
The Ken Burns animation, named after the famous American documentary...
-
Apply and adjust animations
Animate visuals in your scene to change their position, size, croppi...
-
Transitions overview
Transitions are visual effects you can apply to smooth the start, en...
-
Applying a transition to a clip
You can apply a transition to any clip in the script track from the ...
Audio mixing
-
View and monitor audio levels of your composition
The volume unit (VU) meter in the Timeline shows the stereo audio le...
-
Adjust volume and pan audio
You can control how audio sounds in your project by adjusting volume...
-
Auto-leveling
Auto-leveling maintains consistent audio throughout your composition...
-
Room tone
Recordings made outside of professional-grade recording studios may ...
-
Volume automation and keyframes
You can adjust the volume over time of your script or audio layers w...
-
Composition audio properties
Similar to a master bus or mix bus, your composition's audio propert...
Layout packs
-
Layout packs overview
Use layouts to quickly style scenes in your video with professionall...
-
Apply a layout to a scene
Layouts help you quickly design each scene in your composition—contr...
-
How layouts interact with scenes and the script
When you apply a layout to a scene, Descript does more than just dro...
-
Remix a layout pack
Transform remixable layout packs to match your brand, project, or cr...
-
Save a scene to a layout pack
Layout packs can be created from scratch or saved from scenes in an ...
-
Share a custom layout pack
When you create and publish a custom layout pack, it will be private...
Exporting
-
Export your content to HubSpot
Publish a finished video directly from Descript to your HubSpot acco...
-
Export to Google Drive
Export your finished Descript composition to your Google Drive. Plea...
-
Export and publishing overview
Descript gives you comprehensive exporting and publishing options ta...
-
Export and publish content with Descript web links
Exporting to a Descript web link (sometimes called "publishing" to a...
-
View, share, and manage a published share page
After publishing your content as a web link, you may download your c...
-
Publishing to other hosting providers
Publishing to other hosting providers Descript now supports a variet...
Collaboration
-
Project links
Project links let you share your entire project with other Descript ...
-
Commenting in projects
In Descript, comments let you add notes directly to your transcript ...
Integrations
-
Set Up and Optimize Zoom for Integration with Descript
Prefer a Simpler Way to Record and Collaborate? Record conversation...
-
Export to YouTube
Export videos directly to your YouTube channel using Descript’s buil...
-
Export Blubrry episodes
Publish to Blubrry in Descript Click Export at the top-right corner...
-
Export your content to Buzzsprout
Click Export at the top-right corner of your editor. Then select Bu...
-
Exporting Captivate episodes
Currently this integration isn't working as expected We’re currentl...
-
Export your content to Castos
Click Export at the top-right corner of your editor. Then, select C...
Connect and engage with Descript
-
Questions and concerns we’ve heard from the customer community
We've been listening to your feedback about the new subscription pla...
-
Get Help / Contact Descript
Need help with Descript? Get an assist from our support team, find t...
-
Watch Descript webinars and other live events
We regularly host live webinars, office hours, and product announcem...
-
Connect with the Descript community
Join other Descript creators in our community spaces. Ask questions,...
-
The Descript Affiliate Program
Do you enjoy Descript's powerful editing tools, and want to let your...
-
Becoming a supported content hosting partner
Descript now supports one-click export to supported content hosting ...
Shortcuts, settings, and feature previews
-
What does the “beta” label mean in Descript?
Some features in Descript have a beta label. This indicates the feat...
-
The new timeline experience
The new timeline in Labs is designed to make video editing simpler a...
-
Preview upcoming features with Descript Labs
Descript Labs lets you try early access features before they’re offi...
-
Keyboard shortcuts
Descript includes a wide set of keyboard shortcuts to help you edit ...
-
App settings
You can access your app settings from the top right corner of the Dr...