How to move a CapCut project to Premiere Pro
CapCut on Windows
- Close CapCut, press Windows + R, paste
%LOCALAPPDATA%\CapCut\User Data\Projects\com.lveditor.draftand press Enter. - Drag your project's folder onto the box above. Premiere Pro is already selected.
- Click Download for Premiere Pro.
- In Premiere Pro (Windows or Mac) choose File → Import…, select the
.xmland open the sequence that appears in your Project panel.
CapCut on a Mac
- Quit CapCut, then in Finder press ⇧⌘G, paste
~/Movies/CapCut/User Data/Projects/com.lveditor.draftand press Return. - Drag your project's folder onto the box above. Premiere Pro is already selected.
- Click Download for Premiere Pro.
- In Premiere Pro (Windows or Mac) choose File → Import…, select the
.xmland open the sequence that appears in your Project panel.
Why an XML file?
Premiere Pro can't read CapCut projects, and CapCut can't export anything but the finished video. What Premiere can import is the classic Final Cut Pro 7 XML format, which describes a sequence clip by clip. This converter reads CapCut's project file and writes exactly that, so the structure of your edit — the cuts, the tracks, the timing — opens in Premiere. (Premiere doesn't read the newer FCPXML format; that one is for DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro.)
What Premiere receives
- Every clip on its own video or audio track, at the right frame and with the right in-point.
- Video with its sound as linked video and audio clips, just like footage you edit in Premiere.
- Speed changes via Time Remapping, volume via Audio Levels, and opacity.
- Scale (for example a zoomed-in 4K clip in a vertical video) via Motion → Scale.
- Transitions on the main track as Cross Dissolves.
- Captions as a separate .srt file you can import as a caption track.
Not carried over to Premiere: clip position, rotation and keyframe animations — reposition overlays in the Effect Controls panel. For a fuller transfer, DaVinci Resolve's import supports those too.
Where is my CapCut project?
CapCut keeps every project in its own folder. Close CapCut first, so the project file is up to date, then open:
- Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\CapCut\User Data\Projects\com.lveditor.draft
Paste it into the File Explorer address bar and press Enter. - Mac:
~/Movies/CapCut/User Data/Projects/com.lveditor.draft
In Finder press ⇧⌘G, paste the path and press Return.
Inside you see one folder per project, usually named after it. Drag that whole folder onto the box above — only its small
project files (draft_content.json or draft_info.json, plus draft_meta_info.json) are read;
your videos are not opened or copied. If you changed where CapCut saves drafts, look in CapCut's settings for the drafts location.
Relinking media in Premiere
If Premiere shows clips as Media Offline, select them in the Project panel, right-click → Link Media… and locate the first file; Premiere relinks the others in the same folder automatically. You can avoid this by entering the current location of your footage under Media locations before downloading.
What can't be converted
- Effects, filters, stickers, masks and in/out animations are CapCut's own and have no equivalent in other editors. The tool lists exactly what was left out, so you know what to rebuild.
- Text styling: texts and captions come over as subtitle files (.srt) with their timing, not with CapCut's fonts and effects.
- Mobile and web projects: only projects from CapCut for Windows and Mac can be read; the phone app and CapCut Online store projects differently.
- Encrypted projects: projects made from CapCut's template library and projects from JianYing 6 or newer are encrypted. The tool tells you when that's the case; it does not try to break the encryption.
- Library music and text-to-speech live in CapCut's cache; they only link on the computer where CapCut is installed.
Private by design
Everything happens in your browser. The project file is read on your computer, and your footage is never uploaded — the downloaded timeline simply points to the files where they already are.
Free Forever Converter is not affiliated with ByteDance (CapCut), Blackmagic Design (DaVinci Resolve), Adobe (Premiere Pro) or Apple (Final Cut Pro).
Frequently asked questions
Can I open a CapCut project in Premiere Pro?
Not directly. Convert it to XML on this page and import that file in Premiere with File → Import.
Why XML and not FCPXML?
Premiere Pro imports the older Final Cut Pro 7 XML format, not FCPXML. This page writes the format Premiere understands.
Are transitions and speed changes kept?
Yes: transitions on the main track become Cross Dissolves and constant speed changes use Time Remapping.
Are clip positions kept?
Scale and opacity are; position, rotation and keyframes are not, because Premiere uses different units. Adjust them in Effect Controls.
Does it work with Premiere Elements or Rush?
No. Only Premiere Pro imports XML sequences.
Are my videos uploaded?
No. Only the small CapCut project file is read, in your browser. Your footage stays where it is; the timeline you download points to it.
Which CapCut versions work?
CapCut for Windows and Mac (desktop), including recent 8.x versions with several timelines. Projects from the mobile app, CapCut Online, templates and JianYing 6+ cannot be read.
Why are some clips offline after importing?
The editor could not find the files at the saved location — for example because they moved, or because CapCut stored them inside the project folder. Relink them to the folder with your footage, or enter the folder under Media locations before downloading.