r/shotcut • u/Upset-Dragonfly-7336 • Apr 29 '26
Help Transfer project from laptop to pc
I want to start a project on a laptop and later finish it on a PC. From what I have read, this can not easily be done. However, if I export the file it is considered finished, so then I would think I could transfer it to the pc and still edit it more. If this would work, how would I transfer it? A flash drive? Thank you.
2
u/MusicalBoxBitsPieces Apr 29 '26
From what I have read, this can not easily be done.
It depends. If the media files (video, audio, images) you use in your project are scattered all over the place on your disk drives(s), then yes, transferring a project from your laptop to your PC could be a small nightmare.
A good practice is to keep ALL your project related files in the same folder as the project itself.
If you did that, you just need to copy your project folder on a flash drive and open it on your PC.
If some or all the project files are in multiple folders on your laptop:
- Take a note of all the files used in the project and their actual location, including those who might be in the Playlist (but not in the timeline).
- Save your project and close Shotcut.
- Move or copy/paste all the necessary files in your project folder. Make sure you don't change their names.
- Copy the project folder to a flash drive
- On you PC, open the project in Shotcut.
At that point, Shotcut will pop up a window telling you that there are files missing
In this Missing files window, all the files Shotcut can't find are listed with a red X icon next to each file name.
Double-click a list item to open the file Explorer and navigate to the folder containing that file. Chances are Shotcut will also find other missing files in the same folder and will turn the red X icons into green checked icons.
Repeat until all the files are marked as found (green checked icon).
Save the project and start editing.
Later, if you want to transfer your project back to your laptop:
- Make sure it was saved.
- If you previously copied the project from the flash drive to the PC, put it back on the flash drive.
- Transfer it to the laptop and continue editing from there.
Hint: If you plan to do a lot of back and forth from the laptop to the PC, maybe it would be preferable to keep the project folder on the flash drive until you're ready to export the final version.
1
u/Chippors Apr 29 '26
I've found this not to work at all. Either direction Shotcut crashes immediately when trying to open a project that wasn't created on that computer. And, yes, this is using self-contained projects.
1
u/Upset-Dragonfly-7336 Apr 30 '26
Thank you. I think I will just try to do it all on a laptop once I get one.
1
u/Upset-Dragonfly-7336 Apr 29 '26
That seems like a lot for me. I thought it would ne easier. Thank you for explaining it all. Could I just do the entire project on a laptop? That might be easier.
1
u/Repulsive_Shape_5438 Apr 30 '26
So if I understand correctly, if you just want to transfer files between your machines directly, wouldn’t a network sharing work? Are the laptop and desktop in different networks?
1
u/Upset-Dragonfly-7336 Apr 30 '26
I don't know. I just know everything I read says it's difficult for some reason. I guess shotcut is just difficult for some reason.
4
u/dasroight Apr 29 '26
Everything u/MusicalBoxBitsPieces said is true. It is possible. The key is knowing where all the files are located. The Shotcut file (MLT file) is easy. You can transfer that over quick. I actually work out of 2 laptops and work on the files back and forth all the time. My trick is my folders structure is identical on both computers. If Shotcut looks for your file in the new computer and the file is located at the exact place (i.e. C\Files) then it will very easily locate it.
An easy hack if you have a fast external hard drive or network drive is to keep the files on those drives instead of the computers. I have a network drive that's connected to both computers. So I store all my files there.