Fix: Adobe Premiere Pro Not Opening on Mac

Suppose your client is asking for the video you were given to edit or the company you’re working with is asking for it, but as soon as you tap on the Adobe Premiere Pro icon, you realize that the app is not opening. Things could be stressful. You might not expect a premium app like Adobe Premiere Pro to behave like this. But, like any other software, this video editing suite has its fair share of problems. If you struggle to launch Adobe Premiere Pro on your Mac, look no further. Keep reading this guide as we’ll walk you through many effective ways to fix this issue.

Adobe Premiere Pro is a powerful video editing suite that is mainly used by professionals all over the world. The software is packed with tons of features and customization options to play with. However, to use these features and editing tools, you’ll first have to go to Adobe Premiere Pro, which is where many Mac users seem to struggle. If the software is not opening on your Mac just after installation, there’s a good chance that you have not given the necessary permissions to the app. Or, your Mac may be running an older version of Adobe Premiere Pro. Often, a temporary software glitch is the source of the problem, which can be easily fixed just by restarting the device.

In the next section, we’ll take you through some effective solutions to fix if the Adobe Premiere Pro is not opening on your Mac.

Also Read: Fix: Adobe Premiere Pro Not Responding When Exporting

Adobe Premiere Pro Not Opening on Mac, How to Fix?

Try the fixes we’ve mentioned below and get the Adobe Premiere Pro up and running again. You may not have to test them all. Simply work your way down until you find the one that does the job.

Fix 1: Restart Your Mac

We’ll begin our troubleshooting with the age-old method of restarting a computer to fix the issue. While this solution might sound pretty basic, it is the only thing you need to do, in many cases. When you restart a computer, the temporary memory gets cleared up and the background processes are removed. It can also fix system glitches that could be causing the issue on your Mac.

To restart your Mac, go to the Apple menu and select “Restart”. Now, you may want to launch Adobe Premiere Pro again to check if the problem is fixed.

Fix 2: Update Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro receives new updates on a regular basis. The majority of them are aimed at enhancing the software experience, and stability. It also includes fixes to known problems. Possibly, the issue you are currently facing on your Mac has a fix in the latest build. You should therefore update the Abobe Premiere Pro and Creative Cloud on your Mac for the best experience. It should not be done only when trouble arises.

Check for new updates on a regular basis and install them before beginning work on a new project. Follow the steps below to update Adobe Premiere Pro on your Mac:

1. Open “Adobe Creative Cloud”.
2. Navigate to the “Apps” tab.
3. Look for “Adobe Premiere Pro” in the list of installed apps on your PC and click the “Update” button next to it.
4. Wait for the update process to finish.

Once you have updated the software, restart your Mac. Now, launch Adobe Premiere Pro to check if the problem is fixed.

Fix 3: Give Required Permissions

If you have just installed Adobe Premiere Pro on your Mac, but it refuses to launch then the problem is most likely missing permissions. When you open the video editing software, it checks if it has these three permissions: Documents, Desktop, and Downloads. If you have not given these permissions, the software won’t launch on your Mac.

When Adobe Premiere Pro finds out that these permissions are missing, it will show you a dialog box containing the message “Premiere Pro requires access to following folder(s)……”.

Now, what you have to do is tap on “Open preferences” and give the required permissions. Another way to do it is by going to System preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Files and Folders, locating the Premiere Pro, and checking the boxes for any folders listed here.

Once you are done, launch Adobe Premiere Pro again, and do let us know if the problem is fixed.

Fix 4: Repair Premiere Pro Files

Adobe Premiere Pro is still not opening on your Mac because it might be missing necessary files or components which are either corrupted or have been deleted. Thankfully, Premiere Pro has the option to check for missing components and corrupted files.

Here’s how to repair Adobe Premiere Pro files on your Mac:

1. Launch “Adobe Creative Cloud” on your computer.
2. Go to the “Apps” tab.
3. Find Premiere Pro in the list of installed apps.
4. Now, tap on “Install” and then select “Repair” from the drop-down options.

Once you have clicked the Repair option, Adobe Creative Cloud will then check for missing or corrupted Premiere Pro files. If there are any, it will automatically do the necessary work to repair them. This process may take a couple of minutes.

After the repairing is done, you may want to launch Adobe Premiere Pro again to check if the problem is sorted.

Fix 5: Delete the Preferences File

The preferences file in Adobe Premiere Pro contains settings and configurations. It includes things like custom keyboard shortcuts, default settings for new projects, etc. If the preferences file gets corrupted, it can cause many issues. While we troubleshoot, delete this file to make sure that it is not the source of the problem.

Here’s how to delete the Adobe Premiere Pro preferences file on your Mac:

1. If Adobe Premiere Pro is running, quit the app.
2. Now, go to “User/[Username]/Library/Preferences/Adobe/Premiere Pro” and delete the “Adobe Premiere Pro Prefs” file.
3. Restart your Mac.

After deleting the preferences file, all your custom settings will return to their default state. If you are worrying about the deletion of your custom preferences, take a backup of the “Adobe Premiere Pro Prefs” file and then delete it.

Fix 6: Reset the Software to Its Default Settings

If deleting the Premiere Pro’s preferences file didn’t fix the problem, you should try resetting the software to its default settings. This is a slightly advanced version of the previous solution.

The custom settings and configurations you’ve made to Adobe Premiere Pro can impact the app launch. To make sure they are not causing the problem, we’ll reset the Premiere Pro back to its default settings.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Make sure Adobe Premiere Pro is not running.
2. Go to “User/[Username]/Library/Preferences/Adobe/Premiere Pro”.
3. Delete the “Adobe Premiere Pro Prefs” file and the “Adobe Premiere Pro Auto-Save” folder.
4. Now, launch “Adobe Premiere Pro”.
5. Tap on “Preferences” from the “Edit” menu.
6. Click “General” and tap on “Reset Preferences on Launch”.

Fix 7: Disable All Third-Party Plugins

Although plugins are useful to extend the Premiere Pro functionality, features, and effects, they can also cause many issues. To check if plugins are preventing Adobe Premiere Pro from loading on your Mac, we’ll move all third-party plugins to a different location.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Quit Adobe Premiere Pro if it’s running.
2. Within the “Adobe Premiere Pro CC” folder, go to the “Plug-ins” folder.
3. Move all the plugins to a different location.

Please do not move the plugin files to any Adobe folder. Once done, launch the Adobe Premiere Pro app to check if the problem is gone.

Fix 8: Update the Graphics Driver

Your Mac may be running an older or outdated graphics driver leading to the launch failure of Adobe Premiere Pro. Updating the graphics driver might fix the issue.

Go to the manufacturer’s website, download the latest graphics driver, and install it on your Mac. Now, the Adobe Premiere Pro software should launch and run smoothly.

Fix 9: Reinstall Adobe Premiere Pro

If Adobe Premiere Pro is still not opening on your Mac, remove and reinstall the software as the last resort before reaching out to Adobe support. It should fix all the issues and eventually, you would be able to use Premiere Pro.

Here’s how to reinstall Adobe Premiere Pro on your Mac:

1. Launch “Adobe Creative Cloud”.
2. Go to the “Apps” tab.
3. Find Adobe Premiere Pro in the list of installed applications and tap on the three-dot icon next to it.
4. Select “Uninstall” from the dropdown menu.
5. Click “Uninstall” again to confirm.
6. You can use Adobe Creative Cloud to install Premiere Pro again.

Wrapping It Up

We know how frustrating it can be when you can’t open Adobe Premiere Pro on your computer. To help the affected users, we created this guide to list the effective solutions to fix this issue. Let us know which solution worked out for you in fixing the Adobe Premiere Pro not opening on Mac issue.