iMovie Running Slow? Here's How To Fix It!

[@edwarlee]

As so many have said, your iMovie guides are the best on the Internet, hands-down. I wish I could give more but this is just a small token of appreciation for all the amazing work you do.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you so much! Much appreciated.

[@ralesandro]

I can’t tell you how helpful this is! Apple is usually so good at making user friendly interfaces, but iMovie has always been the exception! I get so confused with projects, events, etc. You pulled back the curtain and offered such practical solutions. Thank you! 😍

[@Gaditoo]

I was shaking for a whole hour because suddenly all my projects had disappeared... I was just opening the wrong library!! Thank you so much! You truly saved me!!!

[@ColinWetherelt]

I’m an old dog learning new tricks - and you are a great teacher, Michael. Thanks!

[@stevenignelzi9257]

Same...

[@dellymac06]

Wow!! This video is useful. I am seeing iMovie for the first time much better than I thought it is. Thank you kind Sir. Blessings!

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Hi Michael, been following your channel for quite awhile now. This might be one of your most informative videos on the channel. Thanks for the iMovie tips!!

[@RainbowLane]

Thank you for this very valuable information. It makes so much sense - my iMovie library was causing all sorts of issues on my Mac and so I transferred it to a 2TB external drive where it has now reached 368 GB! My Mac hard drive may have breathed a sigh of relief when I moved that huge library but of course, iMovie still keeps crashing under the strain. And now I know why, thanks to you. I am taking your advice and creating a new library for every video so I’m not dragging this huge bag of GBs around behind every new video. I was so frustrated with the glitches and crashes that it was putting me off making my videos. I am going to do as you suggest and work on the videos on my internal hard drive and then archive them as separate libraries on the external one. And I am going to start breaking up that massive library - I had no idea I was building such a beast with every new video! Once I had watched this video a couple of times, it became very obvious to me why one big library would cause these issues but without this video, I wouldn’t have figured it out. I can’t thank you enough.🙏

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the Super Thanks! Much appreciated! So glad this video helped you! 👍🏽

[@RiteOn]

Most valuable newbie imovei video . . . thus far...Thanx

[@juliekovich-recordingartist]

Thanks. I can FINALLY get this straightened out. It has been bothering me I have no proper way to organize my projects and I wasn't grasping how this is organized.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad it helped!

[@CallMeCraftyAl]

So glad I found this! My iMovie has been running like a sloth and I thought I was gonna have to upgrade my machine. Definitely gonna try this first. :)

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad I could help! And thank you for the SuperThanks!

[@OwenEDell]

Thanks! This is a game changer. Keep up the good work!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the SuperThanks!

[@jenbruni5617]

Thanks! This is exactly what I needed to know

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the Super!

[@Kim-v3d]

Thanks! Finally I understand what libraries, event and projects really are! I only wished I had seen this a long time ago!

[@markadrianryda-cosmicryda]

You’re knowledge is amazing my brother I can’t thank you enough. You are by far my favourite YT tutor. You’ve helped me so much

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad to hear it

[@georgee3401]

Excellent tutorial. Very useful tips. Many thanks!

[@kyle_dukes]

Thanks!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank YOU!🙏🏽

[@Astrolofax]

Brilliant idea, switching to external! Immediately fixed the issue

[@weird-history-and-odd-news]

Thanks so much for this, Michael! I'm fairly new to iMovie and find your videos are the easiest for me to follow and understand because you've taken the time to explain as you go along.

[@iml1945]

Thanks!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the Super Thanks, much appreciated!

[@UmarKhaleeq]

This is so incredibly helpful! I've been getting so frustrated with iMovie slowing down lately and now this makes sense. Thank you! I have edited 3 new videos for my channel using iMovie now.

[@stevenignelzi9257]

Sooooo good! Thanks! I used iMovie on my previous iMac, the new version was suddenly inscrutable, navigation, file management was not comprehensible... This is great, thanks so much!

[@roccosarli6939]

I have been looking for this type of info since forever! I can’t thank you enough! Thanks!

[@MacVideoMagic]

No problem!

[@Kevin.S.McCarter_PhD]

Michael, this is SO helpful!! I currently have all of my videos in one project (~ 130 GB), and iMovie has become very sluggish. I've wanted to split my videos into different projects to hopefully speed iMovie back up and also so that I could move the video projects I'm done with to an external drive and free up space on my internal drive, but didn't know how to do it. I'm going to implement what you've shown us in this video and start separating out my videos into different projects asap. Thank you again!

[@MacVideoMagic]

You're welcome!

[@unknownINDIA]

Michael, this is a fantastic video. I encountered exactly the same problem a few days ago. But I moved the entire bloated iMovie Library to a new external drive, in the absence of knowledge you have presented in this video. Your knowledge of iMovie is amazing. Heart-felt thanks!

[@rajendrabiswas]

was it worth moving to external ?

[@idiscoverdestinations]

Great info. This is truly awesome. I'm so happy to know this. I was becoming helpless what the speed of iMovie concerned nut now I'm vback at full speed. Let's do this..! Thanks 🙏 🙏 🙏

[@gabicreightonbooksetc.]

Mike, I’m so excited to share that I SUCCESSFULLY BROKE DOWN my “giant library” (at 7:33) into individual libraries. YES! 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 I committed myself to creating at least 20 individual libraries from the “giant library” each day over a number of days. This video helped me with the howto. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!🙏🏽👊🏽🌸

[@MacVideoMagic]

Happy you got it all sorted.

[@Betteryouxo]

Great video!🙌❤️thank you, just what I needed! Now I was wondering how do you now move that finished library to your external hard drive?

[@MacVideoMagic]

Copy - paste library to external drive.

[@bulbabulbasaur]

this made my iMovie editing so much smoother! Thank you so much!

[@SupremeFilmsofficial.]

Thank you so much! I just got the Mac Studio, and iMovie was't working. This video helped a lot! Thank you so much!

[@ramise5932]

This is fabulous information thanks❤

[@PocaTV]

Brilliant video and a life saver! Thanks so much!

[@808islandlife_HI]

Great explanation! Thanks.

[@ANobodysHerstory]

This is so incredibly helpful! I've been getting so frustrated with iMovie slowing down lately and now this makes sense. Thank you!

[@GingerWarriorCyclingClub]

I thought I needed to buy a new Mac. Life saver Michael. Sorted my speed and workflow 🙏

[@GustitisLaw]

Mike: I don't know if it's appropriate for me to ask you a question for help. If it's not, then please disregard. I have created separate libraries for all my iMovie projects as you suggested. All my projects, except two (2), have been successfully moved to their new libraries. However, the other two (2) projects will not move to their new libraries. When I try, it looks like iMovie is moving them, but they don't leave the main iMovie Library project list. When I check their respective new libraries, the projects have not transferred. So now I'm really confused.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the SuperThanks! Did you try flipping between the libraries in the little menu at the top of the Projects screen? Sometimes the windows need to refresh. Also do the same with the little twirly arrows beside the library names in the left-side panel on the Media or editing screen.

[@GustitisLaw]

@@MacVideoMagic Thanks, Mike. I will try this.

[@Raw_id]

Michael you are the iMovie Guru👌 You've helped immensely as iMovie became sluggish but by using your method it renders much quicker. I salute you, thanks🙏

[@MacVideoMagic]

Happy to help!

[@furka66]

This video is gold ! Many thanks

[@thomasgarner-actingthestor5695]

I cannot even begin to tell you how helpful this was. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad it helped!

[@PlayNowWorkLater]

This is a game changer! Thank you for sharing this system

[@kyle_dukes]

God bless you - a real hero! Subscribed, liked, commented, tipped!

[@MacVideoMagic]

That's very kind of you! I appreciate it.

[@ShahramMirkazemi]

Your presentations are amazing. 🙏

[@dodol.pandan]

thank you … this concept change a lot of thing. i refuse to give up i movie because i got apple ecosystem and it’s waste to just ignore imovie. thanks to you i learn and start appreciating what i have ❤❤❤

[@KlinikSygeplejersken]

Thank you SOOOO much. - you just saved my day.

[@invictaland1983]

You're the BEST iMovie teacher! Hands down. Right now I'm struggling to turn a bit of text and a drawing i made in photoshop (cs6!) into a png to put it into a movie. Going to poke around your channel to see if you've made something about that.

[@MacVideoMagic]

This video may help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGjUoK2nrKl0Y5Y

[@andrewiansummers]

Great tutorial video Mike, as always. What would I do without you? 😉

[@joshualebowitz]

This was an informative and excellent video. Thank you m

[@pbasker]

Just a thought. You mentioned you would like iMovie to do vertical video editing. Even though its a free Apple iOS app, Clips. You can create the content in an iOS device then send over the file.

[@BroMoi]

Awesome! Thank you so much from The Netherlands. I learned a lot

[@beverlyclaridge]

Well done! Clear and concise! Thank you so much!

[@DerGangolf]

Your videos helped me a lot! I'm impressed with your way to make the most out of that very simple video editor. Do you mind asking me if you also work professionally with imovie? If not, which editor do you use for professional work? Greetings from Austria, Wolfgang

[@ianpve]

Fantastic advice. Thank you!

[@_Per_Aspera_Ad_Astra_]

❤ thank you 🙏 Question: How to delete Library Photos ?

[@iml1945]

Extremely helpful video. You are the best!!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad you think so!

[@haraldspies2546]

Thank you so much! Your videos are sooo helpful!

[@clarencej]

You’re a lifesaver! Thank you. Thank you. I always wonder why iMovie became so slow.

[@GustitisLaw]

Doing this today! Thanks, Mike.

[@1MollyJ]

I am probably going to have to watch this again. I previously worked with Final Cut Pro and there are definitely things I miss but I _never_ could figure out what was happening with my media with iMovie and all of that media can be a metastatic monster. And I knew that I wanted my projects on an external drive, but again, never quite sure where my stuff was going. So helpful. I may be able to bring some sanity to my iMovie stuff.

[@TessAbroad]

So incredibly helpful, thank you!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@davidcking7]

You did it again!! Brilliant and helpful video - and very well (as usual) explained for simple brains like mine. Thank you, Sir.

[@brianhudson7058]

I’ve battled for years without this understanding thanks Michael

[@timetravelers9282]

Mike your videos are amazing. You have helped me tremendously on my KZbin journey. Thanks for all this organizing information. This helps soooo much!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Great to hear!

[@thatswhatisaidCA]

This was such great instruction. Thank you so much.

[@da-AL]

thank you!!! your videos are great!!! a few of questions: 1) is there any way to control how downloaded clips show up in the media pane? 2) is there a way to control the order that clips appear in my computer folders when I'm selecting them to download into iMovie? 3) when I complete editing a section in the timeline, is there a way to lock only some clips & also audio together?

[@slingingsteve]

This is outstanding. Kudos to you, Michael, for using your knowledge and experience to offer more thoughtful and productive suggestions for workflow. I'm bookmarking this one to come back to as I begin to disaggregate my iMovie Library as you've suggested. I suspect, however, that I should approach such an effort cautiously and map out in advance how I want to handle a new structure of multiple Libraries (think Projects), Events (think Folders) and Projects (think Timelines). You've done a great service. Also, as someone who's made various attempts to create these kinds of tutorial-ish, screen recording videos, you do a terrific job - always very professional. I recognize how difficult it is. Thanks much.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the kind words. 🙏🏽

[@pedronavarro8633]

Amazing advice, my iMovie now opens in a few seconds rather than half minute. I will just create a new library per each new project from now on.

[@ajedreznoventa]

Very useful, as always! Your videos do make a difference, thanks! :)

[@MacVideoMagic]

Happy to hear that!

[@utah62]

Thanks for sharing. I do the same in FC. But you suggest to create the new library on the internal drive, not a external one? What if your internal drive is not big enough?

[@RollinD1]

Great stuff. Thank you. Maybe I have a newer version of iMovie (10.3.5) that doesn't show "Events" but rather the file name is the project name. So that's a little easier. Still studying this as the filing system has been a big mystery. Sure appreciate this tutorial to help clear that up.

[@FiontarFloinn]

Hello Mike, what a helpful video! Quick question though, I've used iMovie for ALL my video projects for 4 years! What should I do now?? Should I try and organise each project? Because I have about 50 projects!! Any advice??

[@MacVideoMagic]

How's iMovie running?

[@FiontarFloinn]

@@MacVideoMagic VERRRYYY slow! I'm working on a 2024 Highlights reel video at the moment, and it just won't finish exporting the file. It gets to about 45% and then just stops all exporting progress. As a last resort I'm now trying to export the project (not the finished video) to my iPad via iCloud Drive. Would that be possible if it keeps crashing and freezing?

[@MacVideoMagic]

@FiontarFloinn Have you tried deleting the render files, under iMovie - Settings?

[@k.6867]

Very cool, thanks!

[@clp1]

Thank you so much for an amazing tutorial! As many others have said, it was crystal clear, I almost went out and bought a new laptop. 😅 One hiccup, when I moved my project into a new library, iMovie crashed and when I reopened all the media files had disappeared from the main "Library" or "Event" folders? I can still see all the individual files in the Finder, but they're just not showing up in the Library/Event folder....any ideas on how to remedy that? I'm wary of dragging and dropping anything outside iMovie in case it scrambles my project.

[@HealthyHomeGuide]

Thank you so much! You have an amazing mind.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Wow, thank you!

[@WasiqBhamla]

This video was very informative, learnt something new today about iMovie. On side note, can you share some info on how to add this rounded cam in the screen sharing video?

[@MacVideoMagic]

That's a feature built into my live-streaming software, Ecamm Live.

[@exports6979]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DNF_finder]

This was sooooooo helpfull. Thanks a lot.

[@Diego_Cabrera]

I was literally going to drop like 3k on a new Mac bc my I thought my M1 got slow. You literally saved me so much money man.

[@OKeefeMusicStudio]

Thanks, this is Extremely helpful

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad it helped!

[@kenromero9236]

I watched this video a few months back and it didn’t click with me. However, this week I started experiencing the problems you noted and I was sure Michael Kinney would have the solution and “poof” here we are. Thank you for saving what little mind I have left!

[@MacVideoMagic]

No worries! Glad the info was there when you needed it.

[@irwinlive]

Great advice !

[@englishin10]

I love the pacing of your tutorials! I had a hard time finding the library screens you were showing. Mine opens straight into media or project boxes. I didn't get the "which library would you like to open" screen...so I had to go up to FILE>open library>New (in case anyone else had a hard time finding that screen)

[@MacVideoMagic]

Holding down the option key, then clicking on iMovie icon (with iMovie closed) didn't bring up the Open Library screen?

[@englishin10]

@@MacVideoMagic Oh goodness...yes, it did work. I didn't have iMovie closed. I've been using iMovie for years to edit videos and the files are definitely getting mixed up and confusing. Thanks for helping all of us!!!!

[@grantking174]

Awesome video wish I knew this earlier. Now to fix 345gb library 😮

[@MacVideoMagic]

😬

[@CalebKotschedoff]

I was pressing moments on iMovie and I’m having a hard time with it so I’m struggling with the app so this video will help

[@theguynextdoor4822]

So very helpful. You should suggest Apple to rename Library, Events & Projects

[@balther1]

Thank you, so good help!!!

[@MacVideoMagic]

So glad!

[@WandererBell]

This is super helpful. I did not know I could do that till I watched your video. I have a question for you about my scenario. I usually create videos for each country I visit. Do you recommend creating a library for each country and then in that country library, I will have about 15 to 20 projects in it or do you recommend creating a library for each video? I appreciate your suggestions.

[@MacVideoMagic]

I would do it per video, or city/region, depending on how you break out each video.

[@CharcoalPencilPusher]

Hi, is it necessary to delete projects from within iMovie before you delete them from your hard drive or will deleting them from the hard drive be all that's necessary? Does it make any difference? Thanks, Don

[@FlowByJenny]

Hi Michael, this is fantastic and soooo helpful. I have been creating projects by pulling in my media straight into the project. I have not been using the events. I have also been copying parts of movies from one project to another and also from projects in different libraries. I am working with videos that has raw material that is several hours of video and I have been creating videos for many years. I have many iMovie Libraries on external hard drives. With other words. My iMovie storage is a mess. This video really helped me to start organize my videos and especially my videos going forward but I do have a specific problem and wonder if you have a simple solution. I have videos that I have edited (timelines) that has the source media in other libraries that it can not find. I get black part in my timeline with source video not found. I have to open up all my libraries (hunders of GB) to find the source data and this is time consuming. 1. Do you have a trick in how to find the source data for clips in a project (timeline). 2. When I now organize the files so that 1 library = 1 project, how do I make sure that all the source videos are copied into the new library? Cheers, Jenny

[@JottyOL]

With your help, I’m beginning to understand the structure of iMovie projects. Thank you! To have access to common things like intro, outro etc.: my idea is to create a library only with this stuff. To create a new episode, you then start with a fresh copy of this library. What do you think?

[@MacVideoMagic]

Absolutely! Or, when you create a new episode, you open up that intro/outro library along with your new episode library, copy those elements over, and then close the intro/outro library. You can have more than one library open at a time, which adds great flexibility!

[@JottyOL]

@@MacVideoMagic Ah, ok, good to know! Thanks and have a great weekend!

[@CharcoalPencilPusher]

Hello again, I am making dozens of short videos. Is there any reason why I shouldn't put 2 or 3 video projects into one new library (to archive them) rather than making a new library for each one? Thanks, Don

[@MarkPMus]

I seem to remember in previous versions of iMovie you could actually delete unused portions of video clips. I’ve no need to keep every um and er and mistake I make. But I can’t find that feature anymore. Has it gone?

[@marykayriley]

Hi, I'm following the instructions but this doesn't occur for me, I'm holding down option and clicking iMovie but it opens as usual, no special window. Any idea why this is only happening to me? Computers hate me so I'm not surprised 😃

[@DrDaveAK88]

Mary Kay, I have the same issue myself. I can click "File" then "Library" and then create a new library but the way @MikeKinney describes doesn't seem to work for me either.

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

We who have a KZbin channel, with 64 videos, thank you for drawing our attention to this problem, and more importantly providing a solution.

[@ocyogi]

Brilliant!

[@waikeonglock4515]

Thanks, such a helpful video. I am in the process of "untangling" my huge library now. For some unknown reason, I don't seem to able to move or delete one specific Project / Timeline - the option to move is greyed out, and when I delete, nothing happens. I can open the Project / Timeline but all the media links are deleted. Any idea? Where are these Project / Timeline stored? Appreciate your help. Thanks

[@MacVideoMagic]

Is it possible you deleted a project and event that was sharing media with the project you're trying to delete?

[@CharcoalPencilPusher]

@ 4:40 you say, "when you're finished". Does this mean after you've exported it?

[@WelIspring]

Brilliant!!!

[@JohannesJunkJournalLife]

I just did this and lost my video that I spent 2 hours editing . Can’t seem to locate any of it. I clicked on this video because I had ? Icon in the pics that was trying to load in. Now I am spending time trying to get the old stuff back

[@Macdashack]

I’m having trouble with my exported video. The whole video works perfectly when playing in iMovie but once it’s exported, it only plays up to 10 minutes and the rest just freezes while time is still running. Any idea on how I can fix this issue?

[@swami1]

My issue is iMovie taking forever to export simple projects. Any suggestions?

[@VGTIMEDBS]

Where do you go for your stock footage?

[@MacVideoMagic]

Storyblocks.