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Add media

Learn to add media in Premiere Elements 2025. You can add media from Elements Organizer, your computer's hard drive, digital cameras, phones or removable drives, etc.

Media files are essential for making movies in Adobe Premiere Elements. You can add various media types (audio, video, or images) from different places.

To know about the supported file types, see Supported file formats.

To know about supported devices, see Supported Devices | Adobe Premiere Elements.

You can add media to Adobe Premiere Elements using one of these methods:

  • Import recorded files (audio, video, or image).
  • Record narrations using a microphone (for more information, see Create narrations).

Add media using embedded Elements Organizer

Add media from the albums in Elements Organizer.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Click Add Media, and select Elements Organizer.
    • Choose File > Add Media From > Elements Organizer.

    The embedded Elements Organizer is launched. 

    Elements Organizer

    Tip:

    In the Elements Organizer Add Media panel, you can find several other options, such as Hide Video, Hide Audio, and Hide Still Image. You can filter your search from the burger menu in the Elements Organizer Add Media panel from the options View Newest First, View Oldest First, and View by Import Batch.  Also, on the search option at the top and page navigator next to the Add Files button at the bottom.

  2. In the Elements Organizer workspace, locate the album containing your media.

  3. Drag one or more media files to the Sceneline or Advanced view timeline.

    You can also select the clips and select Add Files. It adds the clips to the timeline.

  4. After your clips are added to the timeline, Select Done.

Add media using Files and Folders

Import videos, photos, and audio files from your computer’s hard drive or other storage devices (for example, external hard drive or pen drive).

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Click the Add Media panel and choose Files And Folders.
    Add Media panel
    Add Media panel

    Or Choose File Add Media From > Files And Folders.

  2. To import a media file, locate and select the file from the dialog box and click Open.

    On Windows, select the folder from the dialog box and click Import Folder if you want to add an entire folder.

Note:

Alternately, you can drag files from your operating system's file explorer to the Sceneline or Advanced view timeline.

Photos from cameras or devices

This option opens the Photo Importer window and allows you to import photos from a camera, mobile phone, or removable hard drive. It also imports media from devices that store photo files in Flash memory or on a disk.

  1. Connect your digital camera, mobile phone, or removable drive to your computer.

    Note:

    If your device requires any driver to work with your system, install it before you start importing media files. Check your device's manual for more information.

  2. Select Add Media > Photos from cameras and devices on the left-side panel.

    photos

  3. Choose the drive or device from the Source drop-down list. Thumbnails of all importable files appear in the dialog box.

  4. To specify a location for the saved files, do one of the following:
    • To save files to the default Adobe folder, leave the location as it appears in the dialog box.

    • To specify a different location, click File Folder icon (Windows)/Choose (Mac OS) and choose a folder. Alternatively, click New Folder to create a folder and name it.

    • You can change the Presets such as File Name, Folder Name-Number, Date-File Name, and Custom Name-Number from the Presets drop-down in the dialog box. 

    • To consistently rename the files in the folder, click the Presets drop-down. If you want to use a custom file name, select Custom Name-Number. The default is the File Name option. When the files are added to the folder and the Project Assets panel, the filenames are in increments of 0001. For example, if you enter summer, the filenames are changed to summer0001.jpg, summer0002.jpg, and so on.

  5. Select files that you want to add to your timeline.

    By default, all files are selected. A check mark below the file’s thumbnail indicates that the file is selected. Select the respective thumbnail to remove the check mark and exclude a file.

    You can also select or deselect all files using the Check All or UnCheck All buttons. Click on the Get Media button to import, the Cancel button, or the cross icon at the top to cancel and close the dialog. The dialog also has options to Preview media, Add To Timeline, After Copying Delete Originals.

Note:

If you don’t want to use all the files you added, you can delete them from the Project Assets panel. Deleting a file from the panel doesn’t delete it from its original location.

Videos from cameras or devices

This option opens the Video Importer window and lets you import videos from camcorders, mobile phone, or hard drive. It also imports media from devices that store video files in Flash memory or on a disk.

  1. Connect your digital camera, mobile phone, or removable drive to your computer.

    Note:

    If your device requires any driver to work with your system, install it before you start importing media files. Check your device's manual for more information.

  2. Select Add Media > Videos from cameras and devices on the left-side panel.

    videos

  3. Choose the drive or device from the Get Photos from drop-down list. Thumbnails of all importable files appear in the dialog box.

  4. To specify a location for the saved files, do one of the following:
    • To save files to the default Adobe folder, leave the location as it appears in the dialog box.

    • To specify a different location, click File Folder icon (Windows)/Choose (Mac OS) and choose a folder. Alternatively, click New Folder to create a folder and name it.

    • You can change the Presets such as File Name, Folder Name-Number, Date-File Name, and Custom Name-Number from the Presets drop-down in the dialog box. 

    • To consistently rename the files in the folder, click the Presets drop-down. If you want to use a custom file name, select Custom Name-Number. The default is the File Name option. When the files are added to the folder and the Project Assets panel, the filenames are in increments of 0001. For example, if you enter summer, the filenames are changed to summer0001.jpg, summer0002.jpg, and so on.

  5. Select files that you want to add to your timeline.

    By default, all files are selected. A check mark below the file’s thumbnail indicates that the file is selected. Select the respective thumbnail to remove the check mark and exclude a file.

    You can also select or deselect all files using the Check All or UnCheck All buttons. Click on the Get Media button to import, the Cancel button, or the cross icon at the top to cancel and close the dialog. The dialog also has options to Preview media, Add To Timeline, After Copying Delete Originals.

Note:

If you don’t want to use all the files you added, you can delete them from the Project Assets panel. Deleting a file from the panel doesn’t delete it from its original location.

Import videos from a DVD camera or computer drive

Import video from devices that store video files in Flash memory or on a disk. Such devices include Flip and other compact video cameras, AVCHD, DVD, DSLR and other cameras, and mobile phones. When you import these files, they are copied to the hard drive location you specify. The files are also added to the Project Assets panel.

Note:

On Mac OS, Video Importer does not list external DVD drives. Use internal Superdrive in this case.

You can add clips directly to the Sceneline or Advanced view timeline without creating a project. When you add a clip to the timeline, Adobe Premiere Elements automatically changes your project settings to match the clip properties.

However, a message appears if you add a clip to an existing project whose preset does not match the clip’s preset. You can let Adobe Premiere Elements change the project’s settings to use the closest available preset.

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Place the DVD into your computer’s DVD drive.

    • Connect your card reader such as SD card or memory stick to your computer.

    • Connect the digital camera, mobile phone, or other device to your computer using the USB port. 

    Note:

    If your device requires any driver to work with your system, install it before you start importing media files. Check your device's manual for more information.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Click Add Media > DVD camera or computer drive.
    • Choose File > Add Media from > DVD camera or computer drive.
    DVD

  3. Select the device from Source drop-down in the Video Importer dialog.

    The importable files are displayed in the panel below the Source menu. The number of files, and the size of the content is displayed at the bottom of the panel containing the content.

    Note:

    Video Importer cannot import media from external hard drives. If you want to import media from an external hard drive, use the Files and folders option.

  4. Do one of the following:
    • To import all the content displayed in the panel, click Check All.

    • To import selected clips, click UnCheck All, and select only those clips that you want to import.

    Note:

    To preview the contents of a clip, click the clip and click the Play button in the Preview panel.

  5. To specify a location for the saved files, do one of the following:
    • To save files to the default Adobe folder, leave the location as it appears in the dialog box.

    • To specify a different location, click File Folder icon (Windows)/Choose (Mac OS) and choose a folder. Alternatively, click New Folder to create a folder and name it.

    • You can change the Presets such as File Name, Folder Name-Number, Date-File Name, and Custom Name-Number from the Presets drop-down present in the dialog box. 

    • To consistently rename the files in the folder, click the Presets drop-down. If you want to use a custom file name, use the Presets drop-down menu. Select Custom Name-Number. The default is the File Name option. When the files are added to the folder and the Project Assets panel, the filenames are in increments of 0001. For example, if you enter summer, the filenames are changed to summer0001.jpg, summer0002.jpg, and so on.

  6. Select files that you want to add to your timeline.

    By default, all files are selected. A check mark below the file’s thumbnail indicates that the file is selected. Select the respective thumbnail to remove the check mark and exclude a file.

    You can also select or deselect all files using the Check All or UnCheck All buttons. Click on the Get Media button to import, the Cancel button, or the cross icon at the top to cancel and close the dialog. The dialog also has options to Preview media, Add To Timeline, After Copying Delete Originals.

    Select one of the following naming conventions for the downloaded files using the Presets menu:

    Filename

    Retains the filenames the camcorder assigns.

    Folder Name-Number

    If your folder name is Wedding Pics, the clips are assigned the names Wedding Pics-001, Wedding Pics-002, and so on.

    Date-File Name

    Adds a timestamp to the filename the camcorder assigns. The timestamp is the current date and time - the date and time on which the movies were transferred to your computer.

    Note:

    To rename files, delete them from the Project Assets panel in the Expert view, and reimport them.  

    Custom Name-Number

    Enter a custom name in the Name field. For example, if you enter My Holiday in the field, the clips are named My Holiday-001, My Holiday-002, and so on.

  7. Click Get Media. You can click Cancel in the Progress dialog box at any time to stop the process.

Import media using Media Browser

Media Browser

The Media Browser is a convenient tool for adding files directly to your project from various sources. It streamlines the process, whether you are working with local files on your machine or accessing files from cloud storage services.

With Media Browser, you can: 

1. Add Files: To add files using the Media Browser, follow these steps: 

  • Select the Add Media button from the extreme top left panel. 

  • Select the Media Browser

  • You’ll now be able to browse and choose files from different locations. 

2. Supported Sources: The Media Browser supports the following sources: 

  • Local Machine: Browse files stored on your computer. 

  • Network Drives: Access files from network drives. 

3. Cloud Services:

  •     Google Drive 
  •     Dropbox 
  •     iCloud 
  •     OneDrive 
Note:

You can use these services only when you have these services desktop app installed in your system.

4. Preview Files: Before finalizing your selection, use the File Preview. Scrub over the file to see the preview. This allows you to view the contents of the files you are about to add, ensuring you select the correct file. 

Content applicable to previous versions of Adobe Premiere Elements

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