Premiere Pro proxies not working? The common fixes

Create Proxies is greyed out or missing

You right-click a clip, open Proxy, and Create Proxies is greyed out or not there. The usual cause is Media Encoder. Premiere hands proxy encoding to Adobe Media Encoder, so it has to be installed from the same Creative Cloud account. The option also greys out when the clip you selected is already a proxy, or when its format is one Premiere cannot build a proxy from. Select the full resolution originals in the Project panel, confirm Media Encoder is installed, and the menu comes back.

1. In the Project panel, right-click the original clips and choose Proxy, then Create Proxies.
2. Pick a preset, or add your own, then let Media Encoder render in the background.
3. If the option stays greyed, install Adobe Media Encoder and reopen the project.

The Toggle Proxies button is struck through

A struck-through Toggle Proxies button means Premiere cannot find the proxy files it was told about, so the link is broken, often because the proxies moved to another drive or folder. If the button is missing entirely, add it: open the Button Editor at the bottom right of the Program Monitor and drag Toggle Proxies onto the bar. Once the proxies are linked again, the button lights up and you can switch between proxy and full resolution.

The proxy will not attach

If you made proxies elsewhere, you attach them with Proxy, then Attach Proxies in the Project panel. Premiere matches a proxy to its original by file name, and the names have to line up, so a renamed or differently numbered proxy will not attach. Point it at the right folder and keep the base names identical to the originals. Some recent builds have had a bug where Attach Proxies links only one clip at a time; if that hits you, check your version notes and update, since Adobe has been fixing it.

The export comes out in low quality

This is the one that surprises people. By default, Premiere exports from the full resolution originals even while you edit on proxies. The export only uses proxies if you tick the Use Proxies box in the Export settings. So a soft, low quality export almost always means that box got checked. The Toggle Proxies button in the timeline is about playback only and does not change the export; the Export checkbox is separate.

Why so much of this breaks

A proxy is a chain with several links: encode the light file, store it somewhere, keep it linked to the original, toggle it for playback, and leave it out at export. Break any one link and it shows up as a greyed menu, a struck-through button, a refusal to attach, or a soft export. Most proxy trouble in Premiere is one of those links coming loose, usually because files moved.

Where Sanbila fits

Sanbila is desktop software with cloud storage built for editing, and its Premiere Pro panel, validated by Adobe, is built around this exact pain. It generates proxies on the Sanbila cloud rather than on your machine, then attaches a proxy to each clip with Premiere native proxy feature, so there is nothing to attach or relink by hand. You edit with Toggle Proxies on, and at export you leave Use Proxies unchecked and Premiere renders from the full resolution originals. If you cut in DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut or Avid, Smart Relink switches the clips used in your timeline to the originals.