DaVinci Resolve Media Offline: Causes and Fixes to Relink Your Footage
The red screen is scary, but your footage is almost always fine. What broke is the link between the project and the file.
By Hanna Eng·Video editor, Free Conservatory of French Cinema
Media offline means DaVinci Resolve can no longer find a clip's source file where it was imported from: the file was moved, renamed, deleted, or the drive is not connected. The footage is not lost, the link is broken. To fix it, right-click the offline clips in the Media Pool, choose Relink Selected Clips and point to the folder that holds the files: Resolve matches them by file name and timecode.
You open your project and the timeline is covered in red clips marked Media Offline. It is one of the most dreaded messages in DaVinci Resolve, and one of the easiest to fix, once you understand what it means. Resolve does not store your video inside the project: it keeps a link to each file on disk. When the link breaks, the clip goes offline, without the file being damaged. I edit in DaVinci Resolve: here are the causes, the exact commands from the official manual, and the habits that prevent the problem.
DaVinci Resolve media offline: symptom, cause, fix
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Every clip offline at once | External drive unplugged or renamed | Reconnect the drive, then Relink Media |
| A few clips offline | Files moved or renamed | Relink Selected Clips on the parent folder |
| Whole folder moved, same structure | File path changed | Change Source Folder |
| File present but still offline | Incomplete copy or unreadable codec | Recopy the file, or transcode it (ProRes, DNxHR) |
| Purple line on the timeline | Originals missing, proxies present | Relink the originals before export |
| Offline in a collaborative project | File still syncing | Wait for the download, relinking is automatic |
Source: DaVinci Resolve 21.1, official Blackmagic Design Reference Manual (September 2026).
What does media offline mean in DaVinci Resolve?
Resolve keeps track of the relationship between each clip in your project and its source file on disk. If that file is no longer available where it is expected, the clip shows as offline: a red frame in the viewer, flagged thumbnails in the Media Pool.
The project itself is intact: cuts, effects, grade, mix, all still there. Only the media is missing. As soon as Resolve finds the file again, the clip comes back with all its settings.
Why your clips go offline
In most cases the file has not disappeared, it has moved. The most common causes:
- The external drive holding the footage is not connected, or it changed name or drive letter.
- Files were moved, renamed or reorganized into a new folder after import.
- The project was opened on another machine where the paths are different.
- Clips were imported straight from a memory card that was later ejected.
- The file is there but incomplete (interrupted copy) or in a format the machine cannot read.
- In collaborative work, the file has not finished syncing: the manual notes it shows offline, then relinks on its own once downloaded.
Fix 1: Relink Media, the Media Pool icon
When Resolve cannot find media, the Relink Media icon in the Media Pool, on the Cut and Edit pages, turns orange. Clicking it opens a dialog listing the original volumes of the missing files: already useful, since it tells you which drive to look for.
The Locate button lets you point to the new location. If the quick search does not find files you know are there, the Disk Search button starts a deep search of the drive.
Fix 2: Relink Selected Clips, the most flexible
This is the method the manual describes as the most flexible. It finds files by name and timecode and ignores the old path, so it works even if your footage has been reorganized on disk.
- In the Media Pool, select the offline clips, or the bin that holds them.
- Right-click, then Relink Selected Clips (or Relink Clips for Selected Bin for a whole bin).
- Choose the folder where the files are and confirm.
- If some clips are still missing, Resolve offers a deep search of every subfolder: accept it, it is slower but thorough.
- If any are still missing, point to another folder or stop the search.
Fix 3: Change Source Folder, when only the path changed
If you moved a whole folder without changing its internal structure, for example from one drive to another, Change Source Folder is faster. Right-click the clips in the Media Pool, Change Source Folder: the window shows the old path, you set the new one with Browse, then Change.
The manual recommends this method on large shared storage, where a deep search through a complex folder tree can take a very long time.
The file is there, but the clip stays offline
If Resolve finds the file but will not play it, the link is no longer the issue: the file is. First compare its size with the original, since an interrupted copy produces a truncated file. Then test it in another player.
Footage from phones and some consumer cameras often causes trouble: unusual codecs, variable frame rate. The most reliable fix is to transcode that footage to an editing format, ProRes or DNxHR, before importing, rather than fighting it in the timeline.
Proxies: the purple line and export
If you edit with proxies, a purple line on the timeline means the original media is missing and Resolve is playing the proxies instead. With Disable All Proxies, those clips go straight to Media Offline.
At export, the Deliver page reverts to the original media by default for the best quality. If clips are offline, Resolve shows a Media Offline warning when you add the job to the Render Queue: do not ignore it, or you will export red frames.
Habits that prevent it
The best relink is the one you never need. It all happens at logging, before the first cut.
- Copy footage to a project drive before importing, never straight from the memory card.
- Check the copy (size, file count) before formatting the card.
- Set a folder structure at the start of the project and do not change it.
- To hand a project to someone else, export a DaVinci Resolve Archive (.dra), which carries the project and its media with their paths.
- Keep file names unique: Relink Selected Clips relies on name and timecode.
Frequently asked questions
How do I relink offline media in DaVinci Resolve?
Select the offline clips in the Media Pool, right-click, Relink Selected Clips, then choose the folder that holds the files. Resolve matches them by name and timecode and offers a deep search if needed.
Is my footage lost when it shows media offline?
Almost never. Resolve has only lost the path to the file. As long as the file exists somewhere, relinking it brings the clip back with all its cuts and settings.
Why can't I find the Relink option?
The relink commands live in the Media Pool's contextual menu, not in the timeline. Right-click a clip or a bin in the Media Pool.
What does the purple line on my timeline mean?
That the original media for those clips is missing and Resolve is playing the proxies instead. Relink the originals before export, or the final render will rely on low-quality files or fail.
The file is there but still offline. Why?
The file is probably incomplete or in a format Resolve cannot decode on your machine. Compare its size with the original, recopy it if needed, or transcode it to ProRes or DNxHR before re-importing.
How do I move a Resolve project without breaking links?
Export a DaVinci Resolve Archive (.dra): it carries the project and all its media, with their organization. Otherwise, move the footage folder as is and use Change Source Folder on arrival.