Transcription files are saved automatically on the computer where you created them, and they stay available after you close Premiere Assistant or restart Premiere. You don't need to transcribe again. To open a transcript on a different computer, see Moving your transcript to another computer below.
When you open [Trim], [Edit captions], or [Edit multi-cam] and click the transcribe button, Premiere Assistant checks whether a previous transcript exists for the sequence that is open in Premiere. If one does, a dialog appears: "There is a transcript you were working on."
Select [Open previous transcript] and click [Next] to reload your previous transcript. You can also click [Open] on the "Open transcript for this sequence?" banner at the top of the page.
Caution: Selecting [Transcribe again] and clicking [Next] will overwrite your previous transcript. This cannot be undone.
Also, if you edited your Premiere timeline after applying captions through Premiere Assistant, reopening the transcript may cause sync issues.
Moving your transcript to another computer
To move your transcript to another computer, export it on the original computer and import it on the new one. Your transcript is saved as Premiere Assistant data on the computer where you created it, not inside your Premiere project file. This means copying the project alone does not carry the transcript over, and it will not load automatically on the other computer.
Step 1. Export your transcript on the original computer
On the computer where you created the transcript, export it before you move to another machine.
Open Premiere Assistant, click [Menu] in the left panel, and then click [Settings].
Open [Backup].
Click [Export transcript data]. Premiere Assistant saves your transcript data in a
cutbackfolder inside the folder that holds your Premiere project file. When you move the project, copy this folder too and keep it in the same folder as the project file.
Step 2. Import your transcript on the new computer
On the new computer, import the data you exported to continue with the same transcript.
Open your Premiere project on the new computer.
Open Premiere Assistant, click [Menu] in the left panel, and then click [Settings].
Open [Backup].
Click [Import transcript data]. Premiere Assistant loads the transcript data from the
cutbackfolder next to your project file.
Tip: Export your transcript from [Backup] before switching computers or archiving a project. It is the only copy that travels with your files.
Note: [Export transcript data] under [Backup] is not the same as [Export Data] under [Report Error]. [Report Error] sends diagnostic logs to our team and does not save your transcript.
Troubleshooting
Unsaved or unexpected shutdown
If Premiere closed without saving, changes applied to your Premiere timeline since the last save may be lost. Edits in the Premiere Assistant transcript are saved automatically as you work, so you can open the transcript again and reapply them.
Check Premiere auto-saves
Premiere may have auto-saved versions of your project.
Try locating and opening one to recover your work.
Accidentally clicked Apply to sequence?
Use the [Time Machine] button at the top-left of the Premiere Assistant menu bar, choose the time you want to go back to, and click [Restore]. This resets your Premiere timeline to the state it was in before Premiere Assistant applied your edits. Your cuts stay in the transcript view, so you can adjust them and apply again. Any changes you made in the Premiere timeline after applying will no longer be available through Undo.
Caution: Once you use Time Machine, the Undo function will no longer be available to return to the state before the revert. However, you can recover previous versions of your timeline by accessing backup sequences in the Project panel.
Recovering previous versions of your timeline
Open the Project panel in Premiere.
Navigate to the
Cutback > backupsfolder, then open the folder for your sequence (each sequence gets its own folder).Locate the backup sequence that corresponds to the date and time you want to restore. Backup files are timestamped using a
YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-mmmformat (date, time, and milliseconds, e.g.,20260722-123045-120). The Project panel may cut off the end of the name.Open the desired backup sequence to restore your timeline to that state.
Tips for managing backups
Regularly check the
Cutback > backupsfolder to familiarize yourself with the available backup files.Use the timestamp format to quickly identify the most relevant backup for your needs.
Before making significant changes to your timeline, duplicate your sequence in Premiere so you have a restore point.
Premiere Assistant keeps the 15 most recent backups for each sequence and removes older ones automatically.
FAQs
Why are my captions missing after opening my project on another computer?
Your captions are missing because the transcript is saved as Premiere Assistant data on the computer where you created it, not inside your Premiere project file. Copying the project does not carry the transcript over. To move it, use [Backup] > [Export transcript data] on the original computer, copy the cutback folder along with your project file, then click [Import transcript data] on the new one. If you did not export it before moving, you will need to generate the captions again on the new computer.