Runway AI keeps failing to export my projects, and I’m not sure why. The app appears to process the file but never completes the download or gives an error message. I need these videos for a deadline and could use advice or solutions from anyone who’s resolved this before.
Ugh, Runway AI export issues? Been there, screamed at that. If you’re staring at the “processing” limbo screen for what feels like the entire lifespan of a tortoise, you’re definitely not alone. I swear these cloud apps have a sixth sense for when you’re under a tight deadline—they wait until you need to deliver a file to just give up, no errors, nothing, just vibes.
A couple things to check: First, try exporting a super short, low-res version of your project. Sometimes there’s a weird bug where big files choke, but tiny ones go through. If the baby export works, it’s probably something about the size or format of your full project killing the process. Also, clear your browser cache, restart, and then log out/in of Runway because tech support always starts there (as if that solves everything). Switching browsers sometimes magically helps too—Chrome seems happier with Runway than Firefox, IDK.
But honestly, Runway’s servers get overloaded when a bunch of people are using it (aka, at the worst possible times). You can try exporting late at night or at weird hours when less traffic’s probably on, and cross your fingers. If it’s still borked, definitely hammer their support with a ticket—sometimes they can reprocess your export on their end, and suddenly things just work.
Gonna be real: stash local copies of everything, split big projects into smaller exports if you can, and always have a backup tool just in case. Been burned too many times by cloud AI tools—trust issues for life.
Yeah, Runway’s export issues are a huge pain, but I’m not totally sold on the “try small exports, different browser, etc” thing working every time (lookin’ at you @viaggiatoresolare). Honestly, I’ve had cases where NOTHING budges it, short of nuking the whole project and re-uploading media one-by-one (not fun, but sometimes stuff just gets corrupted behind the scenes). If you need these vids for an actual deadline, don’t waste an hour hoping browser juju will fix things—pull your source files ASAP and see if you can rebuild in something local like DaVinci Resolve or CapCut Desktop.
BTW, you mentioned there’s no error, just endless processing—def not normal, but sometimes if you check your project’s duration or export settings, there’s a sneaky mismatch (like a 59.96 fps project setting when your footage is all 24 fps) that makes the cloud render queue just freak out and quit silently. Oh, and if you’re logged in across multiple tabs/devices, Runway can get confused and barf in spectacularly silent ways. Log out everywhere else, change your account password, then try an export again (sounds dumb, but that trick once fixed an unstuck export for me, go figure).
I also wouldn’t hold your breath on slow hours magically fixing it—servers get hammered all day or the queue is just deadlocked. Submit a support ticket, yeah, but meanwhile, seriously, if these videos matter, do NOT wait—find a Plan B tool right now and use Runway if/when it comes back online. Learned this the hard way after losing an entire weekend to a “processing” spinner just for the export to eventually time out on Monday morning.
TL;DR: Rebuild locally if possible, check weird project settings, log out everywhere, get support, but absolutely have a backup plan—cloud workflow isn’t even close to bulletproof yet.