Media management is about knowing where your media lives, keeping clips connected to their files, and cleaning up safely. Lightworks separates your project (clips, bins, sequences, and edit decisions) from the media files those clips point to, so understanding the link between them is the key to avoiding offline clips and lost work.
Lightworks keeps imported and generated media in a managed media area, separate from the project data. The default locations are:
| Platform | Project and media root |
|---|---|
| Windows (Fresh v2026 installs) | C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Documents\Lightworks\ |
| Windows (Upgrades from previous version) | C:\Users\Public\Documents\Lightworks\ |
| macOS | /Users/$USER/Lightworks/ |
| Linux | /home/$USER/Lightworks/ |
Inside the media area, Lightworks stores picture and audio separately - video in a Material folder and audio in a Sound folder - along with generated proxies. You can add more media locations on the Media tab of the project card, and choose which drive receives copied media when several are configured.
Note: v2026 changed where fresh installs store data on Windows. New Windows systems use your user Documents folder rather than Public Documents for data.
Note: Linked media is the exception - it stays wherever the original file is. Only copied, converted, and generated media lives in the Lightworks media area.
How a clip relates to its file depends on how it was imported (see Importing media):
This distinction matters most when you move, delete, or archive: Lightworks manages its own media, but it can only reference linked media.
A clip goes offline when Lightworks cannot find its media file - usually because a linked file was moved or renamed, or its drive was disconnected. Offline clips still hold all their edit information; they just have no picture or sound until the media is reconnected.
To bring media back online:
Tip: Edit decisions are never lost when media goes offline. You can keep cutting against offline clips and relink later - the sequence stays intact.
The Relink tool repoints clips at media that has moved, been renamed, or been replaced with a different format or resolution, while keeping all your edit decisions.
Relink strategies include:
Because relinking can target different codecs or resolutions, you can relink an offline-media sequence to high-resolution masters, or swap proxy files for originals, without re-editing.
Tip: Relinking to a different resolution or format is how you move from offline or proxy media to full-quality masters for finishing.
The Conform tool automatically replaces the clips in a finished sequence with alternative versions of the same material, while leaving every edit, trim, effect, and transition exactly where it is. Where relinking repoints individual clips at their media files, conforming works across a whole sequence (or a marked region of it), swapping each segment for a better - or simply different - version drawn from elsewhere in your project.
Conforming is the standard "online" or finishing step that turns an offline edit into a final-quality one. Reach for it when you want to:
Tip: Conform a copy first. Set Result to Create New Version so your original cut is untouched while you confirm the replacement did what you expected.
The panel is organised into four sections:
Scope - how much of the sequence to conform.
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Whole Sequence | Conform every segment in the sequence |
| Marked Region | Conform only the section between the sequence's in and out marks |
Source - where replacement clips come from.
Matching - how Lightworks decides what counts as "the same" material, and which version to choose.
Output - what to do with the result.
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Update Current Sequence | Replace the media in place, in the sequence you started from |
| Create New Version | Leave the original untouched and produce a new, conformed copy (named Conformed) |
Note: Conforming never alters your edit - only the media behind each segment changes. If no suitable replacement is found for a segment, that segment is left as it was and reported in the Conform Results list.
Consolidating gathers the media a project actually uses into one managed place, so the project is self-contained and easy to move or back up. In Lightworks you consolidate by:
There are three different "delete" actions, and they are not the same thing:
| Action | What it removes |
|---|---|
| Remove from bin | Takes the clip out of that bin only; the clip and its media remain |
| Remove log from project | Deletes the clip (the log) from the project; linked media files are untouched |
| Delete media files | Permanently deletes the underlying media from disk |
When you delete a project, Lightworks removes local media (copied, converted, and generated) for clips in that project unless it is shared with another project. Linked media is never deleted - only the link is removed.
Danger: Deleting media files is permanent and cannot be undone from within Lightworks. Make sure the media is not used by another sequence or project, and that you have a backup, before deleting.
The safe way to move a project to another machine is to archive it (optionally including media), copy the archive across, and restore it on the other system. This keeps clips, bins, sequences, and edit decisions intact. See Archiving and restoring work.
If you only move media (not the project), expect to relink on the destination system.
For teams and multi-machine workflows:
Collaboration and shared-project specifics are covered in Collaboration and shared projects.