Premiere Pro · How to
How to see how much time you spent on a Premiere Pro project
Short answer: you can't, not from inside Premiere. It doesn't keep a record of time spent.
There's no project timer, no stats panel and no setting for it. People have been asking Adobe for one in the Premiere Pro community for years. Until that ships, here are the options, from free and rough to automatic.
1. Look at the auto-save files
Premiere saves backup copies of your project to an Auto-Save folder next to the project file while you work. Each copy is stamped with the time it was saved. Check Preferences, then Auto Save, to see your interval and how many versions Premiere keeps.
Count the copies from a session and multiply by the interval for a rough estimate. Older copies get deleted once you hit the version limit, so this only works for recent sessions.
2. Check the file dates
In Finder or File Explorer, the project's created and modified dates show when the project started and when you last saved it. That tells you the span of the job, not how many hours went into it.
3. Run a timer
A stopwatch or a timer app works if you remember to start and stop it every time. Most editors don't. You drop into a cut, look up three hours later, and the timer never ran.
4. Use an automatic tracker
An automatic tracker watches which project is open and logs the time for you. This is the only option that gives you a number per project without a habit change.
Cut Time reads the open .prproj file on Mac and Windows, with no plugin or extension. It counts active time, when Premiere is in front and you're working, separately from time the app just sat open. It's free for individual editors. On a Mac, Timing can also read Premiere project names and tracks the rest of your apps too.
For reference
The median completed Premiere Pro project tracked in Cut Time this year took 2.1 hours of hands-on editing. See the full editing-time data.
Questions
Does Premiere Pro track how long you work on a project?
No. Premiere Pro has no setting or panel that shows total time spent on a project. Users have asked Adobe for one in the Premiere Pro community for years.
Can I tell from the project file how long I worked?
Only roughly. The created and modified dates show when you started and last saved, not how many hours you spent. Auto-save copies give a rough idea for recent sessions.
What is the easiest way to track time in Premiere Pro?
An automatic tracker that reads which project is open. Cut Time does this on Mac and Windows with no plugin, and logs active editing time per project for free.
Track every Premiere project
Install Cut Time, open Premiere, keep editing. Your hours show up per project.
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