How to Export a Video from Descript

Most “export from Descript” posts bury the only decision that matters. You either leave with a file you control, or you leave with a link someone else has to open. Official help calls the file Local export. Official help calls the link Descript (web link). This guide is that working path — composition, Export, format, download — using the one editor we send for this brief: Descript.

When a file-out pass is the job — and when you should keep editing

Use this pass when the take on screen is the take you would upload. A talking-head YouTube cut, a video podcast, an interview you already radio-edited: open that composition, write an MP4, play the file outside the app. Local export is the published handle. Current composition is the published default. MP4 is the published video file.

Skip this pass if the remaining job is still a ramble. Highlight and delete first — How to cut on the transcript in Descript is an ordinary guide link, not a second money hop. Skip both if the remaining problem is type on the picture: How to add captions in Descript. Ums are How to remove filler words in Descript. A fridge is How to use Studio Sound in Descript. Those pages hop to Descript too. This one already will.

Skip this page if what you actually want is the full radio-edit desk — composition vs sequence, Studio Sound, filler review, then a YouTube or RSS leave. That working path is How to edit a podcast in Descript. We name it so you do not run two pages as one. Stay here when the job is Export, Local export, download.

The seven-step Descript export

1. 01

   Open the finished composition — the cut you will actually publish, not a second import

   This pass starts after the edit is already in the project. Open the composition that holds the talking-head, podcast video, or interview you would upload. Do not start a new binder and re-import the same hour “just to practice export.” Media minutes already counted when the file landed. If the remaining job is still a ramble, an um list, a fridge, or type on the picture, stop and finish that pass first — export will faithfully write whatever is on the timeline now.

2. 02

   Confirm it is a video composition if you want an MP4 — audio-only will not grow a Video tab

   Official export overview: if you are only seeing audio export options, you are in an audio-only composition. A WAV/MP3 radio cut will not invent a picture. Stay on the composition that has the picture you recorded or laid in. Play the last thirty seconds in the editor. If the script still has a tangent you meant to delete, that is a transcript cut, not an export setting. This page starts when the take on screen is the take you want in the file.

3. 03

   Open Export in the upper-right — that is the published control, not a Share hop we are inventing

   Official Export and publishing overview, local-video help, and audio-export help all open from Export in the top-right of the editor. Older Descript blog copy sometimes says Share, then Export. If your build still labels the corner control Share, open it and look for Export — we describe that action. We are not inventing a second “Download master” button. Do not hunt a File menu that public help does not name for this job.

4. 04

   Pick Local export and the Video tab — that is the MP4. A web link is a different product

   Official local-video path: click Export, select the Video tab, choose Local export as the destination. That writes an MP4 to your computer. Official overview: Destination also offers publishing destinations (YouTube and other integrated hosts) and Descript (web link) — a share.descript.com page viewers can open without a Descript account. A share page is useful for a review link. It is not the file you hand YouTube Studio or an editor who asked for a master. If the remaining job is audio only, switch to the Audio tab; published local formats there are .m4a, .wav, and .mp3.

5. 05

   Set what leaves, then resolution and quality — Current composition is the default

   Official local-video settings: Current composition exports the selected composition (default). Current selection exports only the selected text range. Current scene, Scenes, Markers, Line breaks, and All compositions split or batch the project into more than one file. Leave Current composition unless you meant a clip. Published resolutions are 480p, 720p, 1080p, and 4K — Free plan users are limited to 720p, and the list is also limited by your plan, aspect ratio, and video settings. Quality is Low, Medium, or High. GIF is a Format option under Local export → Video, not a separate tab. We write to those published names. We do not invent a “YouTube preset” or a 1440p button public help does not list.

6. 06

   Click Export — or the download icon — then save the file where you can find it

   Official podcast-export copy: click Export at the bottom of the export window, or click the download icon to start the export and download in one step. The file picker is your computer’s. Remember the folder. Official local-video copy: the video is saved as an MP4. Do not close the project and assume the share page is the download. If local export fails, official troubleshooting points at a Descript web-link export you can then download from the share page — that is a fallback, not the first move when the desk is healthy.

7. 07

   Play the file that left the app — then sit on a paid plan before that file is the subscriber master

   Open the MP4 outside Descript. Watch the first ten seconds and the last ten. Confirm the picture is the composition you meant, the captions layer is on or off on purpose, and a Free-drive watermark is not sitting in the bottom-right of a feed you already monetize. Official watermark help: Free-drive video exports include a Descript watermark; upgrading to a paid Hobbyist, Creator, or Business plan removes it from future exports — existing files must be exported again. Confirm checkout on descript.com/pricing. We do not print a commission rate. This page already hopped to Descript.

Local file vs web link vs a host destination

“Export a video from Descript” is a search. The decision is what leftover you want in your hand. The columns match published Local export, Descript (web link), and Destination publishing help as of August 2026. We are not inventing a fourth product named Master Download — that is Local export on the Video tab.

Open the composition that is already the show

Official getting-started copy still gives you two starts: record in Descript, or import an existing file. This page assumes that already happened. Open the composition you would actually publish. Do not re-import an hour you already cut “so export has a clean project.” Media minutes counted on the way in.

Then look at the picture. Official export overview is blunt: an audio-only composition will not show video export options. If you radio-edited a podcast as audio and later laid a camera ISO on a different composition, export from the one that has the frame you want. If the remaining job on that frame is still a tangent, stop and use How to cut on the transcript in Descript. If the remaining job is a Captions layer, that is How to add captions in Descript. Those are ordinary site paths. This page already hops to Descript.

Play the last thirty seconds in the editor before you touch Export. A leftover um, a fridge, a misspelled guest name on a burned-in card: those will be in the MP4. Export does not fix them.

Find Export — then pick the file, not the link

Official Export and publishing overview: you export by selecting Export in the top-right corner of the main editor. Local-video help and audio-export help use the same corner. That is the published control. A 2026 Descript blog post on formats still walks Share, then Export, on some builds. If the button in your corner says Share, open it and look for Export. We describe that action. We are not inventing a third toolbar named Download.

Official local-video path is the daily file-out. Select the Video tab. Choose Local export as the destination. Adjust settings. Click Export. The video is saved to your computer as an MP4. Official podcast-export copy also names the download icon in that same window — start the export and download in one step. Remember the folder the picker offered. “It exported” is not the same as “I can find the file.”

Official overview is also explicit about the other leftover. Destination can publish the composition online — YouTube and other integrated hosts they list — or Descript (web link), a standalone page on share.descript.com. Viewers do not need a Descript account. That is a review link. It is not the file you drag into YouTube Studio. Official web-link help: use Local export when you want the current composition on your device without updating the share page. We write to that split. We do not hop to YouTube from this page.

Pick the range, the resolution, then play the file

Official local-video settings start with what leaves. Current composition is the default — the whole selected composition. Current selection writes only the highlighted text range. Current scene writes the active scene. Scenes, Markers, and Line breaks split the project into one file per unit. All compositions batch-exports the project. Leave the default unless you meant a clip. We are not inventing an in/out on a ruler that public help does not name.

Resolution is the next published list: 480p, 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Official footnote: Free plan users are limited to 720p, and those resolutions are also restricted by your plan, aspect ratio, and video settings. Quality is Low, Medium, or High. Official copy used to keep GIF on its own tab; it now sits as a Format option under Local export → Video. If you came for a looping still, that is the handle. If you came for a YouTube master, stay on MP4.

Audio is a different tab, not a different product. Official Export an audio file: click Export, select the Audio tab, set Destination to Local export for the advanced list. Published formats are .m4a, .wav, and .mp3. Official metadata note: .wav does not carry artwork or chapter markers. Descript does not mint your RSS URL. Upload the enclosure to the host that already serves the feed. We do not invent a host hop.

Then leave the app and play the file. Watch the open and the close. Official watermark help: exports from a Free drive include a Descript watermark in the bottom-right. Upgrading to a paid Hobbyist, Creator, or Business plan removes it from future exports. Existing files must be exported again after you upgrade. Do not publish a watermarked 720p Free export to a feed you already monetize. Sit on a paid plan before the file is the one subscribers get. Confirm checkout on descript.com/pricing. We do not print a commission rate.

If local export fails, official web-link troubleshooting is the published fallback: export to Descript (web link), then download from the share page — or export locally, re-import that file, and retry the link. We describe those actions. We do not invent a “repair codec” button.

When the next job is a cut, captions, ums, or the room

Stay here when the remaining problem is getting a file off the desk. Hand the composition back to the word-level cut when a tangent is still in the script: How to cut on the transcript in Descript. Hand it to the caption pass when the remaining job is type on the picture: How to add captions in Descript. Hand it to the um pass when the remaining problem is fillers: How to remove filler words in Descript. Hand it to the room pass when the remaining problem is a fridge: How to use Studio Sound in Descript. None of those are Try buttons on this page. The only hop here is Descript.

Dead air, a misspoken line, and who is speaking remain ordinary site paths — How to remove silence in Descript, How to overdub a line in Descript, and How to split speakers in Descript. Finding 5–15 verticals in a finished episode is a clipper job — start at Descript vs Klap if you have not picked that stack yet. Klap stays a foil here, not a hop.

We do not print an affiliate commission rate, and we do not invent a “this will earn you $X” line. The product question is whether the file that left the app is the composition you meant — and whether you picked a local MP4, a share link, or a host destination on purpose.