Video playback is choppy or lagging in the editor

The PublishFi editor decodes and previews video directly in your browser. When playback is choppy, stuttering, or dropping frames, it is almost always caused by the browser environment or system resource constraints — not a problem with your project. Here is how to diagnose and fix it.

Use Google Chrome

PublishFi's video preview is built around capabilities that Chromium-based browsers handle best. Using an up-to-date version of Google Chrome is strongly recommended for the smoothest editing experience. Other browsers may work, but you are more likely to encounter playback issues outside of Chrome.

Make sure you are running a recent version. Outdated browsers can miss performance improvements that matter for video playback.

Enable hardware acceleration in your browser

Hardware acceleration lets the browser offload video decoding to your computer's GPU rather than the CPU alone. If it has been disabled — intentionally or after a browser update — playback can become sluggish even on capable hardware.

To check and enable it in Chrome:

1. Open Chrome Settings (the three-dot menu in the top right).
2. Go to System.
3. Turn on Use hardware acceleration when available.
4. Click Relaunch to restart Chrome with the change applied.

Close other heavy browser tabs

Every open tab shares the same pool of memory and CPU resources. Tabs running video, complex web applications, or animations compete directly with the editor. Before editing, close any tabs you do not need — particularly streaming video or large web apps.

Understand what the preview is for

The in-editor preview is intentionally optimized for fast, interactive scrubbing and playback during the editing process. It is not a full-quality render of your final video. Some visual difference between the editor preview and the exported file is expected and normal. If your final export plays back smoothly, the choppy preview is not a quality problem — it is just the editor prioritizing responsiveness over rendering fidelity.

Check your system power settings

If you are on a laptop, your operating system may throttle the GPU when running on battery power to conserve energy. Switching to a plugged-in power source, or changing your power plan to a performance mode, can meaningfully improve playback smoothness.

If playback remains consistently poor after trying all of the above, contact PublishFi support and include your browser version and the approximate length of the clip you are working with.