- I’m so tired of this program, as soon as I’m done with my projects I’m moving to Davinci, fk capcut
- So I have a project that isn’t allowing me to move any videos around, if I do they automatically move to the overlay, and new videos I add stay in the overlay. I’ve put too much damn time into this project and idk what to do, I can’t even copy and paste it into a new project.
- capcut has no customer service. Their bot tells me useless shi like update the app even though I already have. Then they make us consult each other to troubleshoot their whack program? Wtf even is this
Hi,
This issue of videos locked in main track, new ones going to overlay only is a known CapCut timeline corruption or main track lock bug which happens when CapCut mistakenly treats your main video track as “filled” or “frozen.”
Try these below fixes that usually work, without losing your project:
1. Check if you accidentally switched to “Overlay Mode”
CapCut sometimes “focus locks” to the overlay track.
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click an empty area in your timeline (not a clip).
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Make sure the Main Track is selected (you should see its blue outline).
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Try dragging a clip again.
If everything still snaps to “Overlay,” go to the next step.
2. Try duplicating the project
If the timeline data is bugged, duplicating sometimes resets the internal track structure.
On PC:
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Go to Home > Projects.
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Hover your mouse over your project.
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Click the ⋯ (three dots) → Duplicate.
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Open the duplicate and try moving clips again.
On Mobile:
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From your project list, tap ⋯ next to the project.
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Choose Duplicate Project.
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Open the copy and check if it behaves normally.
3. Try moving everything to a new main track
Sometimes the first main track becomes “locked” internally.
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Create a new project.
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Go to the old project, export just the timeline (not as a video, but as a template if available) — or:
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Select all clips (Ctrl+A on PC, or long-press one clip → “Select all”)
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Then Copy → open new project → Paste.
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If paste doesn’t work: that’s because of a known clipboard limitation when the project’s track is broken. In that case, skip to next step 4.
4. Use “Extract Video” workaround
If copy/paste fails, you can still recover the sequence manually:
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Export the project in its current state (even if you can’t move clips).
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Start a new project.
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Add the exported video and use “Split” + “Keyframes” to rebuild flexibility.
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If you have a backup draft (CapCut auto-saves them), restore it:
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Go to CapCut folder → drafts → [project name] → open older version.
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5. Clear CapCut’s cache
Sometimes the file index breaks, making the app think your main track is locked.
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On PC:
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Go to Settings → Cache → Clear cache, then restart CapCut.
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On iPhone:
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Go to Settings → CapCut → Clear Cache, then reopen the app.
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Open your project again — you might find it’s unlocked.
6. If nothing works
If none of the above helps:
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Export your current timeline as a draft backup (CapCut → Manage Projects → Export project file).
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Then uninstall and reinstall CapCut (don’t worry drafts are cloud-synced if you are logged in).
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Reimport the saved draft.
This resets the track system, and your videos should return to the main track properly.
Don’t delete the project unless you have exported or backed it up.
Don’t drag clips too fast while testing as CapCut can revert changes during bugged states.
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