Hi,

You seem to encounter this persistent lag despite updating CapCut and having your PC checked. The message you are seeing from CapCut is a strong indicator that CapCut itself is detecting a potential bottleneck when exporting directly to an external hard drive.

Here is a breakdown of why this might be happening and what you can try:

Why CapCut Might Recommend Exporting to the Internal Drive First:

• Data Transfer Speed: External hard drives, especially older or less performant models (like traditional HDDs), often have slower data transfer speeds compared to your internal drive (especially if it's an SSD). During video export, a large amount of data is written to the destination drive. If the external drive is slow, it can significantly slow down the entire export process, causing CapCut to appear to lag or freeze.
• Resource Management: Video editing and exporting are resource-intensive tasks. CapCut is designed to utilize the internal drive as a primary location for temporary files and efficient data handling during the export process. Exporting directly to an external drive might introduce an extra layer of data transfer that can strain system resources.
• Potential for Connection Issues: While less common, the connection between your PC and the external hard drive (e.g., USB cable, port) could sometimes introduce latency or instability, further contributing to lag.

Troubleshooting Steps You Can Try (Beyond What You have Already Done):

1. Check the Type and Speed of Your External Hard Drive:

   • Is it an HDD or SSD? Solid State Drives (SSDs) are significantly faster than traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). If your external drive is an HDD, this is the most likely culprit. Consider using an external SSD for faster export speeds.
   • What is the connection type? Ensure you are using the fastest connection available on both your PC and the external drive (e.g., USB 3.0 or higher). Check the cables as well.

2. Export to the Internal Drive First, Then Transfer: While not ideal for convenience, try exporting your video to your internal hard drive as CapCut recommends. Once the export is complete, manually copy the video file to your external hard drive. This will help you determine if the lag is specifically during the export process to the external drive or if there's an issue with general file transfer.

3. Monitor System Resources During Export:

   • Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) during the export process to your external drive.
   • Monitor the CPU, Memory, and Disk usage. Pay close attention to the disk activity related to your external hard drive. High disk usage and a long queue length could indicate a bottleneck.

4. Close Unnecessary Applications: Ensure you have closed all other unnecessary applications running in the background while exporting. This will free up system resources for CapCut.

5. Check for External Hard Drive Health: Use built-in Windows tools or third-party software to check the health of your external hard drive. If there are errors or bad sectors, it could be causing performance issues.

6. Consider the Size and Complexity of Your Project: Very large or complex video projects with many effects and edits will naturally take longer to export and might be more susceptible to lag, especially on slower external drives.

7. CapCut Settings: While you have updated CapCut, you could double-check your export settings within CapCut. Ensure you are using reasonable settings for your needs (e.g., resolution, bitrate). Very high settings will require more processing power and faster storage.

   • Disable Hardware Encoding: Some users have found that disabling hardware encoding can resolve export issues. To do this, close your project, go to CapCut's home page, click on Settings, select the Performance tab, uncheck "Speed up hardware encoding," and save the changes. ​

   • Adjust Export Settings: Exporting videos at very high resolutions or frame rates can be demanding. Consider lowering the resolution (e.g., to 1080p) or frame rate (e.g., to 30 FPS) to see if this improves export performance.
     
8. Free Up Storage Space: Ensure your computer has sufficient free space on the internal drive where CapCut is installed. Low disk space can hinder performance. Deleting unnecessary files or applications can help free up space.

In summary, the message from CapCut is a strong indication that there is a potential performance issue with writing directly to your external hard drive during the export process. The most likely cause is the speed limitations of the external drive itself.

While it's understandable that you want to export directly to your external drive for organizational purposes, following CapCut's recommendation to export to the internal drive first and then transferring might be the most efficient way to avoid lag, especially if your external drive is not an SSD.

If you can provide more details about the type and connection of your external hard drive, we might be able to offer more specific advice.

For a video guide on using an external hard drive with CapCut for smooth video editing, you might find the following resource helpful: