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Sep 14, 2026
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Apple ProRes RAW for Windows is Apple's free decoder plug-in that lets Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and Media Encoder open and play ProRes RAW and ProRes RAW HQ footage on Windows, with no window of its own and nothing to export.
Windows cannot open ProRes RAW footage on its own, and this small decoder from Apple is what changes that.
It adds no window and no icon, it simply teaches supported editing apps to read the format.
Get Apple ProRes RAW 1.3 for Windows - free, under a megabyte, 64-bit only.
What This Actually Installs
ProRes RAW is the format a camera writes when it records raw sensor data in an Apple wrapper. It keeps far more colour and exposure latitude than a finished file, which is why colourists like it and why it needs a decoder most systems do not have.
Apple's installer puts that decoder on your PC and nothing else. There is no application to launch afterwards, so if you go looking for one in the Start menu you will not find it, and that is not a failed install.
It handles both ProRes RAW and the larger ProRes RAW HQ variant. It reads them only - no software on any platform exports ProRes RAW, because it is a capture format rather than a delivery one.
Which Apps It Works With
Apple lists four supported applications, all of them Adobe. One of the four is about to stop existing.
| Application | What it does with ProRes RAW | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Import, playback and grading on the timeline, with Exposure and Colour Space controls in the clip settings. | Current |
| Adobe After Effects | Import and playback for compositing and effects work, with the same two RAW controls. | Current |
| Adobe Media Encoder | Reads ProRes RAW as a source so you can batch transcode it to a delivery format. | Current |
| Adobe Premiere Rush | Import and playback in the cut-down mobile-style editor. | Retiring 30 September 2026 |
Premiere Rush is going away. Adobe stopped selling it on 30 September 2025 and ends support on 30 September 2026, after which it leaves the Creative Cloud desktop app and may stop working. Do not start a ProRes RAW workflow around it - our news piece on Adobe retiring Premiere Rush covers what to move to instead.
Worth knowing before you file a support ticket: the decoder is Apple's, not Adobe's. Adobe's own documentation says it is neither licensed nor supported by them, so when something breaks, each company points at the other.
You May Not Need This At All
The page you are on is the right answer for Adobe users. For everyone else, two routes now read ProRes RAW without it.
DaVinci Resolve has decoded ProRes RAW natively since version 20.2 in September 2025, on Windows as well as Mac, and in the free edition rather than Studio only. If Resolve is your editor, install nothing - it already opens the files.
FFmpeg gained a ProRes RAW decoder in version 8.0, so any current build will transcode the footage to something every program can read. That is the route for scripted and batch work, and Shutter Encoder puts the same engine behind a normal window if you would rather not type commands.
ProRes RAW Is Not the Same as ProRes
This trips up more people than anything else on this page, and the names are entirely to blame. They are different formats with different jobs.
- ProRes RAW is raw sensor data, recorded by the camera, meant to be graded. That is what this download reads.
- ProRes - the 422 and 4444 family - is an edited, finished video format that most editors and players already handle. This download does nothing for it.
If your file is plain ProRes and will not play, you want a player that decodes it rather than this plug-in. VLC plays ProRes out of the box, and LAV Filters brings it to the DirectShow players on your system.
Making ProRes on Windows, rather than reading it, has also stopped being a Mac-only job. Recent DaVinci Resolve releases encode ProRes on Windows directly.
HandBrake and XMedia Recode write it too, and both are simpler if converting is all you need.
Not sure which one you have? MediaInfo opens the file and names the exact codec in a couple of seconds, without changing anything.
Requirements, and the Age of This Release
Version 1.3 is dated March 2024 and Apple has not touched it since. It still works, but it is worth knowing you are installing something that has sat still for a while.
- Windows 10, 64-bit. That is Apple's stated requirement - there is no 32-bit build, and Windows 11 is not named even though people report it running there.
- A current graphics card and current drivers. Adobe asks for an NVIDIA, AMD or Intel GPU with up-to-date drivers, and recommends 4GB or more of video memory on NVIDIA and AMD cards.
- Around 840KB to download. One installer, no components to choose.
To check which version you already have, open Settings, then Apps, and search for ProRes RAW for Windows. Reinstalling over the top is safe if you are unsure.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
The tell is what you expect to happen after installing. If you were looking for something to open and play a clip in, this is not that, and it never will be - it has no interface at all.
It also does nothing for a file that is not ProRes RAW. If a clip will not open and you are not sure what is inside it, our codec checker and the codec troubleshooter narrow it down before you install anything.
Other decoders sit in our video codecs section.
Quick questions
Is Apple ProRes RAW for Windows free?
Yes. Apple provides it at no cost, with no account, no trial and no paid tier.
Why is there no program to open after installing?
Because there is not one. This installs a decoder that other applications use, so the only way to see it working is to open a ProRes RAW clip in a supported editor.
Can I export ProRes RAW with it?
No, and no other software does either. ProRes RAW is a camera capture format; once you have graded the footage you render out to ProRes, H.264 or whatever your delivery needs.
Does DaVinci Resolve need this?
Not since Resolve 20.2, released in September 2025, which decodes ProRes RAW natively on Windows in both the free and Studio editions.
Will it let me play ProRes files?
No. ProRes and ProRes RAW are different formats despite the names. For ordinary ProRes, VLC plays it already and LAV Filters adds it to other Windows players.
Does it work on Windows 11?
Apple only lists Windows 10 64-bit, and version 1.3 dates from March 2024. Many people report it running on Windows 11, but it is not something Apple commits to.
Download Apple ProRes RAW 1.3 for Windows and see how it handles your footage, or tell us how you got on - this page has no reviews yet.
