Fix it

CaptionX can't reach our servers

Something on your PC or your network is blocking the connection. Start with the quick check below — it takes thirty seconds and tells you which fix you need.

Step 1 — Is it your whole PC, or just Premiere?

Thirty seconds here saves you running a command that can't help. Open this link in any browser on the same PC:

https://whisper-transcription-server.onrender.com/healthz

It shows a short line of text like {"status":"ok"} — your PC can reach us, so only Premiere is blocked. That's the common case, and step 2 fixes it.
It hangs, times out, or shows an error — the block covers your whole PC, so the command in step 2 won't help. Skip to step 3.

Step 2 — Only Premiere is blocked

A firewall rule is blocking Premiere's extension engine. This command removes it:

Get-NetFirewallApplicationFilter | Where-Object { $_.Program -like "*Adobe Premiere Pro*\CEPHtmlEngine\CEPHtmlEngine.exe" } | ForEach-Object { Get-NetFirewallRule -AssociatedNetFirewallApplicationFilter $_ } | Where-Object { $_.Action -eq "Block" } | Remove-NetFirewallRule

Open the Windows Start menu and type PowerShell.
Right-click Windows PowerShell in the results and choose Run as Administrator.
Paste the command above and press Enter.
Fully quit Premiere Pro, reopen it, and sign in to CaptionX again.

Heads up: these firewall rules were added to your computer by something — antivirus, a script, your IT department, or you. We don't know what. Running this command removes them so CaptionX (and every other Premiere extension) can reach the internet again. You decide if that's the right call for your setup.

No admin rights?

On a work or school PC you probably can't run this. Send your IT team this page — the command removes a rule blocking CEPHtmlEngine.exe, which is part of Premiere Pro, from reaching the internet.

Ran it and still stuck?

The block is probably coming from a third-party antivirus (Bitdefender, ESET, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, McAfee) rather than the Windows firewall. Open its settings, find Application rules or Firewall exceptions, and remove or allow CEPHtmlEngine.exe. It lives in your Premiere install folder.

Using a cracked or non-official copy of Premiere? The firewall block is often part of how that copy was set up to run, and the command above can't undo it. The cleanest way to get CaptionX working is to use an official Premiere install — Adobe offers a 7-day free trial, and CaptionX works out of the box on a legitimate copy.

Step 3 — Your whole PC is blocked

If the link in step 1 didn't load, the block isn't specific to Premiere and the command above won't change anything. Connect the PC to your phone's hotspot and open the link again — that splits the two remaining causes apart.

It works on the hotspot → it's your network

Your office network, router, VPN, or DNS filter is blocking the address. Send whoever runs it these hostnames to allow:

whisper-transcription-server.onrender.com
caption-x.com
securetoken.googleapis.com

It fails on the hotspot too → it's software on the PC

Something installed is filtering all outgoing traffic, not just Premiere's. Check your antivirus (Bitdefender, ESET, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, McAfee), any work security agent (Zscaler, Netskope, Cisco Umbrella, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Sophos), a VPN, or a DNS filter — and allow the hostnames above in whichever one you have.

Still stuck?

Email support@caption-x.com and we'll work out what's in the way with you. Tell us what the link in step 1 did — loaded, timed out, or showed an error — and what happened if you ran the command. That usually identifies it.