diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx b/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx
index 7bc75733..113cff3d 100644
--- a/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ const PhSettings = (props: { className?: string; weight?: "fill" | "regular" })
 import { extensionHost } from "@/lib/extensions";
 import { resolveAutoCaptionSourcePath } from "./autoCaptionSource";
 import { CropControl } from "./CropControl";
+import { resolveExportSourcePath } from "./exportSourcePath";
 import { ExportSettingsMenu } from "./ExportSettingsMenu";
 import ExtensionManager from "./ExtensionManager";
 import { loadEditorPreferences, saveEditorPreferences } from "./editorPreferences";
@@ -3657,7 +3658,12 @@ export default function VideoEditor() {
 
 	const handleExport = useCallback(
 		async (settings: ExportSettings) => {
-			if (!videoPath) {
+			const exportVideoSource = resolveExportSourcePath({
+				videoSourcePath,
+				videoPath,
+			});
+
+			if (!exportVideoSource) {
 				toast.error("No video loaded");
 				return;
 			}
@@ -3732,7 +3738,7 @@ export default function VideoEditor() {
 				if (settings.format === "gif" && settings.gifConfig) {
 					// GIF Export
 					const gifExporter = new GifExporter({
-						videoUrl: videoPath,
+						videoUrl: exportVideoSource,
 						width: settings.gifConfig.width,
 						height: settings.gifConfig.height,
 						frameRate: settings.gifConfig.frameRate,
@@ -3896,7 +3902,7 @@ export default function VideoEditor() {
 					);
 
 					const exporterConfig = {
-						videoUrl: videoPath,
+						videoUrl: exportVideoSource,
 						width: exportWidth,
 						height: exportHeight,
 						frameRate: selectedMp4FrameRate,
@@ -4118,6 +4124,7 @@ export default function VideoEditor() {
 		[
 			clearPendingExportSave,
 			videoPath,
+			videoSourcePath,
 			wallpaper,
 			trimRegions,
 			shadowIntensity,
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/exportSourcePath.test.ts b/src/components/video-editor/exportSourcePath.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a6477901
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/exportSourcePath.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { resolveExportSourcePath } from "./exportSourcePath";
+
+describe("resolveExportSourcePath", () => {
+	it("prefers the loaded local source path over a preview media-server URL", () => {
+		expect(
+			resolveExportSourcePath({
+				videoSourcePath: "C:\\Users\\Admin\\Videos\\recording.mp4",
+				videoPath:
+					"http://127.0.0.1:42637/video?path=C%3A%5CUsers%5CAdmin%5CVideos%5Crecording.mp4",
+			}),
+		).toBe("C:\\Users\\Admin\\Videos\\recording.mp4");
+	});
+
+	it("falls back to a decoded local file path when only a file URL is available", () => {
+		expect(
+			resolveExportSourcePath({
+				videoPath: "file:///Users/test/Videos/capture.mp4",
+			}),
+		).toBe("/Users/test/Videos/capture.mp4");
+	});
+
+	it("leaves a non-file URL untouched when no local source path is known", () => {
+		expect(
+			resolveExportSourcePath({
+				videoPath: "http://127.0.0.1:42637/video?path=%2Ftmp%2Fcapture.mp4",
+			}),
+		).toBe("http://127.0.0.1:42637/video?path=%2Ftmp%2Fcapture.mp4");
+	});
+
+	it("returns null when no export source is available", () => {
+		expect(resolveExportSourcePath({})).toBeNull();
+	});
+});
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/exportSourcePath.ts b/src/components/video-editor/exportSourcePath.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0e67c092
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/exportSourcePath.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { fromFileUrl } from "./projectPersistence";
+
+type ExportSourceOptions = {
+	videoSourcePath?: string | null;
+	videoPath?: string | null;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Prefer the real local source path for export so the exporter can read the file
+ * directly instead of going back through the preview media-server URL.
+ */
+export function resolveExportSourcePath(options: ExportSourceOptions): string | null {
+	if (options.videoSourcePath) {
+		return options.videoSourcePath;
+	}
+
+	if (!options.videoPath) {
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	return fromFileUrl(options.videoPath);
+}