The pairing code isn't showing

The phone shows Pair with <your computer> and asks for a six-digit code, but nothing on the computer is showing one.

Where the code appears

The code is not in the Setup window. It appears in its own small window that pops up the moment an iPhone asks to connect, and closes again as soon as pairing completes.

The Windows window reads Enter this code on <iPhone name>:, then the six digits spaced apart, then This window closes automatically when pairing completes.

The macOS panel reads iPhone is requesting to connect, the iPhone's name in quotes, and Enter this code on the iPhone above the digits.

A fresh code is generated for every connection attempt and is valid only for that one attempt. It is never reused, never written to disk, and never carried in the network advertisement — so there is nowhere else to look it up. Once you pair successfully the computer issues a session token and you are not asked again from that phone.

1. Bring the Adobe app to the front

The pairing window is a separate top-level window with no owner. It is set to float above other windows, but it can still end up behind a full-screen Premiere Pro, on a second monitor, or below another app that was activated after it.

Click the Premiere Pro or After Effects icon in the taskbar or Dock. On Windows, also check the taskbar for a second entry — the window has its own button.

2. Check the plugin is actually enabled

No plugin, no pairing window. Open Preferences → Playback in Premiere Pro (recent builds label the menu Settings), find PreviewMonitor under Video Device, and confirm Video Stream is ticked.

If PreviewMonitor is not in the list, the plugin did not load — quit and reopen Premiere Pro, since plugins are only scanned at launch.

In After Effects, the path is Preferences → Video Preview: turn on Mercury Transmit and tick PreviewMonitor as the device.

3. Open a sequence or composition

This is the case that looks the most like a bug: the plugin is installed, the checkbox is ticked, the phone finds the computer — and no window ever appears.

The plugin only comes to life when Premiere Pro creates a Transmit instance for it, and Premiere Pro only does that once a sequence is open. With the Home screen showing and no project loaded, nothing is listening, so nothing can challenge the phone.

Open any project, open a sequence, and try the connect again.

4. The window opened and closed

Two things close the pairing window on their own:

• Pairing succeeded. If the phone moved past the code screen, you are connected. Nothing further is needed.
• The phone gave up. The app allows 30 seconds from the challenge before it abandons the attempt. If the window vanished while you were still typing, tap the computer again on the connect screen and the code re-appears.

5. Enter the code

The phone screen reads Enter the 6-digit code shown in <app>, with a Don't see the code? link below it that opens the same checks as this page.

Type the six digits on the phone. On success the computer remembers the phone under TRUSTED IPHONES in the Setup window and you are not challenged again from that device — see Trusted devices.

If you mistype it, the connection is dropped and you start again from the connect screen with a new code.

Still nothing

If the pairing window genuinely never appears and Premiere Pro has a sequence open with PreviewMonitor ticked, the phone may not be reaching the computer at all. Continue at The computer doesn't appear and It connects but nothing happens.