diff --git a/electron/electron-env.d.ts b/electron/electron-env.d.ts
index b771e46..f66af16 100644
--- a/electron/electron-env.d.ts
+++ b/electron/electron-env.d.ts
@@ -51,6 +51,13 @@ interface Window {
 		openVideoFilePicker: () => Promise<{ success: boolean; path?: string; canceled?: boolean }>;
 		setCurrentVideoPath: (path: string) => Promise<{ success: boolean }>;
 		getCurrentVideoPath: () => Promise<{ success: boolean; path?: string }>;
+		readBinaryFile: (filePath: string) => Promise<{
+			success: boolean;
+			data?: ArrayBuffer;
+			path?: string;
+			message?: string;
+			error?: string;
+		}>;
 		clearCurrentVideoPath: () => Promise<{ success: boolean }>;
 		saveProjectFile: (
 			projectData: unknown,
diff --git a/electron/ipc/handlers.ts b/electron/ipc/handlers.ts
index 70d3ae4..5665cd7 100644
--- a/electron/ipc/handlers.ts
+++ b/electron/ipc/handlers.ts
@@ -200,6 +200,29 @@ export function registerIpcHandlers(
 		}
 	});
 
+	ipcMain.handle("read-binary-file", async (_, inputPath: string) => {
+		try {
+			const normalizedPath = normalizeVideoSourcePath(inputPath);
+			if (!normalizedPath) {
+				return { success: false, message: "Invalid file path" };
+			}
+
+			const data = await fs.readFile(normalizedPath);
+			return {
+				success: true,
+				data: data.buffer.slice(data.byteOffset, data.byteOffset + data.byteLength),
+				path: normalizedPath,
+			};
+		} catch (error) {
+			console.error("Failed to read binary file:", error);
+			return {
+				success: false,
+				message: "Failed to read binary file",
+				error: String(error),
+			};
+		}
+	});
+
 	ipcMain.handle("set-recording-state", (_, recording: boolean) => {
 		if (recording) {
 			stopCursorCapture();
diff --git a/electron/preload.ts b/electron/preload.ts
index 9eeb5b1..acdec4f 100644
--- a/electron/preload.ts
+++ b/electron/preload.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld("electronAPI", {
 	getCurrentVideoPath: () => {
 		return ipcRenderer.invoke("get-current-video-path");
 	},
+	readBinaryFile: (filePath: string) => {
+		return ipcRenderer.invoke("read-binary-file", filePath);
+	},
 	clearCurrentVideoPath: () => {
 		return ipcRenderer.invoke("clear-current-video-path");
 	},
diff --git a/src/lib/exporter/streamingDecoder.ts b/src/lib/exporter/streamingDecoder.ts
index 2d0a5a3..7ebd78d 100644
--- a/src/lib/exporter/streamingDecoder.ts
+++ b/src/lib/exporter/streamingDecoder.ts
@@ -32,11 +32,37 @@ export class StreamingVideoDecoder {
 	private cancelled = false;
 	private metadata: DecodedVideoInfo | null = null;
 
-	async loadMetadata(videoUrl: string): Promise<DecodedVideoInfo> {
+	private async loadSourceFile(videoUrl: string): Promise<{ file: File; blob: Blob }> {
+		const isRemoteUrl = /^(https?:|blob:|data:)/i.test(videoUrl);
+
+		if (!isRemoteUrl && window.electronAPI?.readBinaryFile) {
+			const result = await window.electronAPI.readBinaryFile(videoUrl);
+			if (!result.success || !result.data) {
+				throw new Error(result.message || result.error || "Failed to read source video");
+			}
+
+			const filename = (result.path || videoUrl).split(/[\\/]/).pop() || "video";
+			const blob = new Blob([result.data]);
+			return {
+				blob,
+				file: new File([blob], filename, { type: blob.type || "application/octet-stream" }),
+			};
+		}
+
 		const response = await fetch(videoUrl);
+		if (!response.ok) {
+			throw new Error(`Failed to fetch source video: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
+		}
 		const blob = await response.blob();
 		const filename = videoUrl.split("/").pop() || "video";
-		const file = new File([blob], filename, { type: blob.type });
+		return {
+			blob,
+			file: new File([blob], filename, { type: blob.type }),
+		};
+	}
+
+	async loadMetadata(videoUrl: string): Promise<DecodedVideoInfo> {
+		const { file } = await this.loadSourceFile(videoUrl);
 
 		// Relative URL so it resolves correctly in both dev (http) and packaged (file://) builds
 		const wasmUrl = new URL("./wasm/web-demuxer.wasm", window.location.href).href;