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super93
Inspiring
Nov 8, 2025 12:09 AM UTC
Answered

AE Preview Screen Black When Paused

Recently had to reinstall Windows 11 due to error when updating most of my CC apps to the latest version. After reinstalling After Effects, I noticed the preview screen is black when paused. It plays fine but, as soon as playback is paused, the entire screen goes blank. This happens in any project with any media. I have updated graphics card to latest driver, updated drivers to monitors, uninstalled and reinstalled AE, uninstalled and reinstalled to previous version, made sure the preview is not set to "Wireframe," turned off "Hardware Accelerate Composition, Layer, and Footage Panels" and set rendering to "Mercury Software Only," cleared cache multiple times, restarted computer and AE multiple times, started in safe-mode, started in safe-mode with plugins disabled and preferences reset, made sure AE is added to graphics list with it set to "High Performance" graphics card, tried different preview resolutions. All out of ideas.

 

System:

AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5965WX 24-Cores (3.80 GHz)

128 GB RAM

Windows 11 Pro

After Effects 25.5.0 (Build 4) 

Also tried it with older versions and still same thing

 

super93Correct answer
Inspiring
Nov 12, 2025 9:12 PM UTC

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Worked with the IT Dept. at my company and we eventually ended up having to reinstall Windows after exhausing every avenue. Something to do with the BIOS and graphics card from the previous install we did a few days ago. In any case, everything is working great now. Thanks for all the suggestions!

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9 replies

super93AuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
Nov 12, 2025 9:12 PM UTC

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Worked with the IT Dept. at my company and we eventually ended up having to reinstall Windows after exhausing every avenue. Something to do with the BIOS and graphics card from the previous install we did a few days ago. In any case, everything is working great now. Thanks for all the suggestions!

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Warren Heaton
Community Expert
Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
Community Expert
Nov 13, 2025 4:39 AM UTC

@super93 

 

Thank you for sharing how you resolved the issue.

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Warren Heaton
Community Expert
Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
Community Expert
Nov 11, 2025 5:49 AM UTC

Try reseating the RAM.

 

If for some reason that can't be done, run a utility that tests memory. 

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Kevin J. Monahan Jr.
Kevin J. Monahan Jr.
Legend
Nov 8, 2025 12:36 AM UTC

Hi super93,

I read about your issue. You are getting a black screen when paused, which isn't normal. Have you tried rolling back a driver version? Ensure it is the studio driver, not the game ready driver. You can also try installing the AMD Pro Edition driver. Let me know if either of these steps helped. Sorry for the anomaly. 

 

Thanks,
Kevin

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Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio
super93Author
Inspiring
Nov 10, 2025 4:00 PM UTC

Thanks for the quick reply. Already updated to the studio driver but I will try installing the AMD drivers and see if that works.

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nishu_kush
nishu_kush
Legend
Nov 10, 2025 4:32 PM UTC

Are you using an Nvidia GPU or an AMD? If it's an Nvidia card, then installing the AMD driver will not make any difference, and vice versa. Are you testing with a media? If so, can you test without it (only with solid and text layers)?

Let me know the outcome.


Thanks,
Nishu

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