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anthonyb72083345
Participant
Jun 8, 2026 10:31 PM UTC
Question

After Effects and Media Enconder won't open on multiple workstations, worked a week ago fine.

Hello, We’ve had an issue in the last week, that After Effects will no longer open on 4 different workstations we have, one of them is offsite and not on the same network.There is no splash screen it and it instantly displays the crash screen with” AfterFX.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close”.

 

This happens on Windows 10 and Windows 11. After Effects will work on my Home PC with the same Creative Cloud Account.

 

I have tried the Creative Cloud cleaner on one of the Workstations and a fresh install After Effects 2026, but same error appears.

 

Any help is gratefully received.

    2 replies

    ToolfarmJP
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Jun 9, 2026 3:22 AM UTC

    Would you try to launch After Effects by safe mode? Would you also try to update your graphic card driver?

    https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/video/preferences-video.html
     

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    Community Manager
    Jun 8, 2026 11:01 PM UTC

    Hey there,

    Thanks for the post. Sounds like a strange issue. Sorry you're running into this. Since the issue is occurring on multiple workstations (including one offsite), affects both After Effects and Media Encoder, and started recently after previously working, it may help to narrow down whether this is an application issue or something environmental.

    A few questions:

    * Which exact versions of After Effects and Media Encoder are installed?

    * Does Premiere Pro launch normally on the affected systems?

    * Are all affected machines crashing immediately with no splash screen, or do any show a loading screen first?

    * Have you checked Windows Event Viewer for the faulting module name (for example, a DLL listed in the Application Error event)?

    Does launching After Effects while holding *Ctrl+Alt+Shift** (to reset preferences) change the behavior? See also: https://adobe.ly/49Pq4rs

    * Are there any recent Windows updates, security software changes, or IT policy changes that were deployed around the time the issue started?


    The fact that it works on your home PC with the same Creative Cloud account suggests the account itself is unlikely to be the cause. Crash logs or Event Viewer details would be especially helpful in identifying what's failing during startup. I hope we can help you.


    Thanks,
    Kevin

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