Answered

after effects composition panel freezing issue

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
January 5, 2026
3 replies
277 views

I would like to report a version-specific issue in Adobe After Effects.

After Effects 24.6.8 works perfectly on my system with no performance or stability issues.
However, in After Effects versions 25 and above, the Composition Panel frequently freezes during work, while the rest of the interface may remain partially responsive.

Because of this issue, the newer versions are currently unusable for professional projects, and I am forced to stay on 24.6.8.

System specifications:
• Laptop: ASUS ROG Strix 16
• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9
• RAM: 16 GB
• Stable Version: After Effects 24.6.8
• Problematic Versions: After Effects v25 and above

This appears to be a regression or compatibility issue introduced in v25+ rather than a hardware limitation.

Requesting Adobe to investigate this issue and provide a fix or recommended workaround.

Recording_2026-01-05_093954.zip

Correct answer OliviaHazel

Turn OFF Multi-Frame Rendering
Edit → Preferences → Memory & Performance → uncheck Multi-Frame Rendering → restart AE
Force NVIDIA GPU
NVIDIA Control Panel → Program Settings → After Effects → High-performance GPU
Disable hardware-accelerated panels
Preferences → Display → turn off Hardware Accelerated Comp/Layer/Footage Panels
Roll back NVIDIA driver
Use a Studio Driver (537.xx or 546.33).
Avoid latest Game Ready drivers.
Test Software Only renderer
Project Settings → Video Rendering → Mercury Software Only
(If this fixes it, it’s 100% a GPU/driver issue.)

A

Anonymous

The problem is solved, thank you @OliviaHazel , you're amazing!

nishu_kush

Legend

Happy to hear that. Can you tell us which specific step was helpful?

Feel free to reach out if there are any other questions. Moving this thread from Bugs to Discussions.

Thanks,
Nishu

A

Anonymous

I followed all the steps recommended by @OliviaHazel , and it worked perfectly

Turn OFF Multi-Frame Rendering
Edit → Preferences → Memory & Performance → uncheck Multi-Frame Rendering → restart AE
Force NVIDIA GPU
NVIDIA Control Panel → Program Settings → After Effects → High-performance GPU
Disable hardware-accelerated panels
Preferences → Display → turn off Hardware Accelerated Comp/Layer/Footage Panels
Roll back NVIDIA driver
Use a Studio Driver (537.xx or 546.33).
Avoid latest Game Ready drivers.
Test Software Only renderer
Project Settings → Video Rendering → Mercury Software Only
(If this fixes it, it’s 100% a GPU/driver issue.)

O

OliviaHazelCorrect answer

Participating Frequently

Turn OFF Multi-Frame Rendering
Edit → Preferences → Memory & Performance → uncheck Multi-Frame Rendering → restart AE
Force NVIDIA GPU
NVIDIA Control Panel → Program Settings → After Effects → High-performance GPU
Disable hardware-accelerated panels
Preferences → Display → turn off Hardware Accelerated Comp/Layer/Footage Panels
Roll back NVIDIA driver
Use a Studio Driver (537.xx or 546.33).
Avoid latest Game Ready drivers.
Test Software Only renderer
Project Settings → Video Rendering → Mercury Software Only
(If this fixes it, it’s 100% a GPU/driver issue.)

A

Anonymous

I stopped using After Effects because of this problem; I'm extremely frustrated.

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