After Effects crashes when I highlight a text layer and type certain letters in the font search

I’m having a very specific crash in After Effects and I can’t find a real fix anywhere.

When I try to change the font on a text layer, AE crashes ONLY when the text layer is highlighted AND I type certain letters in the font search box (for example “a”). I can type those letters normally in the Character panel, and I can scroll fonts normally. The crash only happens when the text layer is selected and I type into the font search field.

 

• AE does NOT freeze or lag — it instantly closes or gives a controlled crash

• Reset Preferences does NOT fix it

• Clearing cache does NOT fix it

• Safe Mode does NOT fix it

• Reinstalling AE does NOT fix it

• I did NOT modify AE or install plugins

• This only happens on text layers that already exist in the comp

• Creating a new text layer sometimes avoids the crash, but the problem returns when searching fonts

• I recently activated some Adobe Fonts, but the crash still happens even after deactivating them

• Other Adobe apps (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) do NOT have this issue