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Chekleone
Participant
March 18, 2023
Answered

My After Effects file has completely disappeared from my PC

  • March 18, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 2836 views

Hello,

I have a big problem since a while.
One of my After Effects projects linked to my Premiere Pro project has completely disappeared from my computer due to an error in both programs.
I had saved it in a dedicated folder but I can't find it anymore even though it was still there this morning.

Even the auto backups of the AEP project are no longer there, I only have those of the day before.
Can you tell me how to recover this file?

This is the first time this has happened to me.

Thanks in advance.

    Correct answer Warren Heaton

    @Chekleone 

     

    Were you able to locate your After Effects project? 

     

    If a search of your storage media for ".aep" does not come back with anything, run the Windows operating system CHKDSK (check disk) utility to scan your hard drive for file system errors.

     

    I find it helpful to create a directory structure for each project with specific locations for project files and session files (Premiere Pro, After Effects, Adobe Audition), source footage (camera originals, ProRes transcodes, and proxies), graphics (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects renders), and exported files.

     

    If this or something similar is followed, then you'll always know where your After Effects project files are.  Be sure to implement a back up strategy though as this doesn't prevent accidental file deletion or occastional file corruption.

     

     

    5 replies

    D
    Davymaxwell3D
    Participant
    February 24, 2026

    Well, this just happened to me. Thanks Adobe. Just lost a few days worth of work.

    E
    elliot_3060
    Participant
    July 30, 2025

    This has happened to me twice, once on Windows and once on Mac OS. An After Effects project file with linked comps dissappeared completely along with any backups. 

    Warren Heaton
    Community Expert
    Warren HeatonCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    April 8, 2023

    @Chekleone 

     

    Were you able to locate your After Effects project? 

     

    If a search of your storage media for ".aep" does not come back with anything, run the Windows operating system CHKDSK (check disk) utility to scan your hard drive for file system errors.

     

    I find it helpful to create a directory structure for each project with specific locations for project files and session files (Premiere Pro, After Effects, Adobe Audition), source footage (camera originals, ProRes transcodes, and proxies), graphics (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects renders), and exported files.

     

    If this or something similar is followed, then you'll always know where your After Effects project files are.  Be sure to implement a back up strategy though as this doesn't prevent accidental file deletion or occastional file corruption.

     

     

      nubnubbud
      nubnubbud
      Inspiring
      April 8, 2023

      I can't say anything about what happened, just that most of the log seems to be business as usual, but rest assured it's not an isolated issue. Premiere has been deleting files for a while now. I lost a bunch of source footage and our production ended because we couldn't do anything about it. 
      All I can suggest is to keep regular backups of entire projects- at least you seem to still have your source footage. that means more work can solve it. I on the other hand... can't edit in a program I can't trust.

      C
      ChekleoneAuthor
      Participant
      March 18, 2023

      I found this log error received I think at the time of the error:

      "[2023-03-18_12-34-29][23252][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate hostInfo access soon. Please use HostInfoController instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-29][23252][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate hostInfo access soon. Please use HostInfoController instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-29][23252][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate hostInfo access soon. Please use HostInfoController instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-29][23252][Info] [general] UXP will use the WebView2 runtime in the system as no WebView2 runtime path is provided by the host.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][23252][Error] [general] Plugin com.adobe.ccx.start : Expected 'host.app' to be aftereffects
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][23252][Error] [general] Plugin com.adobe.ccx.start : Expected 'host.app' to be aftereffects
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][23252][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate HostInfo API soon, please use HostApi instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][23252][Info] [general] Debugger enabled for runtime group FirstParty on port: 9222 breakOnStart: no
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][23252][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate HostInfo API soon, please use HostApi instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][23252][Warn] [general] Please call HostInfoController::instance()->initialize() when the app is initializing.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][15824][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate HostInfo API soon, please use HostApi instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-30][15824][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate HostInfo API soon, please use HostApi instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Warn] [console] SAM JS Bindings Error
      The host app must meet the following requirements to be compatible with the SAM JS bindings:
      1. The host app must be built with SAMv2's C++ library.
      2. The host app must provide the ACPLModel global object via SEAL
      Visit https://git.corp.adobe.com/torq/acpl-model/blob/main/README.md for more info
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 374 PERF - Start Screen Init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][StartScreen] CCX Start v6.5.0.60
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 374 PERF - Sophia Init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 377 PERF - Ututs Init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 378 PERF - IMS Init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 378 PERF - IMS.updateUserProfile start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 379 message: Fetching NGL Profile. Awaiting Response.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 379 PERF - Fetching NGL Profile. Awaiting Response.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 379 PERF - Locale Init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 397 PERF - MainStore Init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 402 PERF - Platform init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 403 PERF - Shared Settings Init start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 408 message: Fetching Recent Files. Awaiting Response.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 408 PERF - Fetching Recent Files. Awaiting Response.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 409 message: Received NGL Profile.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 409 PERF - Received NGL Profile.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 412 message: Fetching Home data
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 412 PERF - Fetching Home data
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Calling CCX Process for Home data.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 413 message: Fetching Utut data
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 413 PERF - Fetching Utut data
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Calling CCX Process for Utut data.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SharedSettings] Making Settings Request
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 37 message: IMS.updateUserProfile
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 415 PERF - IMS.updateUserProfile done: 37
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 12 message: Shared Settings Init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 415 PERF - Shared Settings Init done: 12
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 19 message: MainStore Init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 416 PERF - MainStore Init done: 19
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 416 PERF - IMS.updateAccessToken start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Warn] [console] [CDO] @CCX/ccx-cdo/Stylesheets.ts | @CCX/ccx-cdo/theme/Core.css |
      @CCX/ccx-cdo/theme/CCXHomeScreen/Themes.css will soon be deprecated.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Error] [console] [HS][CommonUtils]
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 638 message: Received Recent Files.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 638 PERF - Received Recent Files.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 641 message: UI Ready
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 641 PERF - UI Ready
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] 642 PERF - Launch CCXProcess start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 240 message: Platform init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 642 PERF - Platform init done: 240
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 647 message: Updated access token
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 647 PERF - Updated access token
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 232 message: IMS.updateAccessToken
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 648 PERF - IMS.updateAccessToken done: 232
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 270 message: IMS Init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 648 PERF - IMS Init done: 270
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23352][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate HostInfo API soon, please use HostApi instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-It.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-It.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-Bold.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-Bold.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-BoldIt.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-BoldIt.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-Regular.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-Regular.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-BoldSemiCn.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-BoldSemiCn.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-SemiCn.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-SemiCn.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-BoldSemiCnIt.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-BoldSemiCnIt.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-Light.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-Light.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-LightIt.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-LightIt.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][23252][Warn] [general] Could not read fonts file Could not read file File Path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-SemiCnIt.otf C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2023\Support Files\AdobeCleanUX\AdobeCleanUX-SemiCnIt.otf
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 285 message: Locale Init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 664 PERF - Locale Init done: 285
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SharedSettings] Received Settings Get Response
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Drover] CCX-Start-Drover : Home screen visibility set to visible without back button.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SharedSettings] Making Settings Request
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 682 message: Received Home CCXP response
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 682 PERF - Received Home CCXP response
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SharedSettings] Making Settings Request
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 684 message: Received Utut CCXP response
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 684 PERF - Received Utut CCXP response
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SharedSettings] Received Settings Get Response
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SharedSettings] Received Settings Get Response
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 690 message: Loaded JSON Data: Home
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 690 PERF - Loaded JSON Data: Home
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 691 message: Parsed JSON file for Home
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 691 PERF - Parsed JSON file for Home
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Received fresh data from CCXProcess for Home with path C:\Users\chafi\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CCX Welcome\data\AEFT-23.0-fr_FR-483a0401-75cc-47b7-8e18-44700c3777b5.json
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 693 message: Finished parsing CCXP data for Home
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 693 PERF - Finished parsing CCXP data for Home
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Setting data to the cache for Home
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Surface data {"surface":"CCX_Start_4.0_Whats_New","campaignId":38150,"url":"https://odin.adobe.com/content/dam/ccfirstmile/AEFT/fr_FR/componentWhatsNewToastal/Ae-Whats-New-Q2-FY22-nonEN.cfm.gql.json"}
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Surface data {"surface":"CCX_Start_4.0_Home","campaignId":23224,"url":"https://odin.adobe.com/content/dam/ccfirstmile/AEFT/fr_FR/experienceHomeMx19/Ae-NUJ-M3-Home-2020-Video.cfm.gql.json"}
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 695 message: Loaded JSON Data: Utut
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 695 PERF - Loaded JSON Data: Utut
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 695 message: Parsed JSON file for Utut
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 695 PERF - Parsed JSON file for Utut
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Received fresh data from CCXProcess for Utut with path C:\Users\chafi\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CCX Welcome\learn\AEFT-23.0-fr_FR-6274b1ef-62e6-45bc-9b60-a7b5be5d221e.json
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 696 message: Finished parsing CCXP data for Utut
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 696 PERF - Finished parsing CCXP data for Utut
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Setting data to the cache for Utut
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Surface data {"surface":"CCX_Start_3.1_Tutorials","campaignId":38779}
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][SophiaBase] Surface data {"surface":"CCX_Start_3.1_Tutorials","campaignId":38779}
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Ututs] User has 15 web tutorials
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 321 message: Ututs Init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 698 PERF - Ututs Init done: 321
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] 698 PERF - Launch CCXProcess done: 56
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][22900][Warn] [general] We are going to deprecate HostInfo API soon, please use HostApi instead.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 333 message: Sophia Init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 707 PERF - Sophia Init done: 333
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][LicenseChiclet] NGL: Showing no chiclet.
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 746 message: Interactive Ready
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 746 PERF - Interactive Ready
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 372 message: Start Screen Init
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 746 PERF - Start Screen Init done: 372
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [DocumentStore-1] QuotaStore.fetch - Waiting for initialization to complete
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [initCDOStores-1] Constructing CloudDocumentsClient since enableSAM feature flag is off
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [DocumentStore-2] QuotaStore.fetch - Waiting for initialization to complete
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [initCDOStores-1] Constructing CloudDocumentsClient since enableSAM feature flag is off
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [DocumentStore-2] preFetchDocuments - Waiting for initialization to complete
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] User intent container: undefined
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] User intent container: undefined
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 839 PERF - Late Loads start
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Analytics] analytics.ingest: (prod) active
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 8 message: Late Loads
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 847 PERF - Late Loads done: 8
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] log perf event: time: 848 message: All done
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Default] [console] [HS][Performance] 848 PERF - All done
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Error] [console] [RecentStore-2] [getRecents] Error trying to retrieve recents
      [2023-03-18_12-34-31][15824][Error] [console] [RecentStore-2] [getRecents] Error trying to retrieve recents"

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