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samulib77334842
Participant
April 27, 2016
Answered

My After Effects preview is all black.

  • April 27, 2016
  • 29 replies
  • 155126 views

Is there a way to repair this? Because every time I try to preview my footage the video shown is completely black. Is there an option to tick or something? This problem started after doing some 3D edits.

    Correct answer talfeld

    I've been experiencing this problem for over a month now. One day my video preview just disappeared. Audio played during ram preview but the video was all black. However, today I finally realized the dumb reason why I wasn't seeing any video! I hope this solves your problem as well...

    In the preview panel it says "include" and there are a few icons: a speaker icon, an eye, etc. The eye icon wasn't selected! That's why nothing was showing up. I must have accidentally un-clicked it. Make sure it's selected on your end.

    Good luck!

    29 replies

    TGVASU
    TGVASU
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2026

    IN ANY PHOTO THERE IS NO BLACK SCREEN ONLY IN VIDEO THIS COMING

    PLS ANYONE TELL ME SOLUTION

     

    nishu_kush
    Community Manager
    nishu_kushCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    January 29, 2026

    Hi there,

     

    What are your system specifications (CPU, GPU, RAM, OS version)? Are you able to see the preview if you create a new project and a Solid layer? If you could, please share an uncropped screenshot of the After Effects UI. This will help us better understand the issue. To bring back the eye icon, right-click on the Composition name in the Timeline > Column > enable A/V Features. Here’s a screenshot for reference.

    Let me know.

     

    Thanks,

    Nishu

    TGVASU
    TGVASU
    Participating Frequently
    January 31, 2026

    bro that’s all on A/V features also but eye icon is not showing

     

    TGVASU
    TGVASU
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2026

    BRO MY BLACK SCREEN IS NOT GOING AND MY EYE ICON IS GONE ITS NOT SHOWING PLS ANYONE HELP ME.

     

    L
    liam_9022
    Participant
    July 19, 2025

    I am having the same issue I tried doing all the things said here but they didn't work now my screen looks like this the audio plays fine but I can't select any of the text or video

    caroline_edits
    Community Manager
    caroline_editsCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    July 22, 2025

    Hey Liam, are you still facing this issue? Some details on your computer system might help us figure out what's going on. Please share your system details (OS, RAM, CPU, GPU) if you can.

     

    Have you reset preferences, or tried a different version of AE?

     

    Thanks, hope we can help.

    Caroline

    L
    liam_9022
    Participant
    July 24, 2025
    nope not anymore i got it all fixed but thank you for your time Caroline
    H
    Hunter_Stuart9305
    Participant
    April 6, 2025

    when rendering I got an error about Mercury GPU Acceleration, I clicked on “ok” and it changed to Mecrury Software Only, after that when changing any parameter in Lumetri Color video becomes black, and in After Effects preview doesn't work at all under any conditions (black static screen instead of preview, which doesn't even fit the size of the composition). I tried everything: eye icon in preview, fast preview, reinstalled video card driver, started After Effects in Safe Mode, ran as administrator - nothing helped. i really don't want to reinstall AE, but apparently i have to. i realize this thread is old, but i'll leave this comment and reply to it if i find a solution.

     

    H
    Hunter_Stuart9305
    Participant
    May 10, 2025

    ok guys i found the problem: i got i7 3770k and this is too old for AE 2023+ so because of it it was not working. i downloaded ae 2022 and it's working 

     

    thanks to chatgpt btw

      R
      Ronald_Ezra Banks
      Participant
      June 1, 2025

      I have a 15 7600 and I have ae2023, can that still be a problem 

      レ
      レオンマ
      Inspiring
      September 18, 2024

      I dont even have the eye OPTION its completely removed and non clickable. What the hell?

      TGVASU
      TGVASU
      Participating Frequently
      January 31, 2026

      I also have a same problem pls tell me solution

       

      H
      Hannah34430259jzru
      Participant
      February 1, 2024

      I was having the same problem watched a YouTube video about mp4 videos appearing as black. Go to top of screen click file then at bottom click project settings. It will be on rendering and effects showing Mercury GPU Acceleration change to Mercury software only press OK. Then u have to close the after effects program completely reopen it and videos will display and play as normal. Phew! 

        M
        mama34471955nomj
        Participant
        December 27, 2023

        TGVASU
        TGVASU
        Participating Frequently
        January 29, 2026

        I ALSO HAVE SAME PROBLEM PLS TELL ME 

         

        F
        Foghiker
        Known Participant
        November 13, 2023

        I found a separate solution. In my case i inadvertly clicked on « Comp Button: Brings forward the comp related to this window. », which opened a new « Composition » Tab.

          K
          Koshika
          Participant
          May 30, 2023

          Just want to add. what did work for me was to save the illustrator file as a pdf compatible version and it came back

          see here for details  

          kirtimathpal34
          kirtimathpal34
          Participant
          February 22, 2023

          Hi Samulib77334842, Community Members!

          If someone in 2023 still faces the black screen issue, i hope this tutorial might help on a windows 10 system.
          Thank you & keep smiling...

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