After Effects 25 crashes before launch

Report · Nov 03, 2025

Hi! I have this error come up when using AE 25.5. It's been days and I've been through the basics of troubleshooting to no avail.

When I go open up the software, the splash screen doesnt pop up. Instead a series of pop up messages come up. When following the prompts of these pop ups all windows close and the application doesnt open. I'm not trying to open a file. Im trying to start a clean project, but even then I am unable to get past these messages.
System Details:

Windows 10 (build 19045)
Nvidia Gforce 1660 OC (ver 581.57)
Ryzen 5 3600
After Effects ver 25.5
Adobe Creative Cloud 6.8.0.821

Steps already taken

Unisntalled Creative Cloud and After Effects
Manually deleted folders
Cleared Registry
Removed third party plugins
Reinstalled After Effects and Creative Cloud
tried starting on safe mode (ctrl+alt+shift- no difference)
Reset preferences (no difference)
Updated my drivers

These are the windows that pop up upon trying to launch AE

All the options on the first prompt window close the program. Clicking OK on the other windows does pretty much the same. It closes the software automatically.
The error code shown is not always the same.

Any help would be appreciated. I dont know where to go to from here.

Report · Nov 03, 2025

Hi, I have been attempting to use version 25.5 of Adobe AfterEffects for weeks now to no avail. Attempt after attempt, when opening the software, I encounter multiple pop-up messages denoting that AfterEffects has crashed and cannot continue, force-closing the application. No project was ever created, I am simply trying to open up the app for the first time.

When opening the app, the startup menu briefly appears, followed by a first pop-up message stating:

Sometimes I am unable to click on any of the options it gives me, sometimes they work. Immediately after this pop-up though, another one appears on top, stating:

When I click OK, this next pop-up appears:

Then, the software automatically closes itself out.

My OS is Windows 11, and I updated my graphics drivers this morning (NVIDIA V.581.57) before again recreating what has been explained above. I have also tried updating my version of AfterEffects, browsing the forums for anyone else who has had a similar issue, and I've reached out to Adobe themself multiple times with a crash report. I have the latest crash report's dump file, as well.

It is also worth noting that sometimes, I don't always get the second and third pop-ups listed above, but instead sometimes receive this as the last known message:

I have no clue what the issue could be anymore. Any help is appreciated.

Report · Nov 03, 2025

It is very likely you've got something else installed on your system (a font, or a codec, etc.) that is interferring with AE starting up. We'll need to get a log file from you to diagnose further.

1. Navigate to C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\After Effects\25.5\logs

2. Create an empty file called "After Effects Log.txt" in that folder

3. Start up AE and click through the crashes

4. Go back to the folder, copy and paste the contents of the log file back to the forum.

Report · Nov 03, 2025

Log file created: 11/04/25 01:59:54
-------------------------------------
Ticks = 0      <14256> <AppVers> <5> App Version = 	25.5x4 release
Ticks = 0      <14256> <AppDirs> <5> App Dir = 		C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2025\Support Files
Ticks = 0      <14256> <AppDirs> <5> Executable Dir = 	C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2025\Support Files
Ticks = 0      <14256> <AppDirs> <5> Resources Dir = 	C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2025\Support Files
Ticks = 0      <14256> <AppDirs> <5> Package Dir = 	C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2025\Support Files
Ticks = 0      <14256> <AppDirs> <5> Plugin Dir = 	C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2025\Support Files\Plug-ins
Ticks = 0      <14256> <AppDirs> <5> Required Dir = 	C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2025\Support Files\Required
Ticks = 0      <14256> <ALOG> <5> EGG STARTUP 
Ticks = 344      <14256> <ALOG> <5> U Birth U Birth
Ticks = 344      <14256> <ALOG> <5> U CPU Data LogicalCores:12, PhysicalCores:6, MMX:1, SSE:1 SSE2:1, SSE3:1, SSSE(MNI):1, SSE4_1:0, SSE4_2:1
Ticks = 344      <14256> <ALOG> <5> U Birth U Hog Birth
Ticks = 860      <14256> <Bartender> <5> *** FIX ACTIVATED: Resizing cmdVec from 6 to 7 to accommodate insertion ***
Ticks = 860      <14256> <ALOG> <5> FILE Birth FILE Birth
Ticks = 860      <14256> <ALOG> <5> M Birth M Birth
Ticks = 860      <14256> <ALOG> <5> RND Birth RND Birth
Ticks = 3156      <4912> <ALOG> <5> EGG PromptUserThenDie lastmesg="<14256> <ALOG> <5> RND Birth RND Birth
"
Ticks = 3156      <4912> <ALOG> <5> U U_Sev_PROBLEM After Effects error: Crash in progress. Last logged message was: <14256> <ALOG> <5> RND Birth RND Birth
	
Ticks = 3203      <4912> <ALOG> <5> ReportError StackCrawl dvacore::debug::GenerateStackTrace ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000014C316)
U_ScErrorDialogAggregation::~U_ScErrorDialogAggregation ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000003A3C6)
Up_Report16 ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000003D675)
U_ReportError ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000003BE80)
GetWorkQueuePalSuite ( @ 0) (AfterFXLib.dll+0x0000000000915785)
U_UnregisterExceptionTranslator ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000000C8A6)
dvacore::config::PanicFromUnrecoverableSignalHandler ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x00000000000FA861)
dvacore::config::ReinstallUnhandledExceptionHandler ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000029745B)
UnhandledExceptionFilter ( @ 0) (KERNELBASE.dll+0x000000000012C507)
memset ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A58D8)
_C_specific_handler ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x000000000008CE46)
_chkstk ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A296F)
RtlRaiseException ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x0000000000052554)
KiUserExceptionDispatcher ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A147E)

Ticks = 3203      <4912> <ALOG> <5> EGG PromptUserThenDie start
Ticks = 3203      <4912> <ALOG> <5> U U_Sev_FATAL After Effects canâ€™t continue: sorry, After Effects has crashed. For After Effects Help and Support, go to http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_ae_support. If you still canâ€™t resolve the issue, please contact Adobe Technical Support (2).	( 0 :: 42 )
Ticks = 3203      <4912> <ALOG> <5> ReportError StackCrawl dvacore::debug::GenerateStackTrace ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000014C316)
U_ScErrorDialogAggregation::~U_ScErrorDialogAggregation ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000003A3C6)
Up_Report16 ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000003D675)
Up_ReportError ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x0000000000042163)
Up_ReportSyserrString ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000004221B)
AbortInQueue ( @ 0) (AfterFXLib.dll+0x0000000000CFA705)
GetWorkQueuePalSuite ( @ 0) (AfterFXLib.dll+0x00000000009157D4)
U_UnregisterExceptionTranslator ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000000C8A6)
dvacore::config::PanicFromUnrecoverableSignalHandler ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x00000000000FA861)
dvacore::config::ReinstallUnhandledExceptionHandler ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000029745B)
UnhandledExceptionFilter ( @ 0) (KERNELBASE.dll+0x000000000012C507)
memset ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A58D8)
_C_specific_handler ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x000000000008CE46)
_chkstk ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A296F)
RtlRaiseException ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x0000000000052554)
KiUserExceptionDispatcher ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A147E)

Ticks = 3203      <4912> <ALOG> <5> ErrorAlert StackCrawl dvacore::debug::GenerateStackTrace ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000014C316)
AbortInQueue ( @ 0) (AfterFXLib.dll+0x0000000000CFA719)
GetWorkQueuePalSuite ( @ 0) (AfterFXLib.dll+0x00000000009157D4)
U_UnregisterExceptionTranslator ( @ 0) (U.dll+0x000000000000C8A6)
dvacore::config::PanicFromUnrecoverableSignalHandler ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x00000000000FA861)
dvacore::config::ReinstallUnhandledExceptionHandler ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000029745B)
UnhandledExceptionFilter ( @ 0) (KERNELBASE.dll+0x000000000012C507)
memset ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A58D8)
_C_specific_handler ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x000000000008CE46)
_chkstk ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A296F)
RtlRaiseException ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x0000000000052554)
KiUserExceptionDispatcher ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A147E)

Ticks = 3203      <4912> <ALOG> <5> EGG WaitForMainThreadNotification waiting...
Ticks = 3203      <14256> <ALOG> <5> EGG PromptUserThenDieFinish start, main=0
Ticks = 6719      <14256> <ALOG> <5> EGG PromptUserThenDieFinish end
Ticks = 6719      <4912> <ALOG> <5> EGG WaitForMainThreadNotification notification complete, returning
Ticks = 6719      <4912> <ALOG> <5> U HANDLER Returned from app registered handler
Ticks = 6750      <14256> <ALOG> <5> PREF Birth PREF Birth
Ticks = 6750      <14256> <ALOG> <5> VAL Birth VAL Birth
Ticks = 6750      <14256> <ALOG> <5> MC Birth MC Birth
Ticks = 6797      <14256> <ALOG> <5> EGG IEggApp Splash screen shown
Ticks = 6844      <14256> <ALOG> <5> EGG BIRTH Beginning Verify Environment
Ticks = 6844      <14256> <ALOG> <5> COR Birth COR Birth

thank you for the quick answer and the suggestion. Here are the contents of the log file.

Report · Nov 04, 2025

Thanks. The COR Birth which appears to be the last step in the log, is related to font rendering, PDF rendering, and some older JPEG formats.

After After Effects crashes, do you get a "Crash Report" dialog that lets you enter your email address and a description of what you were doing? If so, can you fill that in and hit submit. We are going to need to look at that crash report to see what element of this startup is now crashing.

Report · Nov 04, 2025

It does show up the crash report dialog. Already filled it yesterday and the day it all started.

Report · Nov 04, 2025

Is there any chance you have the Stardust effect installed? I think I've found the report you sent, and if it is the right one, Stardust is causing AE to crash on startup.

Report · Nov 04, 2025

I'm not sure. I dont recall ever installing it or buying it.

Report · Nov 05, 2025

Just an update. I just checked and I do not ineed have the stardust effect installed. Problem still persists.

Report · Nov 13, 2025

Could you take a moment to see if there are any other third-party plug-ins on your PC? Just head to this location - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\Plug-ins\7.0\MediaCore

If you find any files or folders there (except dummy.txt), feel free to move them out of the MediaCore folder to a different spot. This way, you can check if those plug-ins are causing any issues.

Let us know how it turns out!

Thanks,
Nishu

Report · Nov 13, 2025

Thread merged with a similar topic.

Thanks,
Nishu

After Effects 25 crashes before launch

1 Pinned Reply