After Effects 2025 & Dropbox

[zikmund1]

Hi,

I've recently updated After Effects to latest 2025 version, running on latest macOS.
After the update I was having crash after crash. I tried everything from clearing cache, updating OS, running only AE open with my 32gb ram on M2 Max chip and 700+ gb of free space. But nothing helped.

After some time I discovered that moving my project files from Dropbox it solved the issue.

And nobody could say connection problem because I'm running on 1gbs fiber.

Just letting anyone know who would might be having the same issue.

[nishu_kush]

Thanks for writing in. Are these files downloaded offline in the Dropbox folder? Is there a crash report?

Moving this thread from Bugs to Discussions for troubleshooting.

Thanks,
Nishu

[Rick Gerard]

Dropbox stores files on the cloud by default. There is an option to make folders and files available online. If that option is not checked, files must be opened, saved, and used through your internet connection. I suggest you try turning on the option for the folder containing the project files and footage.

I have several terabytes and years of project files and renders on Dropbox, but I always enable Make Files Available Offline when working on a project. I have noticed no problems with these projects when the switch is turned on because the files are now on your system drive. When the project is completed and delivered, I will turn off the option to free up drive space.  

I have noticed occasional minor problems opening files with After Effects, Davinci, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop when stored on Google Drive, Creative Cloud, or any other cloud-based storage system. If files are not stored on system drives, there is always a potential loss of data as they are downloaded from the internet.