After Effects freezes any time I try to import/set file path in output in Render queue

[Whitney Motion]

Hello,

I am having issues and it's honestly the same issue that has happened a few times this year. I don't even remember how I solved it and now it's come to a point where I absolutely do not have the time to troubleshoot this anymore.  I have attempted to fix this myself by installing different versions of after effects to see if that would help change this issue and had zero success.

Here's the issue:  every time I try to import into after effects, which I will sometimes either double click in the project space window or manually select file to import or sometimes even try to hit command + i.  I've been using after effects for the past 17 years so I am a seasoned veteran.  

Macbook Pro
Chip - Apple M4 Pro
Memory - 48 GB

I would also like to note that the company I work for uses SharePoint (sharePoint has given me many issues and I'm not sure if that is the reason why this is happening).  I even tried at one point to disconnect from the Wi-Fi to see if there was some kind of issue where it was connected to SharePoint or using OneDrive.  This also led to zero results i.e. it did not solve the issue at all.

Considering how the only motion designer for a large company, I have plenty of projects that need to be rendered and plenty of assets that need to be imported and I cannot get anywhere if I cannot import or export anything from the software.  You guys need to help me get to the bottom of this because this has been an ongoing issue.  

And to elaborate even just a little bit further, basically when I try to import a file, I get the spinning beach ball that does not stop spinning. I even did a test after hours to see how long the beach ball would spend and it just kept going for hours.  The same situation happens when I try to set a file path in the output module within the render queue window.  It's basically just a spinning ball the entire software freezes up.  And so what I will do in that case is force quit (I have force quit out of after effects roughly 30-40 times today alone).  After I forced quit after effects will then save out a copy of the file for me so it at least lets me hold onto the work that I did up until that point.  That being said, it still doesn't solve the issue whatsoever no importing or exporting.  

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Whitney,

Thanks for the post! This issue often happens when After Effects interacts with cloud sync services like OneDrive or SharePoint. Try setting your import/export location to a local folder (not synced) to rule out network conflicts.

Other steps that can help:

• Purge image and disk cache (Preferences → Media & Disk Cache) to clear corrupted cache.
• Reset preferences (hold Option + Command + Shift while launching AE) to fix dialog issues.
• Grant Full Disk Access (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access → add After Effects) so macOS doesn’t block file operations.

For detailed instructions:

https://adobe.ly/3LYiIJe
https://adobe.ly/4ihrGgt

Hope this gets you back on track!

Thanks,
Kevin

[Whitney Motion]

Hello Kevin,

Thank you for the quick response, unfortunately none of these options got me any where.  After Effects is still locked up and the work day has now started.  What other options do I have?  I know Adobe used to remote-in and help me fix issues in the past is that possible in addition to whatever else you might suggest?

-Purge image and disk cache (Preferences → Media & Disk Cache) to clear corrupted cache. (I do this all the time regardless)

-Reset preferences (hold Option + Command + Shift while launching AE) to fix dialog issues.
(this made it freeze again, so zero help on that one)

-Grant Full Disk Access (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access → add After Effects) so macOS doesn’t block file operations.
(I hit the plus button, type in my password, then system preferences freezes).

[Whitney Motion · Accepted solution]

Hey Kevin, 

Hold off on any more troubleshooting!  I went ahead and reset the preferences and it is working just fine now.  Import is good, output is good.  No more issues.  Thank you for your help.