After Effects project (.aep) file is being deleted on Save

[tcalandr]

Mac M2 Max

Memory 96GB

Ventura 13.5.1

After Effects v 23.6.0
Premiere Pro v23.6.0
I am working a project which is adding some title/graphics cards and lower thirds to a Premiere Pro project via dynamic link. I am also working with someone else using a windows machine, swapping a removable hard drive back and forth, but we are both on the latest version of all Adobe programs.

If I open the .aep from Premiere (Edit Original) to make an edit, and hit save, the entire After Effects project file disappears. It does not go to the trash, it is not in the folder where the file was created, it seems to be completely gone. My workaround for the moment when this happens is to do a "Save As" and put the file back where it belongs, but there is high risk I will slip up and wipe out a project completely by absentmindedly hitting save and forgetting to put it back in it's path. 

[shrayanka]

Hi tcalandr, 

Moving it to Discussions for troubleshooting.

[Kartika Rawat]

Hi tcalandr! Sorry about the issue. Are you getting this issue with a specific project? Let us know if suggestions provided by expert helps.

Thanks. KR

[Rick Gerard]

I just ran a test on an M2 MacBook Pro, Ventura 13.5.2 and everything works as expected. 

Here's my workflow:

1. Make sure After Effects is running and no new project has been started
2. Select the shot (almost never do more than one shot) in Premiere Pro and choose Replace With After Effects Composition
3. Specify a folder using my standard folder naming and structure (Projects/Date_Project Name/Scene #/Effects/version #.aep)
4. As soon as the comp is created I save again and check the folder and date
5. Work on the comp
6. Save the Project and check the folder
7. Return to Premiere Pro and check the shot
8. Render a preview of the shot in Premiere Pro - check the time
9. If the preview takes more than two or three minutes, I stop the preview, return to After Effects, and Render the Comp using the High Quality setting in the Output Module, then replace the converted shot in Premiere Pro (AE always renders faster than a nested Comp in Premiere Pro.

I then repeated the procedure with two more shots and had no problems at all.

Do you have a file name and folder structure established? Do you always use the same structure? I cannot get my standard workflow to fail. 

[GeorgeDay]

I want to bump this thread to say I've experienced this too, on several occasions over the past few months (most recently this morning) and without any pattern. It doesn't seem to be every project file, and it doesn't seem to be all the time.

This is incredibly troubling as it not only seems to delete the main project files, but every single auto-save as well.

I am running an M1 Max, AE 24.1.0, PP 24.1.0 on Mac OS 14.1.2

[GeorgeDay]

I too am working from an SSD and moving projects that include dynamic link between Windows and Mac, so perhaps the problems lie in this part of the workflow?

[PODYMOS]

Was there a solution to this?

I've recently switched from Windows to MACOS and this is continuisly happening and I'm loosing so much progress.

Why would After Effects completely remove a project file without prompting? 

[postpro35849436hh53]

I work at a film company and I'm experiencing the same problem for the last few months. 

A continue to work with my Mac on a project a colleague of mine started on a PC and when I press "save" the project is gone from our server. Luckily we have a second server that is doing a backup every day. 

What I do now before I start working on a project is to put a copy of the project into the auto-save folder for safety and I save the project under a new name which is annoying because I have to relink all the AE elements in Premiere.

This BUG has to be fixed immediatly!!!

[postpro35849436hh53]

I think the problem has to do with projects saved by WIN and opened on MAC containing dynamic link.

[PODYMOS]

This is the same situation I am having. What a complete joke, how can AE just delete projects unprompted? 

I have lost hours of work to this bug

[Kristian5C53]

Just experienced same thing here. AE project created in Windows via Dynamic Link from Premiere, opened up fine on MAC, then hitting save and the project file is completely gone from the SSD and nowhere to be found. Amazing bug!

[REYNALD37129423b7mm]

I disagree since I tried creating my project on mac but still gets the same issue. And even the auto saved folder is gone

[Seb_Unit�_13]

I have the same Bug. I work on an external SSD. I worked on the same project on PC and Mac. When I got to the Mac, after an entire day of work I saved and closed the project. When I went back to Premiere, the AE project was gone. For some reason it didn't auto-save either, so I lost an entire day of boring and meticulus changes.

[UNIKO]

Same problem. This is unacceptable. Hours of work to the trash. Completely unacceptable.

[Igor313428418zni]

Having the EXACT SAME issue with a similar set of parameters described in this thread with the Macbook Pro 4Max I just purchased.

A project that was started on a PC and then opened in Mac involving nested AE comps inside a Premiere file.
When I am in Premiere and select "Edit Original" on any one of the nested AE comps and then save the AE file THE ENTIRE AE FILE GETS DELETED WITHOUT A TRACE.

Does Adobe have an answer to this?