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michieldegraaff
Participating Frequently
March 17, 2020
Answered

After effects warning: Can't write to font cache directory

  • March 17, 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 7225 views

Hello,

 

I can't open any version of After effects anymore on my machine. I have version 17.0.5, 16.1.3 and 13.1.4 installed. They worked fine yesterday, today i get and error while the startup screen loads:

 

After effects warning: Can't write to font cache directory

And after that:

After effects error: string memory leak (83 :: 2)

After effects can't continue: unexpected failure during application startup

 

All my other programs (Premiere, Illustrator etc.) work fine, and I have not changed anything to my setup. The only thing I changed yesterday is upgrading to the newest Illustrator version. Going back to the older version did not change anything.

 

I've tried reinstalling, rebooting and checking for any corrupt fonts.

I'm running Windows 10.

 

After Effects is my main tool and i can't do any work without it. Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks!

 

Michiel

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer k-doubble

    I was able to correct this by using the start tab and chosing Run as administrator and it worked.

    5 replies

    R
    reuyna22487024ut4w
    Participant
    January 3, 2022

    I ran as administrator and it worked. 

     

    Y
    yannv46589355
    Participant
    August 2, 2023

    We are the 08-2023 and I have same problem and I'll don't renew abonement to Adobe, I am excedeed by this incompetence. I'll change all my system in few time and for me adobe is completely out.

    P
    pawełt90063683
    Participant
    September 24, 2023

    I think I managed to solve the problem, finally. I've been through all the solutions I could find - running as an administrator, changing rights to folders, etc. Nothing worked. Here is what I've found: font cache directory is not a folder within any installation or user folders. It's in the TEMP folder. And I have a custom TEMP folder, that contained Adobe folder with all the rights locked. I couldn't get in it even as an admin. I had to take the ownership to the folder (following: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-take-ownership-files-and-folders-windows-10 ). As soon as I did that, I could again get into the Adobe folder in my TEMP. And apparently, so does After Effects now. Works like a charm now:)

    #
    #BookIt
    Participant
    November 4, 2021

    Same issue here...Please help...After effects is very important for my job...

     

    K
    k-doubbleCorrect answer
    Participant
    July 24, 2021

    I was able to correct this by using the start tab and chosing Run as administrator and it worked.

      R
      Rautamarkus
      Participating Frequently
      March 28, 2020

      Exact same problem with Mac OsX.
      Suddenly none of my three versions are unable to launch at all. All other Adobe programs working fine. Uninstalled all AE's and re-installed and nothing happened.

        R
        Rautamarkus
        Participating Frequently
        July 2, 2021

        On osx created new user, installed everything from scratch and ae is now working ok. Dont know if it was the freash install or if  there was an update that fixed this. 

        nishu_kush
        Community Manager
        nishu_kushCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        March 18, 2020

        Hi Michiel,

         

        Thanks for reaching out. It looks like a permissions related issue to me.

        Try providing the permissions to the folder at the following locations:

        C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Adobe

        C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe

        Here are the steps to provide permissions: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-take-ownership-files-and-folders-windows-10

         

        Let us know if it brings any change.

         

        Thanks,

        Nishu

         

        M
        michieldegraaffAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        March 18, 2020

        Hello Nishu,

         

        Thanks for your help. I have tried to change the permissions but this did not solve my problem.

        I have found a simple solution, for some reason I have to run all my After Effects versions as 'administrator'.

        Browse to your after effects folder.

        C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2019\Support Files

        Right click on AfterFx.exe, choose 'Run as administrator'.

         

        I don't understand why this has suddenly changed, or why this is specific only for After Effects. But it works.

        Hopefully it helps anyone else who has this problem. 

         

        Michiel

        G
        gabemichael
        Participant
        March 18, 2020

        I'm having the same issue.   I've been very vocal about this on other threads.  This is a huge problem and Adobe is doign NOTHING to solve it.  I'm going to lose a client over this issue in already hard times.   Adobe needs to figure out what the hell their last update did to after effects and the premire bridge.  

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