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caroline_edits
Community Manager
caroline_editsCommunity Manager
Community Manager
September 26, 2019
Question

FAQ: How to reset (trash) preferences in After Effects?

  • September 26, 2019
  • 13 replies
  • 132610 views

 

It can be really frustrating when After Effects starts misbehaving. One of the most efficient ways to fix this is to reset After Effects preference files. Trashing preferences resets the program to its factory defaults.

 

Resetting preferences will undo most of your customization such as length of your default transitions, brightness of the user interface, labels colors, changes that you've made to your audio hardware settings and more. Some changes won't be affected though, such as changes that you've made to memory allocation for After Effects and other Adobe apps, new workspaces that you've created and some other stuff. It's worth noting that changes that you've made to existing workspaces (changes such as resizing panels and moving them) will be reset to defaults.

 

Preferences that you set for scratch disks, however, are saved with your projects. Whenever you open a project, it automatically defaults to the scratch disks you selected for it when you set up that project.

 

Here is how you can reset the preferences:

Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift (Windows) or Command + Option + Shift (Mac OS) while launching After Effects. You can release the keys when you see the Startup Repair Options dialogue box.

 

Manage Plugins – Open the plugin manager to enable or disable plugins one by one, or in a batch. 

Reset Preferences – Click the Reset Preferences button to permanently reset all preferences to default settings.

Start in Safe Mode – You can create a one-time After Effects session using default preferences by clicking the Start in Safe Mode button. You will also get an option to disable third-party plugins. It helps you identify if any of your current preferences are corrupt and need a reset. If After Effects works best in safe mode, you can reset preferences permanently the next time you launch After Effects.

 

If you don't see the list of your recent projects on the Welcome Screen the next time you launch After Effects, the preferences were reset correctly.

 

NOTE: Nothing happens to the project files; it's just that After Effects's recent directories are wiped off too. Navigate to your project location and open it from there.

    13 replies

    V
    VASILEIOS_KARAVASILIS9929
    Participant
    February 4, 2025

    I am having preview issues also, My system is 64 GB ram 6000 MHz, 4080 super and I9 14900K, also 4tb Samsung 990 pro,

    and the lag is crazy I feel like I am using a 1660ti. any suggestions? 

    E
    EJ28469558xmfl
    Participant
    February 18, 2023

    its not giving me the option to use control-shilft-alt, nothing comes up - is there a way to fix this??

     

    W
    Community Expert
    Warren Heaton10841144Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 18, 2023

    @EJ28469558xmfl 

     

    If that is not working as expected, go to Edit > Preferences > General and click "Reveal Preferences in Explorer" at the bottom left.  This opens an Explorer window and selects the After Effects Prefs text document.  For example, if using After Effects version 22.6, a file named "Adobe After Effects 22.6 Prefs.txt" should be revealed.  Quit After Effects and then delete this file or move it to the Desktop.  If moving the Pref text document to the Desktop, I usually rename it with the date and time, something like "Adobe After Effects 22.6 Prefs - 20221023 1158.txt".

    S
    sslat
    Participant
    May 31, 2023

    The reset doesn't work for me. I've tried it multiple times and my AE does not recognize changes to my art file.

    Do you have a Mac version of these steps?

    J
    John26029487lpfe
    Known Participant
    October 23, 2022

    Yeah problem is it doesn't work. I press alt while launching AE and nothing happens. I try it before, during, and after clicking to launch. What sort of exquisite Japanese video game savant finger timing do you need to have to hit alt at the precise nanosecond required to make this work, and why isn't there simply a "Reset Preferences" menu option? F? F? S?

    W
    Community Expert
    Warren Heaton10841144Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 23, 2022

    Are you holding Control and Alt?

    If that is not working as expected, go to Edit > Preferences > General and click "Reveal Preferences in Explorer" at the bottom left.  This opens an Explorer window and selects the After Effects Prefs text document.  For example, if using After Effects version 22.6, a file named "Adobe After Effects 22.6 Prefs.txt" should be revealed.  Quit After Effects and then delete this file or move it to the Desktop.  If moving the Pref text document to the Desktop, I usually renamed it with the date and time, something like "Adobe After Effects 22.6 Prefs - 20221023 1158.txt".

      I
      innovative_Genie3367
      Participant
      May 23, 2025

      it works, thanks.

       

      M
      Mtima248915317iwb
      Participant
      June 16, 2022

      Hi, i've followed your instructions and mine doesn't say delete preferences rather it says 'do you want this app to make changes to your computer', but thing is i'm on a work deadline...so is there no other way to get mode, trkMatt? PLEAE HELP, it's urgent...oww and i'm using aftereffect 2022.

       

      S
      suresh24856875xp9t
      Participant
      June 14, 2022

      Dear Team,

       

      Really it works....amazing thanks to you all. I am happy that someone answered to this question. Really this helps.

      The below one really worked....

      "To reset preferences and plug-in cache at the same time, hold down Control-Shift-Alt (Windows) or Command-Shift-Option (Mac OS) while the application is starting. Release the keys when the splash screen appears."

       

      Best Regards,

      Suri

      S
      Shyanna5CF9
      Participant
      July 24, 2021

      My after effects keeps resetting preferences automatacally and my files cant open know more cause it says it is unreadable i dont want that does anybody know how to fix it

      C
      carlislecreative
      Participant
      June 4, 2021

      Will this fix the bug where anytime I move a layer mask, it goes from Add or whatever it is set to, to None? 

      Nykk_Deetronic
      Nykk_Deetronic
      Inspiring
      May 17, 2021

      Thanks! Opening Adobe Clreative Cloud Windows APP and LShift+CTRL+ALT + click on program will restore default settings and programs finally starts! Thanks!!! 🙂

        E
        elliottmorus
        Known Participant
        March 4, 2021

        Im afraid that the stock answer from adobe support is to delete preferences and start again. This is not the solution for the majority of issues, and the bugs in AE are getting worse with each "upgrade". Support from Adobe is unfortunately severly lacking, so maybe the 'developers' should concentrate on fixing current builds before hastily releasing another clumsy upgrade to appease the ego. Has Adobe overstretched?

         

          W
          Community Expert
          Warren Heaton10841144Community Expert
          Community Expert
          May 20, 2021

          Restoring application preferences to the default is a common troubleshooting step for software - any software.  Yes, it's not always the solution, but it's in no way unique to Adobe.

          E
          elliottmorus
          Known Participant
          May 21, 2021

          I agree with you Warren and thanks for your reply. 

           

          S
          seank47951705
          Participating Frequently
          December 31, 2020

          Garbage.  This is garbage advice from a garbage corporation peddling buggy, cumbersome products.  If you're having trouble opening AE, this is not the solution.  

          Optomize your products Adobe!  And give use stable interfaces! It's actually not to much to ask that you programs work as intended.

            D
            DANIEL JAMES5CE7
            Participant
            January 26, 2021

            I agree whole heartedly with the above statement!

            I'm a Graphic Design student and was excited about getting a chance to see what the adobe suite software could do but I have been let down by constant issues with interfaces and am left wondering why this software is considered indusrty grade? It's clunky, full of bugs and behind the times. Why would anybody pay for this!?

             

            I'm having second thoughts about subscribing to any of your packages in the future as you seem like a company that doesn't care about fixing these issues or making your glitcy interface user friendly.

              W
              Community Expert
              Warren Heaton10841144Community Expert
              Community Expert
              May 20, 2021

              What's that phrase?  Your mileage will vary.  How well Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro, InDesign, and Audition (among others) perform is directly proportional to your hardware configuration.  If you're trying to edit 2GB layered PSD files on a computer with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, it's not going to work so well.  Creating memes for social media?  Have at it!

               

              I guess what I'm getting at is being aware of the system requirements and often exceeding those is important.

               

              Twenty-five years ago, you might have seen a graphic design job posting with "Photoshop experience a plus", but now?  It's absolutely required.

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