[HELP] After Effects 2025 crashes while editing video

[Anna_Mrowi?ska3766]

The program is crashing while editing.

1. Launching the program
After launching the program, but before the main window opens, the following message usually appears.
It doesn’t show up every time.

2. Initial troubleshooting attempts
I’ve tried every option except “Manage Plugins,” since I don’t have any external plugins installed and would prefer to avoid uninstalling the program’s default ones.
After selecting any of the other options, the program opens as usual.

3. Normal operation before editing
The program works normally until I start editing a video. After adding any footage to the timeline, letting it load, and pressing “play” (for example, with the spacebar or by clicking the button on the interface), it runs normally.

4. Issue when moving on the timeline
When I manually change the position on the video timeline (e.g., to the 5-second mark) and press “play,” the video freezes — the image stops, but the sound continues to play.
There’s no synchronization between audio and video, and the timeline cursor that should move in real time with playback also stops.
At that point, I have to restart the program because I can’t unlock the image or the timeline.
Deleting the video and re-uploading it doesn’t solve the issue.

5. Frequency of the issue
Sometimes the problem only occurs after several interactions with a given video file.

6. Full freeze when editing
The most severe issue occurs when I try to edit a video file (for example, to trim it). In that case, the program completely freezes.

7. System behavior after freeze
Fortunately, the computer and other applications remain functional and can still be used.
When the program freezes like that, it can’t be closed even through Task Manager.
It can be minimized, but it remains running in the background, and only restarting the computer removes it from the task list.

I have the latest version of Adobe After Effects installed.
I also consulted with an IT specialist, and all my system software is up to date.
My computer’s specifications are not an issue — it should easily handle the program.
All other Adobe applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) run smoothly and have never frozen.

• Operating system: Windows 11 Pro

• Laptop model: Acer Nitro ANV15-52

• Processor: 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-13900H (2.60 GHz)

• Graphics cards: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics

Please help me with this problem.

[nishu_kush]

Thank you for writing in, Anna and sorry to hear about your issue.

As I can understand, your After Effects freezes when you try to work with a video file. What happens if you do not import the video file and work only with Solid and Text layers? Does the issue occur? If it's happening only with the media, it could be because the media file is corrupted or its location is not properly accessible by After Effects. Also, in some cases, it could be an outdated GPU driver.

Let me know.

Thanks,
Nishu

[Anna_Mrowi?ska3766]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, until now I’ve mainly been working with video files. I’ve just tested working with solids and text as well. The first solid was created, but I can’t move it in any way. I added text and additional solids — they appeared on the timeline, but not in the composition workspace. I can’t work with them at all. I added another composition, but it’s not visible either — the previous one is still displayed. The interface remains active — I can click and switch tools — but I can’t work in the composition workspace anymore.

[nishu_kush]

Thanks for getting back. How much RAM is installed in your machine? Does your machine have enough free space in the C drive? Have you tried clearing the media cache (Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache)? Also, what version of the Nvidia GPU driver are you using? Check if updating it helps.

Let me know.

Thanks,
Nishu