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Inspiring
November 15, 2024
Answered

i cannot Launch After Effect 2025

  • November 15, 2024
  • 11 replies
  • 5695 views

I’m so frustrated that I had to work on an urgent task today, only to find out that I couldn’t open After Effects at all.

It seemed like I had options, but after installing and uninstalling it several times, I still couldn’t get it to work.

At first, I thought it might be because of C4D, but then I realized that wasn’t the issue. I’ve wasted 4-5 hours on this already.

Here are the four options I was presented with:

Start in Safe Mode
Reset Preferences
Manage Plugins
Continue
None of these options worked to get After Effects running.
I feel hopeless and have to accept that I will lose this job/task.

 

Correct answer martech_5976

I want to tell you that I can now use After Effects. I was able to enter Save Mode, reset preferences, and use the program as usual. I just tested opening it without setting anything up. Thank you again! 

11 replies

Blissful_T4D
Participant
February 4, 2026

Same issue here photoshop works when I got After effects working but media encoder didn’t open,.  uninstalled everything reinstalled everything Photoshop works Media encoder works and After effect Doesn’t work ?   used Adobe creative cleaner on everything reinstalled and again Aftereffect doesn’t load I have not seen Aftereffects for 3 days now ..

I just got the company to buy Creative cloud … really ,.there’s are ALOT of threads point to the very issue that have been active for many years . and Adobe cares Zero about it seems...

nishu_kush
Community Manager
Community Manager
February 4, 2026

Hi ​@Blissful_T4D,

 

Sorry to hear about the crash. Could you share more details on what’s happening? Are there any error messages or crash reports? What are your system specifications (CPU, GPU, RAM, OS version)?

Let me know.

 

Thanks,

Nishu

Blissful_T4D
Participant
February 4, 2026

HP Zbook Power 

CPU :Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 9 185H (2.30 GHz)

RAM: 64.0 GB

GPU RTX 2000 ADA Generation

Win 11

 

I have reinstalled And used the

AdobeCreativeCloudCleanerTool

AdobeLimitedAccessRepairTool

many times …. if Media Cleaner works After effects does NOT, if After effect works Media cleaner doesn’t 

 

if I go back to AE 25 AE works but again Media Cleaner doesn’t the fact i have tried multiped times show I’ve wasted HOURS on this,,,,  & shows should gone with Affinity and Resolve for this project.

Sébastien Périer17107209
Community Manager
After Effects Sr. Quality Engineer
November 22, 2024

I'm happy that you are now able to use AE. 

Have a nice day,

Seb

martech_5976AuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
November 21, 2024

I want to tell you that I can now use After Effects. I was able to enter Save Mode, reset preferences, and use the program as usual. I just tested opening it without setting anything up. Thank you again! 

Participant
February 20, 2025

Hi, I am experiencing the same issue and have not yet found. would be helpful if you could share how you resolved the issue.

Sébastien Périer17107209
Community Manager
After Effects Sr. Quality Engineer
November 20, 2024

Hi @martech_5976 ,

 

thanks for the video, it is really helpful. I've shared your recording with the engineering team so we can investigate.

Seb

Inspiring
November 19, 2024

Hey, I still can't use After Effects.
Could you take a look at this video?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1brW4yt1hlg_qB7nU7pi1IxUbAv--7-y-?usp=sharing

It's still freezing the same way.
I'm sure I've updated the GPU and installed
both the old and new versions of After Effects
multiple times, but it's still the same.
I have no options left.


Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9400F CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti


https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1brW4yt1hlg_qB7nU7pi1IxUbAv--7-y-?usp=sharing

Participant
April 12, 2025

I'm also facing same issue, how to fix it, @Sébastien Périer17107209 

Inspiring
November 19, 2024

Hey, I still can't use After Effects.
Could you take a look at this video?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1brW4yt1hlg_qB7nU7pi1IxUbAv--7-y-?usp=sharing

It's still freezing the same way.
I'm sure I've updated the GPU and installed
both the old and new versions of After Effects
multiple times, but it's still the same.
I have no options left.


Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9400F CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti



Inspiring
November 16, 2024

I don’t have Trend Micro installed, and I haven’t received any Crash Reporter.
I just switched to this new account, so there are no plugins installed yet.
I’m wondering if it might be related to not having C4D installed?

Inspiring
November 16, 2024

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9400F CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

I assume the issue isn't related to the operating system since Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro are still working fine.

I updated the RTX 3060 Ti drivers, but I still can't open the program. It gets stuck on the "Initialize Required Components" screen. Regardless of whether I select Safe Mode or Reset Preferences, it remains stuck on the same screen.

I also tried switching to Version 2024, but the problem persists exactly the same.

Sébastien Périer17107209
Community Manager
After Effects Sr. Quality Engineer
November 15, 2024

Hi martech,

 

I'm so sorry you are having issues launching AE 2025. 
Could you tell me more about the computer specs:
- OS, and OS version

- CPU, GPU and GPU driver version

Do you get any Crash reporter dialog when AE crashes?

If you are on Windows, do you have Trend Micro installed?


From Creative Cloud you can still install AE 24.6. Could you try installing it and see if it works fror you?

Sebastien
After Effects Quality Engineer

Legend
November 15, 2024

When you launch After Effects, does nothing appear, does it stay in the background tasks,

or does it crash on the splash screen? If so, at which step?

 

Generally, this isn't an issue related to After Effects.

Check your GPU drivers.

They might be improperly installed or simply not up to date.

 

And also, you should check your computer's files

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files