Search Bar, Input Values, and Tab Shortcut Not Working Correctly

Report · Nov 17, 2025

Unable to search or input values on layer properties within the current build of After Effects. Every time I try to select an input text bar (i.e. search bars, input value boxes, etc.) it immediately cancels out, not allowing to type. Search bars and input text bars work when panels are un-docked but within the workspace.

I've tried:
Restarting
Reseting Preferences
Re-installing After Effects

Reseting Workspaces
Un-installing plugins

Unfortunately the problem still presists, has anyone found a fix for this?

Report · Nov 18, 2025

Others have reported a temporary fix of disconnecting from your internet network. For some reason that seems to make the UI behave as expected again. They've also said that enabling the network again brings the issue back.

This issue has been popping up a lot in the past 5 days across multiple platforms. I've seen it reported with both After Effects and Illustrator so far (there may be others that I haven't seen).

One user also responded with this solution:
"i fixed it. was a discord overlay issues for me. even if i wasnt on a call (or the overlay wasnt active) it would bug out. had to turn it off."

Report · Nov 18, 2025

That's not ideal. Could you share the following details so that we can investigate the issue further:

1. What are your system specifications (CPU, GPU, RAM, OS version)?

2. What version of After Effects are you using?

3. Have you installed any new applications on your machine recently?

Let us know, we're here to help.

Thanks,
Nishu