Fix After Effects Crash on Startup (GPU Preferences)

After Effects crashes at launch when the GPU preferences file gets corrupted. Delete the file, restart, and you're back in business. Here's exactly how.

Quick answer

Delete the GPU preferences file (listed below) and restart After Effects. That's it.

Why this happens

After Effects stores your GPU settings in a small text file. When that file gets corrupted – usually from a crash mid-session, a driver update, or switching GPUs – the app chokes on it at boot. Instead of gracefully resetting, it just dies. I've seen this on Windows 10 and macOS Big Sur, mostly with Nvidia cards but also with integrated Intel GPUs on laptops.

The file is GPU_settings.txt (Windows) or GPU Settings.txt (macOS). It lives inside your After Effects preferences folder. Deleting it forces AE to rebuild the GPU detection from scratch. It won't touch your actual project files or general preferences – only the GPU-related stuff.

Fix steps

Make sure After Effects is fully closed. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) on Windows or Activity Monitor on Mac for any lingering AfterFX.exe or Adobe After Effects processes. End them if found.
Open the preferences folder:
- Windows: Press Win+R, paste %APPDATA%\Adobe\After Effects\ and hit Enter. You'll see folders like 22.0, 23.0 etc. – pick your version folder.
- macOS: In Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G and type ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe/After Effects/. Same thing – pick your version folder.
Inside that version folder, look for GPU_settings.txt (Windows) or GPU Settings.txt (macOS). Delete it. Don't worry, AE creates a fresh one on next launch.
Restart After Effects. It'll take a bit longer on first boot because it's re-enumerating your GPU, but it should launch normally.

If that didn't work

Sometimes the GPU prefs file isn't the only thing messed up. Try these in order:

Reset all preferences: Hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Cmd+Option+Shift (Mac) while launching After Effects. Click "OK" on the dialog asking to reset preferences. This clears everything, including any other corrupt files.
Update your GPU driver. A buggy driver can write garbage to that file. Download the latest from Nvidia or AMD directly – don't rely on Windows Update.
Disable GPU acceleration temporarily. If it still crashes after resetting, open the file GPU_settings.txt (now regenerated) with Notepad or TextEdit. Change the line GPU Acceleration=true to false, save, and launch AE. You lose GPU-accelerated effects, but you can work while you sort out the driver.
Check for conflicting plugins. Third-party effects like Red Giant or Video Copilot can corrupt the prefs on load. Rename the Plug-ins folder inside the After Effects installation directory to Plug-ins_off and try launching. If it works, re-enable plugins one by one.

Prevention tip

After Effects is finicky about abrupt shutdowns. If you force-quit the app during a long render, that's the #1 way I see this file get corrupted. Always quit through the menu or keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Q / Cmd+Q). Also, when you update your GPU driver, plan to restart After Effects once after – don't sit in the same session across driver updates.

I had a client last month whose entire print queue died because of this exact file – they thought their graphics card was toast, bought a new one, and the problem followed. Took me two minutes to fix. Don't be that guy. Try the file delete first.