Where apps hide your files
After Effects splits its files across the project folder, a disk cache and a shared media cache. This maps all of them and shows how to clear space without losing work.
After Effects spreads these across several folders:
Auto-saves: a folder next to the project, or a Custom Location you set
Disk cache: ~/Library/Caches (default setting), in Adobe/After Effects/<version>
Media cache: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media Cache Files
Preferences: ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe/After Effects/<version>/The preferences path is the one Adobe documents. The disk cache line combines two checks: After Effects 23.4's saved preferences on a Mac examined for this guide had the Disk Cache folder set to the user's ~/Library/Caches folder, and Adobe Community reports show the cache itself growing in ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/After Effects/<version>. Settings can differ on your Mac, so read your own as shown below.
Adobe's preferences documentation gives two choices for the auto-save location: Next to Project, which creates a folder in the project's directory and stores auto-save files alongside the original project, or Custom Location, which saves them to a folder you specify. The folder beside the project is commonly named Adobe After Effects Auto-Save; that name comes from tutorials rather than Adobe's pages, so look for a sibling folder with Auto-Save in its name.
The settings live in After Effects > Settings > Auto-Save (Preferences in older versions). You set the interval and the maximum number of project versions, and older versions are deleted automatically. In the After Effects 23.4 preferences examined here, auto-save was on, the interval was 20 minutes, the maximum was 5 versions and the location was next to the project, with ~/Documents/Adobe/After Effects pre-filled as the custom folder.
To restore, copy the newest .aep out of the folder to somewhere ordinary and open the copy. Working inside the auto-save folder risks the file being overwritten.
The setting is in After Effects > Settings > Media & Disk Cache. The Disk Cache section shows the folder and a maximum size, and Choose Folder moves it. Adobe Community users report that the location can reset after an update, so look again after upgrading.
The disk cache holds rendered preview frames, so it grows up to the maximum you allow and then stops. Putting it on a fast drive with plenty of room helps previews. If that drive is unplugged, the cache is simply missing and After Effects renders previews again.
The media cache holds conformed audio and index files for imported footage. Adobe's community FAQ on the media cache gives its default on a Mac as ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common, with the database in Media Cache and the files in Media Cache Files. Adobe's Media Encoder documentation says the database is shared by Media Encoder, Premiere Pro and After Effects, so cleaning it from one app affects the others. A separate guide covers the media cache in detail.
In After Effects, the supported route for the disk cache is Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache, which clears it from inside the app with no folder digging. The Media & Disk Cache settings also have a button to clean the media cache database and files.
If you delete by hand, quit After Effects, Premiere Pro and Media Encoder first, then move files from inside the cache folders to the Trash in Finder. Never delete the preferences folder to save space: it holds your workspaces and settings, and its files are small. Adobe says to change settings in the Settings dialog instead of editing those files, and Reveal Preferences in Finder under Startup & Repair opens the right folder when you need it.
Run these read-only checks to see where the space went:
du -sh ~/Library/Caches/Adobe
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/CommonIf ~/Library/Caches/Adobe is large, it is probably the disk cache. If the Common folder is large, it is the media cache. If your Disk Cache setting points at another drive, run du -sh on that folder instead. Run the same commands after a purge to see what you gained.
Take your projects, footage and the auto-save folders that sit beside them. Do not copy caches. They hold nothing After Effects cannot rebuild, and a rebuild is safer than carrying a cache from another version.
Check three things before assuming After Effects failed to save. First, Auto-Save may be off or set to a Custom Location, so open the setting and read the path. Second, a project opened from a read-only location cannot write a folder beside itself. Third, a project that was never saved has no folder to sit next to. Keep a manual dated copy before large changes, since the oldest auto-saves are removed automatically.
These folders sit inside ~/Library or next to scattered projects, which is exactly where Spotlight does not help. Give Everywhere Full Disk Access, since macOS shields Documents and external drives, and typing Auto-Save lists every After Effects auto-save folder wherever its parent project lives, a disconnected project drive included; .aep with part of a project's name lists each saved version. It reads file names only, so open a candidate to see what it holds. ⌘↵ reveals a hit in Finder.
Either in a folder next to the project file or in a Custom Location set under Settings > Auto-Save. The folder beside the project is commonly named Adobe After Effects Auto-Save.
The Disk Cache folder setting defaults to your user Caches folder, and community reports show the cache in ~/Library/Caches/Adobe/After Effects/<version>. Your own setting is under Settings > Media & Disk Cache.
Use Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache inside After Effects. That is safer than deleting folders by hand.
No. The disk cache holds rendered previews, while the media cache holds conformed audio and index files in ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common and is shared with Premiere Pro and Media Encoder.
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