Increase the amount of memory available to After Effects in the preferences (macOS: After Effects > Settings > Memory & CPU > RAM available for. Windows: File > Preferences > Memory & CPU > RAM available for.)
Last updated on
Apr 30, 2026
Manage low‑memory conditions in Adobe After Effects by adjusting memory and cache settings to reduce slowdowns and interruptions during previews and renders.
After Effects low memory warning
After Effects version 22.5 attempted to cache five frames for preview, even when it exceeded the memory allocated to After Effects in the RAM available for the option in the Preferences dialog box.
With the new updates in After Effects version 22.6, you also get notified with a low memory warning banner and informs that it would extend the assigned RAM to cache the frames for preview.
Scenarios when After Effects may not have enough memory to cache frames for preview and reduces the preview range significantly:
- The memory specified in the RAM available for preference sets the available memory for After Effects, Premiere, Character Animator, Media Encoder, Photoshop, and Audition. If a number of these applications are open, then the share of the allowed memory for After Effects is low.
- Third-party effects also share assigned memory and can contribute to high memory usage. This shrinks the preview range as you continue to work on the project.
If the workaround does not help, you can identify and remove effects that are contributing to high memory usage and not releasing memory appropriately.
Once you have identified the effect that is causing this issue, report it and avoid using this effect.
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