How To Reset Adobe Dynamic Link
Step-by-Step: Fixing Dynamic Link When It’s Being a Diva
If you’ve ever tried to send a Premiere Pro sequence over to After Effects and nothing happens? Or worse, it throws a vague “Dynamic Link Connection Failed” or “Adobe After Effects Must Be Installed” error, you know how frustrating this feature can be when it breaks.
The good news? You can usually fix it in just a few minutes without reinstalling everything or sacrificing a goat to the Adobe gods. Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough that’s worked for us (and yes, even Adobe Support backs it up).
1. Close All Adobe Apps
Start by quitting everything Adobe-related:
- Premiere Pro
- After Effects
- Media Encoder
- Even Adobe Dynamic Link Manager if it’s running in the background
On Mac, use Activity Monitor.
On Windows, pull up Task Manager.
Make sure no stragglers are left open.
2. Rename the Dynamic Link Folder
This is the magic move. Don’t delete — just rename. Adobe will rebuild a fresh folder the next time you launch.
Mac:
Primary location:
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/
Secondary (user-specific) location:
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/
Rename dynamiclinkmediaserver → dynamiclinkmediaserver_OLD in both locations if they exist.
Tip: The user Library folder is hidden by default. In Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G and paste the path above to access it.
Windows:
Primary location:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\
Secondary (user-specific) location:
C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\
Rename dynamiclinkmediaserver → dynamiclinkmediaserver_OLD in both locations if they exist.
Tip: To access AppData, open File Explorer and enable Hidden Items under the View tab. Or paste the full path into the address bar.
Next time you launch Adobe apps, it’ll rebuild a fresh folder automatically.
3. Clear Your Media Cache (Optional, but Smart)
In both Premiere and After Effects:
- Go to Preferences > Media Cache
- Click Delete Unused or just nuke it with Delete All
This gets rid of leftover junk that could be interfering.
4. Make Sure All Apps Are on the Same Version
Dynamic Link breaks if Premiere is version 24.2 and After Effects is still stuck on 24.1.
- Open the Creative Cloud app
- Hit ⋮ > Check for App Updates
- Make sure Premiere, After Effects, and Media Encoder are all on the same page
5. Relaunch and Try Again
Now, restart everything fresh:
- Open After Effects first
- Then open Premiere Pro
- Right-click a clip and select “Replace with After Effects Composition”
If all goes well, After Effects should launch and Dynamic Link should behave.
6. Still Nothing? Try Resetting Preferences
Only do this if you're still having issues:
- Hold Alt+Shift (Windows) or Option+Shift (Mac) while launching Premiere or After Effects
- Confirm the prompt to reset preferences
⚠️ Warning: This resets everything - layouts, shortcuts, the works.
Final Thoughts
Dynamic Link is awesome when it works, and maddening when it doesn’t. But with a little cleanup and some folder renaming, you can usually fix it in under 10 minutes and get back to your timeline.
Don't want to deal with it? Let us take care of that video instead!