by Dino Qiu·Workflow
Images © Dino Qiu. Used for product review; image policy.
Hidden Layer Cleanser earns its place in the aescripts library for a focused job: stripping out unused and hidden layers while protecting those tied to effects.
Hidden Layer Cleanser is a script for After Effects that clears out unused or hidden layers across your project. The result is a tidy, organized composition, which helps when you are preparing files for archiving or handing a project off to another person.
The script recognizes hidden layers that are referenced by effects, such as displacement maps, and excludes them from being selected or deleted. This behavior, added in a November 2024 update, prevents accidental removal of layers that your effects rely on.
Compatibility spans a wide range of After Effects versions, from CS6 through the 2026 release, so it fits into both older and current setups. Version 0.0.1 was last updated in November 2024, and a demo video is available.
Hidden Layer Cleanser is best for after Effects users cleaning up a project before archiving it or handing it over to another person.
Hidden Layer Cleanser is completely free to download and use.
Hidden Layer Cleanser supports a broad span of After Effects releases, from CS6 and CC through CC 2014, CC 2015, CC 2015.3, CC 2017, CC 2018, and CC 2019, up to the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 versions. That coverage means it can slot into both legacy projects still running on older builds and current pipelines on the latest release. If you work across multiple machines or inherit projects from different eras, the script should run in each of those environments.
Hidden Layer Cleanser recognizes hidden layers that are referenced by effects, such as displacement maps, and excludes them from being selected or deleted. This means the script leaves in place the layers your effects depend on, rather than clearing everything that is simply hidden from view. That behavior was added in a November 2024 update to prevent accidental removal of important layers. When you run the cleanup, layers wired into an effect stay put while genuinely unused or hidden layers are the ones cleared out.
Hidden Layer Cleanser's November 2024 update added recognition of hidden layers that are referenced by effects, like displacement maps, so they are excluded from selection and deletion. Before that change, the initial release, published earlier in November 2024, handled the core cleanup of unused and hidden layers. The update specifically guards against deleting layers that your effects rely on, protecting them during the cleanup. Version 0.0.1 is the release recorded here, dated to that same November 2024 update.
Hidden Layer Cleanser is listed as free in this catalog. Pricing and licensing terms can change over time, so for the current details it is best to check the developer's page directly before you download or deploy it in a studio setting. The listing here reflects how the script is offered at the time of writing, and the developer's own page is the authoritative source for any conditions attached to using it.
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