What each scan finds | Tidy Docs

Finding categories

Row	What is counted
Unsorted	Eligible project items outside their configured type folder.
Empty folders	Folders whose entire contents are empty folders. Each folder in the tree counts separately.
Unused	Removable items used in no composition. Kept comps can appear in the list without increasing the count.
Duplicates	Extra footage or solid items that can share one source. The survivor is not counted.
Missing	Footage reported as missing by After Effects, plus placeholders.
Fonts	Distinct missing font names, rather than affected layer count.
Naming	Comps with a recognized default name.

The same item can appear in more than one category. Counts are not a total of unique project items.

Unsorted

Comps used by another comp go to Precomps. Comps used by no other comp go to Comps. Render queue membership does not change this classification.

Solids, including solid sources used for nulls or adjustment layers, go to Solids. Other footage is classified in this order using the file’s name, rather than its renamed Project panel label.

Match	Destination
Extension in Vectors, Data, or Audio	That category, in that precedence order.
Extension in Images, imported as a still	Images.
Extension in Images, imported as moving footage	Video, including image sequences.
Extension in Video	Video.
No extension rule, audio but no video	Audio.
No extension rule, still footage	Images.
Anything else	Video.

Existing destination folders are matched without regard to case and reused. A scan does not create folders. Sorting creates only the paths it needs. Folder scope and custom-folder preservation determine which items are eligible to move.

Empty folders

A folder containing even one non-folder item is kept. A folder containing the protected folder is also kept, even if that protected folder is empty. Cleanup removes the deepest empty folders first and keeps the scope folder itself.

Unused

Tidy checks whether After Effects reports any comp using an item. Uses anywhere in the project count, including outside a folder scope.

Item	Treatment
Unused footage or solid	Eligible for removal.
Data footage	Kept, even with no reported comp use.
Unused comp	Listed as kept unless Remove unused comps is on or the Unused wand is Alt-clicked.
Comp appearing anywhere in the render queue	Kept, regardless of queue status.
Protected item	Excluded from unused cleanup.

Removing a comp can leave its sources unused. A new scan can therefore find more to remove. Tidy does not repeat removal until no new unused items remain.

Duplicates

Source	Required match
File footage	Same full file path, compared without regard to case, and the same still/moving status. Conformed frame rate and alpha mode are also compared when available.
Solid	RGB color rounded to 8-bit values, width, height, and pixel aspect ratio.
Placeholder or comp	Never merged as a duplicate.

Matching footage names or identical file contents at different paths are not enough. Solids are not compared by duration. File footage is not compared by every interpretation setting, so inspect footage interpreted differently before merging it.

The survivor is chosen by protected-folder membership first, then the number of comps using it, then the lower project item ID. Protected duplicates are never removed. The list names the survivor with Same as.

If any layer using a duplicate is locked, that entire duplicate is skipped by default. Merge into locked layers allows source replacement, temporarily unlocking and then relocking those layers. See merging duplicates for scope and reference changes.

Missing files

The search tries the full filename first, then the name without its extension. Both comparisons ignore case. The first indexed file for a matching name wins. It does not compare file contents or offer a choice between multiple matches.

Image sequences use their stored file name, normally the first frame, and are replaced as sequences when the extension is in Images and the source is moving footage. A placeholder is replaced as an ordinary file. Protected items are included in relinking.

Search skips dot-prefixed files and folders. It descends at most 12 folder levels, queues at most 4,000 folders, and indexes at most 50,000 files. Unreadable subfolders are skipped. These limits are not shown as a separate warning in the panel. Choose a smaller, readable search folder if expected files are not found.

Fonts

Tidy checks text layers in comps inside the scope, including protected comps. It uses the missing or substituted font information available from After Effects. For animated Source Text, it checks the current value and the first 40 keys.

Each font row names up to three affected layers, followed by a count of additional layers. It stores at most 50 layer locations per font for the reveal actions. Layers using multiple character fonts are not exhaustively inspected character by character. A clear Fonts row is not a complete typography audit, especially when an After Effects version cannot report missing-font information.

Naming

The match ignores case. Recognized names are Comp, Pre-comp, Precomp, and Composition, optionally followed by a single space and digits, such as Comp 1. Names such as Comp 1 copy are not matched. Protected comps are still reported.

Health score

The ring shows a rounded score from 0 to 100. Missing files weigh most heavily. The score describes this scan’s categories, rather than whether a project will render correctly.

Category	Weight
Unsorted	20
Empty folders	10
Unused	15
Duplicates	15
Missing	25
Fonts	10
Naming	5

Each category subtracts weight × count / (count + 3) from 100. A count of zero subtracts nothing. Comps listed as kept do not lower the score. An empty project can score 100.

Scan limits

Each list displays up to 400 entries. Its count still reflects the full finding set, and cleanup is not limited to the displayed entries. For very large reports, narrow the scope to inspect smaller groups.

Naming selects from its displayed report, so a single pencil action selects at most 400 comps. Font navigation also uses the displayed rows and stored layer locations. Rescan as you resolve a large report to reach later entries.