ESC to leave text editor, like in Ai, Ps, and iD
In Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign, you can leave the text editor with the ESC key. In some instances, it even switches to the move tool simultaneously. Typography is such a huge part of motion graphics so having the ability to edit and move text around quickly is incredibly valuable.
Right now, in AE, hitting ESC after editing a line of text undoes any changes. This is especially frustrating when I've spent time meticulously formatting and kerning characters and then all that work is gone in an instant. Command+Z doesn't bring it back!
I'm aware that Command+Enter will keep changes made to a text layer, but Adobe has already built this muscle memory of pressing ESC in the other apps. And getting my left hand to hit Command+Enter is such an awkward motion (and I'm a lefty!!!).
This probably falls under the request to have ESC as a custom hotkey, but I think it should be addressed regardless.

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Mark Halvorson commented
+1. Photoshop even asks me what I want the escape key to do. This would be a nice change in After Effects.
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Sheila San Agustin commented
Yes! Please! Why is this not already a thing?
I'm getting into AE after years of using all 3 of the above programs constantly. The inconsistency and years of muscle memory make it so frustrating when working with text in AE. It's minor in theory, but when working with so much text, the extra effort adds up and really slows down the workflow.
And for those who want to mention the numpad, some of us work on laptops that don't have it or we don't always have access to a keyboard with one. It's a simple accessibility fix that can make such a world of difference and I'm confused why it's not even an option when editing shortcuts.
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Trevor Hawks commented
Bump.
This is the most mindnumbingly frustrating thing in the entire creative cloud suite. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?
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Ryan Elliott commented
I think out of all the Adobe software AI does this best by allowing the escape key to leave the text editor. However I would be willing to compromise on what key it is, but the important thing would be unifying the control between PS, AI, PP, AE. The most frustrating thing is working in between all this software and constantly having to shift your brain into different key commands for the same task. This could extend into unifying the way color functions work between all these programs.
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Joe Clay commented
Have been hit by this one before....
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Orla Hjort commented
+1 here. This would make texting so much easier!!
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Nick commented
To be fair, AI is the weird one here (though can't remember ID's approach). AE matches PS in that ESC discards the changes to a text object.
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In PrPro graphics, we use escape to deactivate the caret to get you out of input mode so your keys will work as hot keys again. That way you can at least press esc then press v to switch right to the selection (arrow) tool. I like the idea of switching to that automatically, but you may just as likely want the razor or some other tool in Pr so I think it's best as is. At any rate, I agree with you about hitting ESC and undoing changes in Ae = frustrating. It seems like there is an opportunity for improvement (and parity here, so you have my +1.
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Navy Sisomphou commented
Oh, and I don't always have a keyboard with a Num pad... in case someone brings that up.