He navigated to his plugin manager. He clicked 'Install'. A pop-up window shattered his hopes.
If you want to optimize this setup for your specific system, let me know: What are you currently running? Are you on a Mac or Windows operating system? Do your pre-comps contain complex expressions or 3D layers ?
macOS: /Applications/Adobe After Effects /Scripts/ScriptUI Panels
Click on the precomposition layer in your main timeline that you want to unpack.
Turns a multi-step, boring task into a single-click action.
The Ultimate Guide to Unprecompose Plugins: Best Free Downloads and Workflows
Purely utility-driven with zero UI bloat. You select the pre-comp, run the script, and the layers explode onto your main timeline instantly.