How To Rescan Plugins In Pro Tools

What makes Pro Tools unique in terms of plugin management is that plugins are scanned upon every DAW launch. Due to this, we recommend that Pro Tools is closed when installing new plugins or plugin updates. The following guide will address most customer reports in regards to "missing plugins" in Pro Tools. 

Plugin Installations

• Generally this goes without saying, but typically when plugins do not show in Pro Tools, it's because they are not installed on your system, or they require an update. If the plugins were installed while Pro Tools was open, you may need to restart your system and then re-launch Pro Tools. 

Organize Plug-In Menus By Category & Manufacturer

• If you are missing plugins in Pro Tools, please ensure you arrange your plugin list by category and manufacturer as shown below ↓

This option can be found within Pro Tools "Preferences". Once the option is selected, you can view plugins manufacturer as shown below ↓

SCREENSHOT GOES HERE

Trash Pro Tools Prefs (Mac)

• In some rare situations, you may need to trash "Pro Tools Prefs" and the file "InstalledAAXPlugIns". Pro Tools 12 users can navigate to the following path in order to delete these items: /Users/<your_username>/Library/Preferences/Avid/Pro Tools

• You will need to hold down the "Option" key in the Finder "Go" menu in order to access the Users Library as shown in the image below ↓

• We suggest viewing the following Sweetwater article for other Pro Tools versions (11 and below): https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/how-do-i-trash-my-pro-tools-preferences/

Trash Pro Tools Prefs (Win)

• If issues persist, you may need to trash "Pro Tools Prefs" and the file "InstalledAAXPlugIns". Pro Tools 12 users can navigate to the following path in order to delete these items: C\:Users\<your_username>\AppData\Roaming\Avid\Pro Tools

• You will need to Show Hidden Folders in File Explorer options in order to access the hidden library as shown in the images below ↓

• We suggest viewing the following Sweetwater article for other Pro Tools versions (11 and below): https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/how-do-i-trash-my-pro-tools-preferences/

Additional Troubleshooting

Please make sure your operating system and version of Pro Tools are supported: System Requirements & Supported Digital Audio Workstations

License Troubles?

If you're seeing a License Error, please try the following:

Open the iLok License Manager and make sure it is up-to-date. Next, right click on your iLok dongle, listed in the left column, and choose Synchronize.

Wait for the operation to complete, and then launch your DAW.