Guide · November 2026
Pro Tools loads only 64-bit AAX plug-ins, from one folder: /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins on a Mac, C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins on Windows. It has no rescan button. To make it look again, quit Pro Tools, move the plug-in out of Plug-Ins (Unused) if it is there, delete its file in the AAXPlugInCache folder and reopen Pro Tools.
Updated 10 November 2026 by Sonisto, which makes the plugin manager this guide mentions. Every folder and step below is from Avid’s own pages, read on 10 November 2026: the Pro Tools 2026.11 Reference Guide, the knowledge base articles Only Default AAX Plug-ins are Loading in Pro Tools (updated 8 July 2026) and How to manually uninstall Pro Tools (updated 2 September 2026), and Avid’s guide to adding plug-ins. The Windows cache folder and the Waves steps are from Waves’ support page (10 February 2026); Rosetta is from Apple’s Rosetta page (21 September 2026).
| What | Mac | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| AAX plug-ins Pro Tools loads (Plug-Ins) | /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins | C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins |
| Plug-ins Pro Tools does not load (Plug-Ins (Unused)) | /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins (Unused) | C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins (Unused) |
| Plug-in cache, Pro Tools 2023.12 and later | /Users/Shared/Pro Tools/AAXPlugInCache | C:\Users\Public\Pro Tools\AAXPlugInCache |
| Plug-in cache, Pro Tools 2023.9 and earlier | ~/Library/Preferences/Avid/Pro Tools/InstalledAAXPlugIns | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Avid\Pro Tools\InstalledAAXPlugIns |
The Plug-Ins folders are in the computer’s main Library, not your user Library. In the Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and paste the path. On Windows, AppData is a hidden folder: switch on Hidden items in File Explorer’s View menu.
Quit Pro Tools, then run the plug-in’s installer and make sure it installs the AAX version. It goes to the Plug-Ins folder in the table above.
Activate the plug-in in its maker’s app or in iLok License Manager before you open Pro Tools. A plug-in that is installed but not activated may not load.
Pro Tools lists the real-time plug-ins installed in its Plug-Ins folder. Open it after the install. If Pro Tools was open while you installed, quit it and open it again.
Choose Window > Mix (Command and = on a Mac, Ctrl and = on Windows). On the track’s channel strip, click the first empty insert slot, then pick the plug-in by category or by manufacturer. Its window opens on its own.
Avid’s Reference Guide describes no rescan button and no plug-in manager window, and every one of Avid’s fixes ends with reopening Pro Tools. So a rescan means quitting, clearing the cache for the plug-ins you want it to look at again, and opening it.
Close your session and quit Pro Tools before you move or delete any plug-in file.
Open the Avid Audio folder (paths in the table) and look in Plug-Ins (Unused). If your plug-in is there, move it back into Plug-Ins. Pro Tools does not load what is in Unused, so a missing plug-in is often just there.
In Pro Tools 2023.12 and later, open the AAXPlugInCache folder and delete the file named after your plug-in (it ends in .plugincache). Pro Tools scans that plug-in again the next time it opens. Delete every file there to make it scan all your plug-ins, which takes longer. In 2023.9 and earlier, delete the single InstalledAAXPlugIns file instead.
Reopen Pro Tools and let it finish starting up, then look for the plug-in in an insert slot.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The plug-in works in another DAW | You installed only the VST, VST3 or AU version | Pro Tools loads AAX only. Run the installer again and choose AAX, or ask the maker whether an AAX version exists |
| It is in Plug-Ins (Unused) | It was moved out of the Plug-Ins folder | Quit Pro Tools, move it back to Plug-Ins, reopen |
| It is in Plug-Ins but still missing | An old cache entry | Delete its file in AAXPlugInCache, then reopen Pro Tools |
| Only Avid’s own plug-ins load | A stray Plug-Ins folder next to the Pro Tools app | Avid’s fix: look in /Applications on a Mac or C:\Program Files\Avid\Pro Tools\ on Windows for a Plug-Ins folder, move it out, relaunch |
| It is an old plug-in | A 32-bit build | Pro Tools 11 and later uses 64-bit AAX plug-ins. Get the current version from the maker |
| It loads only on an Intel Mac | No Apple silicon build | Ticking Open using Rosetta in the Pro Tools app’s Info window opens it as an Intel app, as Apple describes. Rosetta goes away for most apps from macOS 28, so ask the maker for an Apple silicon version |
| Waves plug-ins are missing | A WaveShell in Unused, or an old cache | Waves’ steps: move WaveShell files from Plug-Ins (Unused) to Plug-Ins, delete the WaveShell files in AAXPlugInCache, then delete Waves’ own caches and preferences |
Waves also asks you to check the license in Waves Central first. For other brands, the maker’s support page usually names the file to delete.
Pro Tools shows only what it can load, so a plug-in with no AAX build simply is not there. Sonisto’s free scan lists the plugins on your computer by format, VST3, AU and AAX among them (on a Mac, add /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST with + Add path in the Scanner to list VST2 too). Filter the Library by AAX to see what Pro Tools can load. A plugin’s Files table shows the Location of each format, with a button that opens it in Finder or Explorer, so a plugin with a VST3 row and no AAX row tells you which installer to run again. The scan only reads what is installed.
Many Pro Tools users work on a studio computer and a laptop. Sonisto’s Free plan covers one computer and one scan a month. Basic covers 2 computers and compares them, so you see which plugins are missing on the other one, and adds a password vault for your plugin logins and a list export. Pro covers 10. See the plans side by side.
Quit Pro Tools and delete the plug-in’s file in the AAXPlugInCache folder: /Users/Shared/Pro Tools/AAXPlugInCache on a Mac, C:\Users\Public\Pro Tools\AAXPlugInCache on Windows. In Pro Tools 2023.9 and earlier, delete the InstalledAAXPlugIns file instead. Pro Tools scans those plug-ins again when you reopen it. There is no rescan button.
Usually because the plug-in has no AAX version installed, because it sits in the Plug-Ins (Unused) folder, or because Pro Tools was open during the install. Pro Tools loads only 64-bit AAX plug-ins. Check the Plug-Ins folder, move anything you need back from Unused, clear its cache file and reopen Pro Tools.
On a Mac it is /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins, in the computer’s main Library. On Windows it is C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins. The Plug-Ins (Unused) folder sits beside it and holds plug-ins Pro Tools does not load, so check there when one goes missing.
No. Pro Tools loads AAX plug-ins only, in their 64-bit version, so a VST, VST3 or Audio Units copy of a plug-in does not appear. Many plug-ins come with an AAX version in the same installer; run it again and choose AAX, or check the maker’s site for one.
More: how every DAW finds your plugins, where every plugin format installs, VST, VST3, AU and AAX explained and how to add plugins to Logic Pro. Moving to a new computer? Move your plugins and licenses. VST plugin manager · All guides.
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