Setup: Quick Start Guide

Install and Licensing

Drag and Drop from the DMG to Applications

After purchase download the DMG file, mount it by double clicking the DMG and as indicated drag the App over to the Applications folder. When it's finished copying over — double click that folder or go to Applications, and double click the App icon to launch. You may be asked to give permissions to access the plugin folders depending on your setup, if so please grant those for the App to be able to function.

License activation window

On first launch you'll see the activation instructions, enter your name and license code that you received and activate. You should see confirmation and you're good to go. This is a one time internet based activation, once activated the App doesn't do security checks and operates offline unless you deactivate it. There are 5 activations per license available, deactivating the license (on the Settings Page) adds it back to your pool. Contact support if it's all gone wrong.

Updating from a Previous Version

As a precaution please backup your Groups and Tags and export a complete database export from the bottom of the Data Management Page (v1.2+) — but the App is designed to simply replace the App in Applications and retain the backend and licensing. Make sure you've closed the running existing Plugin Manager and mount the new update DMG as above and drag the new into Applications. You will be asked to confirm replacement of the older App, confirm and relaunch the new version.

Future Updating from v1.2 Onwards

Starting with version 1.2 the Settings Page will allow you to check and download new updates directly from the App. On the Settings page click the Check For Updates button. A message will appear if new updates are available. Activate the check on startup box and the App will automatically check for updates.

Recommended Quick Start Steps

1

Launch the App. On the main page, press the Scan Folders button. Wait for the spinning indicator to stop. A message will appear to create an Active Plugin Snapshot Group of your current Active Folder plugins. This is highly recommended — see below how to export this information for extra safety!

Creating a Group Plugin Snapshot

Why? When you're experimenting you may move your plugins out of active and you'll want to get back to this first state. You can also create this Group at any time by selecting the ALL checkbox in Active Folders view and creating a new Group — but this is easiest. Done? Great — you should see numbers next to the folders on the left hand side, this is the number of plugins in each folder. A Group will also have been created on the left hand panel if you did this recommended setup.

Permission issues detected

You may see a message appear bottom left about Permissions. Certain Plugins may require you to fix their permissions before they can be moved, as that's what this App does. There's an option to Fix and View the plugins there and then, or skip it if you leave the message unanswered — more on permissions later.

You may also see a critical message if you have duplicate Plugins in the Active Folder — if you do see the duplicates section of the manual for a solution.

Duplicates detected in the Active Folder Dialogue

2

The top left side folders are the main plugin reference lists for this app. Click on each to view their contents in the main list pane. The top All Plugins selector shows you a list of all the plugins in both your Active Plugins folder plus the Unused Folder (Inactive). The number shown is the total number of plugins together. (Say "Wow. I have a lot of plugins"). This is not an actual folder on disk, just a way of showing all of your plugins.

Folders view showing plugin counts after first scan

3

Active Folder — shows all plugins currently in the main active Pro Tools™ plugin folder, set to the Pro Tools™ default folder install position on your computer. Anything within this folder, Pro Tools™ scans when loading and will be available in Pro Tools™. Anything in the Unused Folder, shown below it, it won't. These show the current folder contents on your computer after you have scanned.

4

Of course you made the first snapshot Group, didn't you?! To export your first Group: on the horizontal 3 dot menu next to this Group select Export Group File. It will create a text file of that name and you can save it to your computer. This Group file can be reimported later into an empty or already populated Group (overwrites it) — so what we have done is create a safe startup snapshot state. Clicking ONLY on the menu will move all of these back into the Active Folder, and all the current Plugins Active Plugins out — so if you move plugins around you can return to the state your Pro Tools™ active plugins folder was before you started experimenting.

Good practice is to do the same for the Unused Folder: select ALL when viewing the folder and create a Group called "Unused all" for example, and export this. The actions you do to the Groups dictates what is in the Pro Tools™ folders and therefore what Pro Tools™ can access when running — see below for more detailed information on Groups.

Main Page Overview

The Main Page — numbered features overview (1–19)

1. The Main List

This is the Main Page and the Main List is what you will probably be looking at the most. Get back from other pages using the 1 shortcut key. In the centre of the page is the ever updating list showing your plugins in whatever folder you've selected on the left, or Group, or however tagged, or filtered or however it's sorted! In the collapsed view there's a small green dot if the plugin is currently in the Active Folder, a grey dot if it is not. This list will not show any plugins until after your first scan.

2. Scan Folders Button

This performs a scan of both the Active Folder (on disk: "Pro Tools Plug-ins") and Unused Folder ("Pro Tools Plug-ins (Unused)") on disk. The button indicates it's scanning with a spinning icon — wait until it's finished before doing more actions for database accuracy. Plugins are added or removed from the database based on what the scan finds, and the Plugins found will appear in the lists in the window. The App uses both the metadata within the plugin and the Pro Tools™ generated plugin cache files to tag some useful data onto the plugins — Category, Version, Architecture.

3. The Cloud Version Page NEW v1.2 — Shortcut Key 2

This will not be visible until you head to the Settings Page and click the activation slider Online Features — Cloud Version Checking. For users who wish to remain offline leave it unchecked. More information on the cloud version page is here.

4. The Data Management Page NEW v1.2 — Shortcut Key 3

Mostly used for exporting or importing your Groups, Notes and Data with other options to compare data exported from other Apps, or Pro Tools itself. Go here for more information.

5. Settings — Shortcut Key 4

Access Settings page for more advanced functions — details later in the manual.

6. Dark and Light Mode — Shortcut Key 5

The sun/moon toggle button top right switches between the two modes.

7. All Plugins, Active Folder and Unused Folder (Inactive)

The main lists of your scanned plugins on the computer that you can view, group, tag or action. All Plugins is not a folder on disk, just a combined list of Active and Unused — your whole collection. Whereas Active and Unused are the actual Pro Tools™ folders on disk, and should always be set to the default Pro Tools locations in settings. This should happen automatically.

8. Search Text Bar

Type to search — will filter out as you are typing. The powerful feature is that if you're in a folder view or Group view (selected on left side) it will only search in the items in that folder or Group, and as you move through your choice of those the list will change as the search text is kept. Small x to clear the text. This is searching for plugin names; for Tag search we use the Filter, or work in combination with filter and text search together.

9. Search Bar Filter — Shortcut Key f to open / x to clear filters

The Filter panel — three-column layout with multiple filter options

Lots of options — first select the Group, or overall folder for the plugins to be filtered, then add text in the text search bar if required and click the filters needed. The filter will work through that plugin selection to give you the results you want. The folders and Groups selection can be altered by clicking on another, and the filter will re-filter through the new selection quickly. Multiple filters can be applied at the same time.

The filter display now in V1.2 has been enhanced to include more information. Scroll down the three columns to quickly find manufacturers or categories and more. Selected filter items are promoted to the top of the display, click to remove individually, or clear all to return to no filter state. The filters in use also display in a hover state when the user moves over the filter button when it is closed.

Click the x in the text bar or select the "clear option" to reset the Filter. Filter is coloured to show filtering is happening — just in case your search is not returning what you think it should, this is usually the first thing to check.

10. Collapsed / Expanded View Toggle — Shortcut Keys ← →

Expanded view — showing Notes & Links, version info and app-generated tags

Defaults to collapsed view to save screen space. Expanded view shows the App generated tags (version/architecture/category) etc, plus the user generated tags, notes and links if any. Also shows the disk path and file name, the Plugin's preset folder and if selected, any version update information. Other tags you may see are Newest In Folder — this means there is another version of the Plugin in the Unused Folder and this is the newest version of the two. Oldest in Folder is the older — try using this filter on the Unused Folder view.

Expanded view can also be accessed on a single plugin basis through the vertical 3 dot menu.

11. User Tags / Notes And Links / Cloud Version Updates — Shortcut Keys t, n, v

With more information and features in V1.2 you can now quickly show or hide information per Plugin, to avoid screen clutter. The shortcut keys will toggle on and off the user tags, show all created notes and links (either user generated or using the App's suggestion data), and now show any version update information found. Click the version toggle once to show information on any updateable plugins, or click again and the toggle will go violet and now you are exclusively showing the plugins that have an update suggested by the cloud version check. A quick way to see what needs updating — select a group, or active/unused or even All Plugins folders to see updateable Plugins within.

It's recommended for detailed version checking and updating to use the Cloud Version page itself where more information is available.

You may find if you want to see all tags, notes and information available to be in expanded view. Collapsed view offers a more compact view with more plugins on the list at one time, but at the cost of shortening display names. More information here on Tags, Notes and Links and Cloud Version Updates.

12. Sort

Changes the order the Main list is shown.

The Right Sidebar Filter

Shortcut Key s to toggle

Right Sidebar Filter — a persistent filter panel on the right edge of the main page

This is a duplicate of the functionality of the main filter in the search bar, to make the most of screen space if you are on a larger monitor, and also give a quicker view of more specific information. Click the icon or use the shortcut key s to toggle visibility.

Both filters are a mirror of the other — any checked item on one will be made on the other, and clearing filters similarly clears both.

Collapse the sections to allow more data on screen in the list column — for example, leave only manufacturers open for a longer accessible list than you may find in the more minimised Search Bar filter.

Enter text in the box to quickly refine the manufacturers, press return to quickly check the box of the manufacturer(s) displayed.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Reminder panel for all the shortcut keys in V1.2, worth learning a few — or at least k to open this panel! These work on the Main Page only, with the exception of the page jump number keys which work from all pages.

Plugin 3-Dot Menu

The vertical 3-dot menu on each plugin card

Action options change depending on context and whether you're viewing a Group or one of the Folders — and will also react to multiple checkbox selections allowing actions to be performed to more than one plugin at a time. The display will update with (x) the number of plugins selected.

Selecting Plugins and the Quick Move Buttons

Click a checkbox or checkboxes to allow operations to those selected plugins — the dot menu adapts to allow bulk operations. When any plugin is selected the quick move buttons appear at the bottom: Green Move To Active and Red Move To Unused (Inactive) and a Blue Create Group button. Click if needed or use the further menu options. App logic won't let you move plugins where duplicates would be created, or moving a plugin to where it currently is.

§17 — Select All / Scroll Bar (Pinnable)

If scrolling through large Plugin Groups or the main list you may find it helpful to pin this bar in place to enable quick selecting and clearing of checkboxes. A small reminder of some of the shortcuts for adding to Groups or editing Plugin notes appears when in use. The chevron arrows return the user to the top of whichever list they are viewing without needing to use the scroll bar.

Groups

The Group 3-dot menu showing all available Group actions

The powerful part of this app! With Groups you can manage your AAX plugins easily, to help with session organisation, or system troubleshooting, and many different creative setups. Each Group is a list of plugins that you can further organise or action — see group ideas at the end of this manual. If you've a lot of Groups use the collapsable icon to minimise the space they take up.

A Group can have both selections from the Active Folder and the Unused Folder at the same time, as it's the ability to pull plugins from each location to make a new Active set that's the power of the App. In each Group's horizontal 3 dot menu you'll see the following:

Subfolders and Plugin Locations

Plugins are found and used by Pro Tools in subfolders. This App's scan accepts where the plugins appear in the folder structure as the default origin point and will return them to there if it can.

Realtime Activation of New Plugins in Active Folder

Recent Pro Tools™ allows you to add a plugin whilst running (removing is NOT RECOMMENDED) so when you move a Group or single plugin to the Active Folder within a short period of time they will appear and be usable. This is great for missing plugins — also keeping a lean plugin Active folder and only adding the ones you need when you need them. If you open a session and are faced with a number of missing plugins, quickly search the Unused Folder for them, create a Group called "Track X etc" and then ADD to the Active Folder — they should be scanned and you will be given an option to activate them on the tracks that use the missing plugins.

Generally you don't need to worry about duplicates being created by adding/moving Groups or plugins around as the App backend will stop duplicates being created, and you will see messages telling you if plugins have been skipped during a move or an Add because there's already the plugin in that position.

Missing Cache Files and Rosetta

Later versions of Pro Tools default to Silicon mode which means Plugins that would normally run only in Rosetta Mode are not loaded. It also means if you've installed or moved various plugins whilst in Silicon Mode you may find missing or incomplete metadata in the app, because Silicon mode Pro Tools will also not generate cache files for non-Silicon plugins. The solution for completeness is to occasionally boot PT in Rosetta and generate cache files for those plugins. In Mac Finder, locate Pro Tools and Get Info (Command + I) and switch on Open With Rosetta.

User Tags

Tags display in the main list

Tags are another useful way to find your plugins and help with workflow, independent from Groups. As well as the (uneditable) App generated tags created by the App scanning the plugins and cache files, a number of user created Tags can be added to any plugin.

When on the main list view in either the folders or a Group, click the vertical 3 dot menu next to the chosen plugin and select Edit Tags, or use the shortcut keyboard command e. You are presented with a text box, here you can create a new Tag and press the blue + button. The tag is then added to the box below. If you've any existing tags you'll see an option to click those to add to the tags on this plugin with "+" or remove them from the plugin with "x" buttons. Save Tags to exit this page. Here you can also delete Tags from the database by clicking the Delete Tags From Database button — clicking Tag names will remove them. Confirm after checking the dialogue as it will remove Tags from all existing Plugins.

Note: multiple selections are possible when editing tags — simply select the checkboxes of the plugins you want to edit first, when you click the menu you will see the number of plugins the tags will be added to.

On the left hand side of the main page you'll see a list of all created tags. Click on any and the list view will change to display all the plugins with that tag. The display is not affected by the folder or Group you are in — wherever the tagged plugins are they will be shown exclusively. Only Tags which are attached to a currently existing Plugin are shown.

If you wish to filter by tag — for example only find the user tagged "Cool FX" plugins in a Group or a folder, select Group or Folder first and use the filter drop down menu — all user tags appear as an option there. Tags are also shown in expanded view lists on the main page. You can export a list of tags and reimport — good for setting up another computer. The app will attempt to reattach the tags to updated plugins of the same name.

The sidebar filter also has an option to filter by tags in an additive way — unlike the exclusive display of tags on the right hand side.

A Note on App Generated Tags

The App will attempt to find all the metadata it can on the plugin and add to the database. When in the expanded list view you can see the information retrieved. This is not user editable — add your own tags for this. Some of the data is taken from the Pro Tools™ cache files generated when Pro Tools™ boots up and scans all the plugins so it's recommended that you've at least launched Pro Tools™ once before you scan using this app. A small green c appears to indicate a cache has been found, a yellow o if the data has been obtained from the .plist in the plugin (internal metadata).

On future scans any further information found will be added to the database. It is noted that there is a large variety of differences in quality of metadata and some of the older plugins store metadata differently, some plugins are missing correct version numbers or have multiple spellings of the same manufacturer. For this reason use this as a guide only.

Notes and Links

Edit Notes and Links dialog — with text notes, URLs and app launcher links

Another way to add useful information is to add it as a Note or Link. Tags are generally designed for numerous Plugins to show the same information e.g. "Favourite FX" (although you can use as you wish). Notes are for keeping more specific information perhaps on a single Plugin, or a number of Plugins from the same Manufacturer. One scenario for this was keeping serial numbers or login information for that plugin easily accessible. The information is stored locally in the Mac Database offline, but be aware if you are on a shared computer.

Click the vertical 3 dot menu on a plugin and select Edit Notes and Links, or use shortcut r. A panel opens where you can add text notes, URLs (web links to manufacturer pages, download pages etc) and an App Launcher link.

Manufacturer Link Suggestions

Manufacturer Link Suggestions dialog — suggests known download/homepage links

On first use of the Notes & Links panel, or by clicking the suggestion button, the App will offer suggested manufacturer links drawn from its internal database of known manufacturer download pages and homepages. Click to pre-fill the URL field. This is to speed up the process of populating your plugin notes with useful links.

If you know of a better link than what's suggested, or find one is outdated, please use the Report button on the Cloud Version page to let us know — or add your own in the Notes and Links field for personal use.

App Launcher Links

An App Launcher link allows you to record a path to an application on your computer associated with a plugin. Click the folder icon to browse to an application (for example a manufacturer's update utility or licence manager). Click to confirm and a new App Link path appears. Make sure to save this. Now when displayed on the Plugin strip, clicking this will launch that App — quicker for updating and installing. Apply this using the multiselect and you can select that App for all a manufacturer's products.

Depending on your settings on your Mac there is a chance you may need to allow the App to do this — follow the privacy message that appears if so to enable.

Duplicates in the Database

There are three types of duplicates you'll come across using this app (if you indeed do have duplicate plugins). Firstly, and worst-ly, duplicates in the Active Folder are not tolerated! These have proven to be a source of mysterious crashes or behaviour in Pro Tools™. This can happen when you're manually reorganising plugins, or reinstalling an old AAX plugin file directly rather than from a pkg or DMG.

On every scan the App checks for these. All plugins are scanned and hashed to aid comparison — so if you have "pluginorange.aax" but also the same plugin that's somehow been renamed "pluginlemon.aax" this app will alert these as exact duplicates. It will also raise a warning if plugins are found with similar names appended with "copy".

If you get the warning the easiest way to do this is to select the Show Problems button — this will reduce the list to the problem plugins. Leave the desired plugin, select the rogue plugin and move to trash, the Unused Folder, or manually open Finder and move to your backup location. Rescan and the warning will not reappear if the duplicate has been removed successfully. The settings page will show a little more information about the duplicates found.

The second type of duplicate is where you've an older version in the Unused Folder that maybe you've been keeping for session recall. No problem — if the plugin is in the Unused Folder that's ok, and the app will attempt to label this as an "Oldest in Folders" meaning inversely you'll see a "Newest In Folders" tag on the active version.

"Newest In Folder" and "Oldest In Folder" badges — quickly identify duplicate versions

Sometimes you'll want to move a plugin from Active to Unused where there already is an identically named plugin — if this is the case the app will append a unique number to the end of the plugin name (e.g. pluginorange_175362728.aax). This doesn't affect plugin functionality and the app tracks these changes — when moved back to the Active Folder the appended number will be stripped back to original.

Duplicates — Acustica Plugins

Acustica duplicate warning — with the special Acustica handling checkbox

The third type of duplicate you may encounter is with Acustica Plugins. Acustica Plugins work differently using a shell, where different plugins appear identical in size and hash (how this App marks duplicates). This causes the user to be faced with a lot of duplicate warnings if Acustica Plugins are being used. V1.1 and upwards will show a special Acustica warning box alongside the message with a check box.

Checking the box will allow the App to treat Acustica plugins as any other plugin, freely moving as expected. Otherwise the App will try to disallow what look like duplicate plugins being moved. When the user has approved and activated this feature a checkbox (usually hidden) will appear in the settings page — leave this checked and it will allow the free operation.

Acustica also installs a large amount of support files for its plugins inside the Active Folder. This App does not move any of those, only the shell aaxplugin itself. Use the Aquarius uninstaller or manually clean up those files if you do not want to use Acustica. You need to leave them in the Active Folder for the plugins to function — they are "safe" if left without the parent plugin.

Cloud Version Page

The Cloud Version Check page — showing results after a cloud scan

This feature allows you to automatically check your installed plugins against version numbers found in the Cloud Database. The database is constantly updated with new version information from users and administrators. If a plugin you have installed is found to have a higher version number when comparing it to the database, you will be given that information, and a link to a manufacturers homepage or download page where available.

Shortcut key to this page is 2.

How to Use

Make sure you've recently scanned with the Main Page Scan Folders button. This will make sure the current version information in your local database is accurate, ready for cloud comparison.

This feature is activated by a slider on the settings page — the page will not appear until it is activated. This is for users who wish to remain wholly offline for their setups. Once activated the Cloud Version page icon will appear, navigate there (or press shortcut 2).

The page will be pretty empty before the first scan. There's a blue Check Now button — but before you press that…

Safelist

If you are a beta tester under a manufacturers NDA, or maybe don't want to share version information related to a particular plugin, open the Safelist and choose Plugins to exclude from the Cloud Version Check. Likewise you won't receive any information from the cloud check. Select then Save and Close. Remove to allow plugins to be checked.

Check Now Button

You will see information here about the last scan and time of that scan. If there are any server messages you may also see them reported here. On clicking, all the currently scanned plugins in your local database will have their version data and other metadata for matching sent to the cloud. There it is compared against the latest version data found and reports back to the App those results.

By default the App lists Plugins in the Active Folder (Active Only) as these are most likely to be your most recent versions, and the ones you wish to update. Click the Active Only button to toggle/show All Plugins.

Manufacturer view is also enabled by default — most useful where it's likely that a whole bundle of Plugins gets an update at the same time. Again you can switch to an individual view if required.

Export Report can be helpful if you want to take this information and locate the installers on another computer to avoid downtime, or give it to an assistant.

The results are also filtered by the Hide Probably Beta Versions button — which looks at user and admin reports to toggle what are most likely not generally available to the majority of users. Some users may wish to have this information about future updates, so when unchecked no updates will be hidden.

The Plugin Update List

You may see a list of Plugins where the App has reported a newer update has been seen in the database. The version found is indicated by a small version arrow from the current version to the higher or later version number.

Beneath the plugin you may be offered a couple of links — to the manufacturer downloads page, or if installed on your machine, the local update app to help speed up updating. Information is taken from the database and can be updated. Some errors and omissions are expected — please use the Report button below.

You may also see an admin note linked to certain plugins — for example if there's been noted a plugin metadata version issue, or a general note of how a manufacturer often delivers updates.

A Rescan button is provided for after you've updated a certain Plugin — the Plugin will disappear from the list if successfully updated. The Ignore button is for if you wish to keep a Plugin at an earlier version — for example session recall, or a plugin where you have a license for an earlier version only. The Report button is there for if you know or suspect a missing update is a Beta, or have a better link, or no link is suggested.

The Main Page Version Display

The main home page Plugin list can also display version information. Click v or the version toggle box to view as part of the Plugin information, click v for a second time to display ONLY the Plugins with version updates suggested. For updating it's generally recommended to use the main Cloud Version page where more information can be shown and features accessed.

Some More Information and Caveats

On the first version check, the scan creates a local cache of available update versions and subsequent scans compare your versions against this cache for 12 hours before refreshing. After that the check will look again for any new data from your computer database, or new in the cloud. Plugins matching or exceeding the cached version are marked as updated and removed from the update list if you've updated in the meantime.

Reasonable daily rate limits apply to keep the service available for all users — if you find you can't scan again please wait until the App resets.

Data Management Page

Using the Compare Feature

Once identified and validated you can click the Compare button and a list of filters and options appear. Clear to choose different files. Export Full Report gives a readable breakdown of the changes between the two txt docs, highlighting which plugins are present, but in the Unused Folder, or not installed.

The more instant way of getting the information you need is by using the coloured filter buttons that appear. By default the first two light up: Missing from (comparison computer) needs Install — these Plugins are NOT found in either folder on the Comparison Computer — or In Unused on (comparison computer) needs move — these Plugins that are in the Reference Computer's Active Folder are present on the comparison computer but in the Unused Folder.

These two factors seem to be the most common scenario — basically getting your various computers' Active Folders the same. Other options comparing Folder position, Version differences between the txt files are available. Manufacturer listing can also be helpful to identify bundles to install rather than individual plugin names.

Notice you can create a Group of the selected filtered Plugins — for example create a Group of the "in Unused" plugins, move this to the comparison system and import — it should populate, then click ADD to Active on that system and should move all those at once.

Or if you need to install multiple plugins, create a Group of the missing (not installed) and install on the new computer — this should slowly go from missing status to found as you reinstall.

Settings Page

Accessed via the wheel icon or shortcut key 4. Return via 4 or wheel icon or click any folder or Group. More advanced features you might not need every session.

Waves™ Plugin Management

This section will not show if Waves™ is not detected on your system. This is only for Waves v15 and upwards users — useful if you want to thin out the amount of Waves™ plugins appearing in Pro Tools™ menus but recommended to leave unmanaged for simplicity. Also if you use an additional DAW as it affects all apps that use Waves™.

Waveshells are the AAX plugins that Pro Tools™ uses — you may have one or more than one in your Active Folder. Each of these references a folder outside of the set Pro Tools™ Folder in /Applications/Waves/versionx which contains all the individual Waves plugins.

You can't add or manage individual Waves Plugins™ to Groups like you can with other plugins — if you want to use them in Pro Tools™ you need a Waveshell in your Active Folder. This section of the App is just for convenience and will move the Waves plugins™ in and out of a newly created "Unused" folder. This action will affect all other DAWs on your system and the WAVES™ plugins will not be available in those until restored/rescanned.

UAD™ Plugin Management

UAD™ Plugins are AAX plugins in the standard Active/Unused folders, so they work normally with Groups and all the standard App features. The UAD section on the Settings page provides additional convenience for UAD users:

• Move all UAD plugins to Active or Unused in one click
• Useful if you don't have your UAD hardware connected — move them to Unused and back when you do
• You can still create Groups of your authorised UAD plugins as with any other plugin

Danger Zone

File Permissions Reset

Certain Plugins may require you to fix their permissions before they can be moved by this App. You may see a message appear bottom left about Permissions on scan. There's an option to Fix and View the plugins there and then, or skip it. The permissions fix tool is also available on the Settings page under Danger Zone.

You may come across permission problems when transferring plugin files via portable drives or the network. Use the App on the second machine to fix these if needed.

Clear Pro Tools Cache

Clears the Pro Tools plugin cache files. On next Pro Tools launch, Pro Tools will regenerate these from scratch. This can help if you're seeing outdated plugin information or category/version metadata is wrong.

Clean Timestamped Duplicates

The App appends a unique number to plugin filenames when they need to coexist in the Unused folder with identical names. This option cleans up any of those where the original plugin has since been removed and the numbered version is the only copy — stripping the appended number.

Remove All Missing Plugins from Database

Removes all plugin entries in the database that are no longer found in either the Active or Unused folders. Use this if after a major clearout you don't want to see the Missing indicators in your Groups. This does not affect your Groups' plugin lists — it removes only the database entries for plugins that can't be found on disk.

Reset Messages

Resets all the one-time dismissal messages (permissions prompts, welcome dialogs, hints etc) so they will show again.

Reset Database

Completely wipes the app database — Groups, Tags, Notes, plugin metadata and all settings. This is a last resort for troubleshooting serious issues. Export all your data first.

Further App Info

The Settings page provides paths and identifiers useful for troubleshooting: the database location, the active/unused folder paths, and the license information including User ID and Computer ID used for cloud features.

Removing the App Completely

1. First deactivate to return your license to the pool (Settings → License section)
2. Delete the app from /Applications
3. Delete the database folder: ~/Library/Application Support/aax-plugin-manager/
4. Optionally delete logs: ~/Library/Logs/AAX Plugin Manager/

What Groups Could I Make?

Some real world suggestions…

Privacy & Legal

Privacy Policy — Key Points

Default offline operation: The app operates offline by default. No personal information is collected after licence activation. All plugin data is stored locally on your Mac.

Optional Cloud Version Checking: Disabled by default. Requires explicit opt-in. When enabled, plugin names, version numbers, manufacturer names, bundle identifiers, and CPU architecture are transmitted. No names, email addresses, file paths, or usage patterns are ever collected.

Optional App Update Checking: Disabled by default. When you check for updates (manually or automatically on launch), only your current app version and anonymous identifiers are sent. No plugin data is included.

Anonymous identifiers: Two non-personal IDs are used for rate limiting and database integrity:

• User ID: An anonymous, non-personal identifier associated with your licence. This groups all computers belonging to the same licence holder.
• Computer ID: An anonymous, non-personal identifier unique to each computer. This distinguishes individual machines registered to your licence.

Neither identifier contains your name, email, or other personal information.

Your rights (UK GDPR): You may request access to, or deletion of, data associated with your identifiers, or withdraw consent by disabling Cloud Features in the app at any time. Contact support via the contact form on our website.

Disclaimer — Key Points

Software is provided as-is. The developer is not liable for file operations, data loss, plugin incompatibility, system instability, cloud service interruptions, inaccurate version information, or any other damages arising from use of this software.

Always quit Pro Tools before using this app. You are solely responsible for maintaining backups before performing any file operations.

Avid factory plugins are protected by default. Disabling this protection is at your sole risk.

Licence: Single-user licence for up to 5 personal machines. May not be shared or used in multi-user/institutional environments without a separate agreement.

Governing law: This agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales.

Full policy: See the Privacy Policy page on our website for the complete current text, including all disclaimer clauses and your full legal rights.

Changelog