Plug-in Administration in FL Studio 20 (Mac)

On Mac computers, Native Instruments products can be loaded either as VST or AU plug-ins. Once the products are installed, FL Studio 20 must scan your plug-in directories in order to make them available in the FL Studio 20 Plugin Database Browser. You can find instructions for Windows in this article.

Info for Mac users: FL Studio 20 introduces the ability to use Audio Units (AU) on Mac computers; however, we recommend using VST whenever possible for the following reasons:

  • Sharing projects - If you are sharing projects with Windows users, you must use the VST versions of plugins since Audio Units are not available on Windows.
  • MIDI out - AU does not support MIDI out to other plugins.

On a Mac computer, VST files and AU files are automatically installed to the default system folders. FL Studio 20 scans these folders on startup. If your NI plug-ins do not appear in the FL Studio 20 Plugin Database Browser, do the following:

  1. Open FL Studio.
  2. In the menu bar, click on Options and select Manage Plugins.
    KB964_FlStudioOptionsMac.png
  3. The FL Studio Plugin Manager appears. Make note of the listed plugin search paths to the left, as well as the actual list of plug-ins to the right. The list will indicate the plug-ins which are installed in the AU, and VST formats. 
    Fl_Studio_Plugin_Manager.png
  4. If your NI Plug-Ins are not showing in the FL Studio Plugin Manager list, click on the folder symbol (+) to add a Plugin search path.
    FlStudioAddSearchPaths.png

    Note: It is only recommended to add the default MacOS VST folder / path, if it does not appear by default in the FL Studio Plugin Search Paths (as seen in the example above).

    The default MacOS VST folder/path is: Macintosh HD > Library > Audio > Plug-Ins > VST

    If it was necessary to add the default MacOS VST folder / path to the FL Studio Plugin Search Paths, press the Find plugins button once.
    FlStudio_Find_Plugins_Button.png
    After your system plug-in folders have been scanned, the NI plug-ins will now be available in the FL Studio Plugin Database Browser.

  5. You have the option to use the Audio Unit and/or the VST Plug-In versions of your NI Plug-Ins.
    FlStudioPluginDatabaseInstalled.png

    Note: Read this article to learn how to insert Native Instruments plug-ins in FL Studio 20.