Installing plugins
You can download various plugins here:
Most plugins get automatically activated once you install them on your system.
Caution:
- 64-bit Audacity can only run 64-bit plugins, and 32-bit Audacity can only run 32-bit plugins.
- Additionally, Apple Silicon (arm64) Audacity cannot run Intel (x86-64) plugins and vice versa.
- "Instrument" versions of plugins (VSTi, LV2i) are not supported.
If a plugin doesn't get found by Audacity, or doesn't come with an installer, move the plugin files to one of the following locations:
Windows
macOS
Linux
You can access the Common Files folder quickly by hitting
🪟 WINDOWS key + R
to launch Run and typing %ProgramFiles%\Common Files
- VST2:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2
orC:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins
- VST3:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
- LV2:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\LV2
Note: Always copy the complete .lv2 folder - LADSPA:
C:\Users\<username>\Appdata\Roaming\audacity\Plug-ins\
Note: You can quickly access this folder by hitting🪟 WINDOWS key + R
to launch Run and typing%AppData%\audacity\Plug-ins
- Vamp:
C:\Program Files\Vamp Plugins\
- Nyquist: See below
All Plugins can be installed per-user (
~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/...
) or system-wide (/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/...
). In following, only the system-wide path is named- Audio Unit:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
- VST2:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/
- VST3:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
- LV2:
~/.lv2
or/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/LV2
, Note: always copy the entire .lv2 folder - Vamp:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Vamp
- Nyquist: See below
- LV2:
~/.lv2
,/usr/local/lib/lv2
(for 32-bit) or/usr/local/lib64/lv2
(for 64-bit) Note: Always copy the entire .lv2 folder - VST2:
~/.vst
or/usr/local/lib/vst
Note: Many VST effects are Windows-only - VST3:
~/.vst3
or/usr/local/lib/vst3
- LADSPA:
~/.ladspa
or/usr/local/lib/ladspa
- Vamp:
~/.vamp
or/usr/local/lib/vamp
- Nyquist: See below
To install a Nyquist Plugin, follow these steps:
- 1.Download the plugin(s) in question.
- 2.Open Audacity, and go to Tools > Nyquist Plugin Installer
- 3.Click Browse and locate your downloaded plugin(s)
- 4.Click Open, then Apply and finally OK.
- 5.Restart Audacity.
- 6.The plugin should now be available in the corresponding Generate, Effect or Analyze menu.
- 1.Go to Tools > Plugin Manager
- 2.Select the plugins or effects you want to deactivate
- 3.Click Disable.
- 4.To re-enable a plugin, select them and click Enable.
- 5.Click OK to close the Plugin Manager and save your settings.
Last modified 18d ago