How to Find Your Plugins in Pro Tools

Feb 10, 2026

If you are trying to load your Waves plugins in Pro Tools but you cannot find them, follow these instructions in order to make the plugins available.

Step #1 – Verify plugin software is installed

Check whether the relevant plugin file/s are correctly installed on your computer.

Go to:

Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\Plug-Ins V16, (or whichever version is installed on your device, V15-V9)
Mac: Macintosh HD > Applications > Waves > Plug-Ins V16, (or whichever version is installed on your device, V15-V9)

The relevant plugin file will be named after the plugin, in this format: [PluginName].bundle. For example, the plugin file for Reel ADT will be named Reel ADT.bundle.

If the plugins you are looking for are not there, install the plugins by following the instructions in this link.

  • For V13-V9 plugins to show up in your DAW, their license must be activated. If you installed V14 (or above) plugins or Waves Creative Access, you can skip this step.

    Check whether the relevant plugin or bundle license/s are activated on your computer or USB Flash Drive:

    1. Launch Waves Central via Applications > Waves Central.
    2. Log into Waves Central using your Waves account information.
    3. Select the Licenses page.
    4. Select the Connected Devices tab. Use the arrow on the right to expand the list.
    5. Check if the missing plugin/s license are activated on this connected device.

    If the plugins are not activated, check if they appear in the Not Activated tab. If that’s the case, select the license/s and click ‘Activate’.

    If the plugin licenses are not found in the Not Activated tab, check if they appear in a device in the Disconnected Devices tab. If that's the case, refer to this article.

Step #3 – Rescan for Plugins

Windows:

  1. Quit Pro Tools.
  2. Go to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins (Unused).
  3. If there are any WaveShell files there, move them to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins.
  4. Go to C:\Users\Public\Pro Tools\AAXPlugInCache.
  5. Delete any file that starts with WaveShell (for example, WaveShell1-AAX 16.7.aaxplugin.plugincache)
  6. Press [Win key]+R, type %appdata% and hit Enter. A window titled Roaming will show.
  7. In Roaming, go to the folder named “Waves Audio”.
  8. Delete the folders “Caches” and “Preferences”.
  9. Launch Pro Tools. If prompted to Locate the Waves plugins folder, direct to C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\Plug-Ins V16, (or whichever version is installed on your device, V15-V9).
  10. Create a fresh session with a supported sample rate, add a track and insert your Waves plugin/s.

Mac:

  1. Quit Pro Tools.
  2. Go to Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Avid > Audio > Plug-Ins (Unused).
  3. If there are any WaveShell files there, move them to Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Avid > Audio > Plug-Ins.
  4. Go to Macintosh HD > Users > Shared > Pro Tools > AAXPlugInCache.
  5. Delete any file that starts with WaveShell (for example, WaveShell1-AAX 16.7.aaxplugin.plugincache)
  6. In Finder, click on the Go menu, hold down the [Alt/Option] key and click on Library.
  7. Go to Caches and delete the folder named “Waves”
  8. Go back to Library (From step #6) and from there, go to the folder named “Preferences”.
  9. In Preferences, delete the folder named “Waves Preferences”.
  10. Launch Pro Tools. If prompted to Locate the Waves plugins folder, direct to Macintosh HD > Applications > Waves > Plug-Ins V16, (or whichever version is installed on your device, V15-V9).
  11. Create a fresh session with a supported sample rate, add a track and insert your Waves plugin/s.

If your plugins load in Demo mode (with periodic mutes), refer to this article.

None of the above worked Contact Technical Support.