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How to Use Waves Plugin Presets

Jun 23, 2026

Waves plugin presets are managed via the WaveSystem Toolbar, , where you can load factory presets and setup file, and also create, save, and manage your own user presets.

To learn more about preset managemet, please refer to the WaveSystem user manual.

In case you can’t find your presets (whether factory or user-created), please make sure you are using the WaveSystem toolbar’s preset menu, rather than your host application’s preset menu. How to Use Waves Plugin Presets How to Use Waves Plugin Presets

In V17, a new preset menu was introduced: In V17, a new preset menu was introduced

To open the window, either click on the preset name in the WaveSystem Toolbar, or double-click [Shift] on your keyboard.

You can browse presets with your mouse, or with the arrow keys on your keyboard. Hit [Enter] to load the selected preset. You can also search presets by name, and filter by Factory, User, or Favorite presets.

To designate a preset as Favorite, choose a preset in the Preset Menu and click the star next to it.

Quick actions are available on the top bar. From left to right:

  • Save preset.
  • Copy preset.
  • Paste preset.
  • Reset to default – load default preset.
  • Detach window – detaches the preset window and allows for continous preset browsing.
  • Hamburger menu – additional actions.

In V16 and below, presets are accessed from the old preset menu: old preset menu

In V12-V16, an additional Preset Browser has been added for fast preset searching, via the old preset menu: old preset menu

Instead of browsing manually through preset menus, you can now search presets by text, filter them by name, delete user presets, designate presets as Favorites (new feature in V15) and quickly audition your results.

Additional Presets:

Some plugins come with additional presets available in the ‘Setup Libraries’ folder:

  • Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\Data\Setup Libraries \ *Plug-In name
  • Mac: Applications > Waves > Data > Setup Libraries > *Plug-In name

There, organized by various topics, you’ll find banks of setup files which can be loaded via the WaveSystem Toolbar > Preset Menu > Hamburger Menu > Load.

Copy Presets to a Second System:

You can move and copy user presets and favorites from one system to another. This entails copying the “Plug-in Settings” folder from the source system and pasting it to the same location on the target system. Presets folders are found at these locations.

  • Windows: C:\Users\Public\Waves Audio\Plug-In Settings \ *Plug-In name
  • Mac: System HD > Users > Shared > Waves > Plug-In Settings > *Plug-In name

You can paste the entire preset folder to the target, which will overwrite all presets on the target host, or selectively paste individual presets.

Copy Favorite Presets to a Second System:

Favorite Presets do not automatically appear in the Plug-in Settings folder. To ready favorites for copying, do this:

  1. On the source system, choose “Export Favorites” from the hamburger menu. A Favorites folder will be created within the Plug-in Settings folder.
  2. Copy this folder to the target system.
  3. On the target system, select “Import Favorites” from the hamburger menu. Your favorites will appear in the Preset Browser.

This process overwrites existing favorites on the target computer. We suggest that you delete the Favorites file after importing it on the target. This prevents re-importing old favorites and overwriting those that you have modified.

Need further assistance? Contact Technical Support.