Free PT Prefs App Now Apple Silicon Compatible
Pete Gates has announced on the PT Prefs thread on the DUC the public beta release of an Apple Silicon compatible version of his very popular free PT Prefs app, which simplifies the process of trashing the Pro Tools preference files. This process can resolve specific problems that occur with Pro Tools.
PT Prefs 2 Features
It's a Universal Binary, so runs natively on Intel & ARM64
It requires macOS 10.10 Yosemite minimum
Plugin reporting now only reports active plugins
Plugin reporting now only reports AAX plugins
Plugin reporting now reports plugin architecture - Intel/ARM/Universal
Plugin reporting can now export an Excel of the installed AAX plugins
The main window is resizable - for the plugin list
It only supports 64 bit Pro Tools installations now
As you see it looks very different. So much simpler. Pete says…
“Extra options, such as individual trashing/restoring, will appear when everything is working reliably (it is here, but that never means much!).
The idea now when you trash preferences is that a backup is made first then preferences are trashed. In the restore page you can select from the backup snapshots.”
What Is PT Prefs?
PT Prefs is a utility program for macOS, which can delete, backup and restore various preference and support files - Pro Tools preference trashing in other words! It doesn't delete any essential system files, they are all just settings which at worst can be manually re-entered. Sometimes Pro Tools benefits from having these files cleared out (after a crash/blackout etc) - Pro Tools remakes them with default settings when it is run next. Therefore if you are unsure which options to check it is safe to check them all, in fact if you are running this software due to a problem rather than as a matter of course I would recommend trashing all preferences, it's more likely to solve the problem.
What It Used To Look Like
Want To Do It Manually?
You don’t need to use PT Prefs 2 or TRASHER 3, you can trash the Pro Tools Preferences file manually…
Trashing Pro Tools Preferences on macOS or MAC OS X
Pro Tools 11, 12, 2018+
Close Pro Tools and launch Finder.
Click Go and select Go to Folder…
Enter ~/Library/Preferences/Avid and click Go.
Delete the Pro Tools folder.
Restart your computer and launch Pro Tools.
Pro Tools 10
Close Pro Tools and launch Finder.
Click Go and select Go to Folder…
Enter ~/Library/Preferences and click Go.
Delete the following files in this Preferences folder:
com.digidesign.ProTools.plist
com.digidesign.ProTools.plist.lockfile
DAE Prefs
DigiSetup.OSX
Pro Tools Prefs
Restart your computer and launch Pro Tools.
Trash Pro Tools Preferences for Windows
Show Hidden Folders First
Before trashing Pro Tools preferences, follow these steps to show hidden folders:
Windows 8 & 10
Click ‘View’ in your File Explorer window, then check Hidden items above Show/hide.
Windows 7
Navigate to the Control Panel, and select Appearance and Personalization.
Go to Folder Options, then select the View tab.
Lastly, under Advanced Settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then select OK.
Pro Tools 11, 12, and 2018
Close Pro Tools.
Hold the Windows key on your keyboard and press R.
When the Run window appears, type %appdata% and press OK.
Open the Avid folder, and delete the Pro Tools folder.
Restart your computer and launch Pro Tools.
Pro Tools 10
Go to your Start menu and click on Computer.
Double-click on the C:\ drive.
Double-click on Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Digidesign.
Go to the DAE folder, and delete the DAE Prefs folder.
Hold the Windows key on your keyboard and press R.
When the Run window appears, type %appdata% and press OK.
Open the Avid folder (Digidesign folder with Pro Tools 8 and 9), and delete the Pro Tools folder.
Restart your computer and launch Pro Tools.