How many times have your read here or on the DUC or elsewhere someone recommending that you trash your preferences when you have a problem with Pro Tools but weren’t sure what that meant or entailed? If so then this article is for you. We will cover how to trash (or reset) your Pro Tools Preferences for both macOS and Windows platforms manually or using a dedicated app to help you.
Trashing the Pro Tools Preferences using either the apps PT Prefs or TRASHER 3, or doing it manually as dscribed below, will effectively 'reset' Pro Tools.
Before deleting any of the files, we recommend that you copy them into a new folder on your Desktop called “Pro Tools Preferences Backup”. Returning these files back to where they were or replacing a newly created set of preferences will return Pro Tools to its past state.
Note that PT Prefs and Trasher 3 can be configured to make backups and restore from those backups too.
There are many times when trashing the Pro Tools Preferences is the fix for a problem with Pro Tools. Perhaps the most common time is when you get a Pro Tools error message pop up with the words ‘assertion error’ in amongst a load of stuff.
Although there is a specific Pro Tools Preferences file on both the macOS and Windows versions, the process of what is referred to as ‘trashing your preferences’ usually involves deleting more than just the Pro Tools Preferences file. There are a number of files that also should be deleted that are spread around your computer.
Because this involves going places, where selecting and deleting the wrong file could be catastrophic, we recommend that you use one of the following tools to do the hard work for you.
There is a free app - PT Prefs for macOS users and Trasher 3 for Windows users which will cost you just $5.
For Mac - Free PT Prefs By Pete Gates
PT Prefs is a utility program for Mac OSX and macOS, which can delete, backup and restore various pro Tools related 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 especially after a crash/blackout etc.
Pro Tools remakes them with default settings when it is run next. Therefore if you are unsure about 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.
PT Prefs Installation Instructions
Download and unzip the Trasher package
Move the PT Prefs App to your Applications folder. You might want to drag the app’s icon to your computer’s Dock as well.
Make sure you run PT Prefs when Pro Tools is not running
For Windows - Trasher 3 - Price $5
Trasher was developed to help Pro Tools users with a number of functions. Those include trashing specific files for troubleshooting purposes or to backup and restore files and folders for backup purposes or changing machines (or partitions) and taking settings with you.
Trasher has undergone a numbering change. The previous version of TRASHER was known as 12.x. A while back they changed the numbering scheme to match Pro Tools so it was as easy as possible to identify which version of Trasher you needed for your version of Pro Tools
Since Avid has changed their numbering scheme to a year/month method, they chose to revert the Trasher version number to rejoin where they left off before linking the version number to the Pro tools version number. They state that the latest Trasher 3 will support every version of Pro Tools since 10.3.5 to the current 2018 release on Windows.
Trasher 3 Installation Instructions
Download and unzip the Trasher package and run the installer.
If you have a previous version of Trasher installed, it will not delete or change any files.
It will just continue to work alongside the previous version.
A shortcut will be created on your desktop
For best results, right-click the shortcut on the desktop, go to properties and tick the box for "Run as Administrator"
Functions such as the Waves Post Uninstall Cleanup will not work if not run as Admin.
Note that there is also a Mac version of Trasher 3 and at the time of writing, they state that it works fine with Pro Tools 2019.12 but there is not information about 2020 versions.
Trashing Pro Tools Preferences Manually Either On macOS Or Windows
As we have said, you don’t need to use PT Prefs 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.