Mac plugin fix

How to disable Waves plugins on Mac (without uninstalling)

Short answer. Waves does not put its plugins where every other vendor puts them. It installs one WaveShell into your Components, VST and VST3 folders and keeps the real plugins in its own folder. So the fastest way to take the whole Waves library out of a host is to disable that single shell, not the plugins. To silence only some of them, Ainola reads the real plugins out of the Waves folder and gives each one a switch, reversibly, with nothing uninstalled.

Last updated 3 September 2026

Why Waves behaves differently from everything else

One shell stands in for your entire Waves library. Every other vendor drops its plugins straight into the shared folders your hosts scan. Waves installs a single gateway file instead, and keeps the actual plugins somewhere else entirely. Waves documents this itself:

All Waves plugins are installed to a folder named "Plug-Ins V17". These files should not be moved. Instead, a WaveShell is placed in your host application's plugins folder. The WaveShell connects your host application to the plugins as a software gateway.

Two consequences follow, and they explain most of the confusion around Waves:

Where your Waves plugins actually live

On a Mac, the real plugins are bundles inside the Waves folder, and the version number moves with each major release:

Turn the whole Waves library off in one move

Disable the shell, not the plugins. This is the safest option, because Waves explicitly says the plugin files themselves should not be moved. The shell is a normal plugin in a normal folder, so Apple's usual method applies to it.

  1. Quit the host you are fixing, whether that is Sibelius, Logic Pro or your DAW.
  2. In Finder choose Go, then Go to Folder, and enter /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components.
  3. Hold Command and drag the WaveShell file to a temporary folder on your Desktop. Repeat in the VST and VST3 folders if your host uses those.
  4. Reopen the host. Every Waves plugin is gone from its scan, and the scan itself gets shorter.
  5. Drag the shell back whenever you want the library again.

If you are doing this because Sibelius is slow or will not start, Ainola's Sibelius mode already includes this step: it switches the shell off along with the other effect plugins and leaves your playback engine running.

Turn off single Waves plugins (Ainola)

Disabling the shell is all or nothing. When you want to keep most of Waves and drop a few, you need something that can see past the shell. Ainola reads the Waves folder directly, lists the real plugins as their own format alongside your AU, VST, VST3, CLAP and AAX, and puts a switch on each one. Turning one off renames it in place so the shell stops offering it, and turning it back on restores it exactly. Because the Waves folder belongs to your user account rather than the system, these changes usually go through without an admin password.

The Ainola plugin list with a switch on every plugin, grouped by format
Every plugin with a switch. Waves appears as its own format, read out of the Waves folder rather than the standard ones.
  1. Download Ainola and open it. It finds the Waves folder on its own.
  2. Filter to the Waves format, or search for the plugin by name.
  3. Switch off the ones you want gone, one at a time or a whole selection.
  4. Apply, then rescan in your host. Switch them back on whenever you want them.

A set you keep coming back to can be saved as a mode, so the same group of Waves plugins goes off and on again in one click later.

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If Waves is missing from your DAW, this is not your fix

Being unable to find Waves in a host is a different problem from wanting it gone. Plugins that never appear are almost always a shell that did not install for that host, a host pointed at a custom VST folder, or a scan that needs to run again. Waves keeps its own instructions per host, and those are the right place to start. Ainola disables plugins on purpose and does not repair a broken Waves installation, so reach for it once your plugins show up and you want control over which of them load.

Related questions

Why do my Waves plugins not show up in plugin managers? +

Because Waves does not install them into the standard plugin folders. It installs a single WaveShell there and keeps the real plugins in its own folder, which Waves documents as Applications, Waves, Plug-Ins V17 or whichever version you have. Tools that only read the standard folders see the shell and nothing else.

How do I disable every Waves plugin at once? +

Disable the WaveShell rather than the plugins. The shell is what your host loads, so switching it off removes the whole Waves library from every host in one move, and switching it back on restores all of it.

Does disabling Waves plugins deauthorize my licenses? +

No. Disabling renames files on disk so hosts skip them. Your Waves licenses live in Waves Central and on your activation target, and are not touched.

My Waves plugins are missing from my DAW. Does this fix that? +

No, and that is a different problem. Waves plugins missing from a DAW is usually a WaveShell or rescan issue, and Waves has its own instructions for each host. Ainola disables plugins on purpose, it does not repair a broken Waves installation.

Does Sibelius mode handle Waves? +

Yes. Sibelius mode switches off the WaveShell along with the other effect plugins, which takes every Waves plugin out of the Sibelius scan in one move, and leaves your playback engine running.

Which macOS versions are supported? +

macOS 12 Monterey or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel.

Sources

Related fixes: disable any plugin on Mac without uninstalling, Logic Pro stuck scanning Audio Units, Sibelius slow to open.