What Is ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components on Mac?
Your user folderUpdated
- Full path
~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
- Scope
- Your user folderInside your home folder — one copy per user account.
- Freshist & this folder
- Freshist checks this folder when uninstalling an app. When you uninstall an app, Freshist looks here for items that belong to it. Matches on the app's bundle ID can be pre-selected; name-only guesses are labeled “not sure” and never pre-selected. Removed items go to the Trash, so you can undo.
From Freshist's own cleaning rules — the same catalog the app uses.
What lives here
Audio Units is Apple's plug-in format for instruments and effects. Each plug-in ships as a bundle ending in .component, and macOS looks for those bundles in two places, as Apple's support article on third-party Audio Units lists:
| Folder | Who sees the plug-in |
|---|---|
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components | Every user on the Mac |
~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components | Only your user account |
Most commercial installers write to the system-wide folder. The per-user folder tends to hold plug-ins you dragged in by hand, free plug-ins distributed as a plain .component, or installers that offered a "current user only" option. It is often empty, as it was on the Mac we checked while writing this.
Apple notes that the instruments and effects built into Logic Pro, GarageBand and MainStage don't show up in these folders and can't be removed by hand.
Why it matters
A .component file is usually small. The weight sits elsewhere: sample libraries, presets and licensing data that the installer placed in Application Support, a shared folder or an external drive. So clearing this folder rarely frees much space, but it does change what your music software can load.
Inspecting it read-only
To see what's installed and how much space it takes:
ls -la ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
du -sh ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
Apple's Audio Unit validation tool can also list every AU macOS knows about, with its location:
auval -al
Logic Pro shows the same list with validation results in its Plug-in Manager (Logic Pro → Settings → Plug-in Manager).
Removing a plug-in
Start with the developer's own uninstaller if one exists, because it also removes the samples, presets and license files that live outside this folder. Without one:
- Quit Logic Pro, GarageBand, MainStage and any other audio app.
- In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder… and enter
~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. - Move the plug-in's
.componentto the Trash. - Open your audio app; it rescans plug-ins on launch.
If Logic won't start because of a broken plug-in, Apple's troubleshooting article describes holding Control while a project opens and choosing Launch Without Audio Units, so you can find the culprit before deleting anything.
What not to delete
Don't remove a plug-in that open projects still use unless you're fine with those tracks going silent. Leave the Components folder itself in place, and don't touch the neighbouring HAL folder in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins, which holds audio device drivers rather than effects. VST plug-ins live in separate folders covered in VST and VST3.
Sources
- Where are third-party Audio Units plug-ins installed on Mac?, Apple Support
- Remove or disable Audio Units plug-ins in Logic Pro for Mac or MainStage, Apple Support
- macOS Library Directory Details, Apple File System Programming Guide
Frequently asked questions
My plug-in isn't in ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. Where is it?
Most installers put Audio Units in the system-wide /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components instead, so every user on the Mac gets them. Apple's built-in Logic and GarageBand effects don't appear in either folder.
What happens to a Logic project that uses a plug-in I deleted?
The project still opens, but that plug-in's slot can't load and the track loses its sound or processing. Reinstalling the same plug-in brings it back with the saved settings.
Does deleting a plug-in's .component file remove its sample library?
Usually not. Large instruments keep samples and presets elsewhere, often in Application Support or a folder you chose during installation, so look there too after removing the plug-in.