How to reset Live

  • Live Versions: All
  • Operating System: All

Resetting Live does the following:

  • If you have a template set, it will be deleted.
  • Live's preferences will be deleted; audio and MIDI hardware needs to be selected again, input/output names added again, plug-in folders need to be re-enabled (VSTs need to be rescanned), any custom preferences need to be set again.
  • The Undo history will be deleted.

Note: Rather than deleting, you can instead move these files to a different location, for example, the Desktop. If the reset doesn't solve the problem, you can move them back afterward.

Live 11

Mac

    1. Close Live.
    2. In Finder, open this hidden folder (where x.x is the installed version of Live, eg. 11.0):
      Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Ableton/Live x.x
      Note: Here's how to access hidden folders on Mac.
    3. Delete Preferences.cfg and Undo folder (if present).
    4. Locate this folder and delete the current template set:
      Users/[username]/Music/Ableton/User Library/Templates
    5. Close and relaunch Live.

Windows

    1. Close Live.
    2. In Windows Explorer, open this hidden folder (where x.x is the installed version of Live, eg. 11.0):
      Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Ableton\Live x.x\Preferences
      Note: Here's how to access hidden folders on Windows.
    3. Delete Preferences.cfg and Undo folder (if present).
    4. Locate this folder and delete the current template set:
      Users\[username]\Documents\Ableton\User Library\Templates
    5. Close and relaunch Live.

Live 10 and older

Mac

    1. Close Live.
    2. In Finder, open this hidden folder (where x.x.x is the installed version of Live, eg. 10.1.30): :
      Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Ableton/Live x.x.x
      Note: Here's how to access hidden folders on Mac.
    3. Delete Preferences.cfg, Undo folder (in Live 9 this is Undo.cfg) and Template.als (if present).
    4. Close and relaunch Live.

Windows

    1. Close Live.
    2. In Windows Explorer, open this hidden folder (where x.x.x is the installed version of Live, eg. 10.1.30):
      Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Ableton\Live x.x.x\Preferences
      Note: Here's how to access hidden folders on Windows.
    3. Delete Preferences.cfg, Undo folder (in Live 9 this is Undo.cfg) and Template.als (if present).
    4. Close and relaunch Live.

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