Options.txt file

• Live Versions: All
• Operating System: All

The Options.txt file can enable a few experimental and unsupported features in Live.

Note: They may change or be removed in future updates without warning. 

How to create an Options.txt file

1. Create a new plain text file using a text editor
2. Name it Options.txt
3. Place it in Live's Preferences folder (x.x.x refers to the current version of Live, e.g. 10.0.1):

Windows

\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Ableton\Live x.x.x\Preferences\

MacOS

/Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Ableton/Live x.x.x/

Note: Here's how to access hidden folders on Windows and Mac OS X.

Adding options to the Options.txt file

• Add one option per line with the correct format; each option begins with a hyphen, and some options may also require an underscore.
• If you use the wrong format you will get an error message when opening Live.
• You need to restart Live to activate the option(s).
• The file format of the Options.txt must be plain text.

Example Options

PluginAutoPopulateThreshold

Line to add to Options.txt file: -_PluginAutoPopulateThreshold=32

Auto-populates the plug-in parameter list if a plug-in has a number of less or equal than X parameters.

Default = 32
Min = 1
Max = 128

128 will always populate the list with max. 128 parameters, regardless of how many parameters the plug-in has.

DontCombineAPCs

Line to add to Options.txt file: -DontCombineAPCs

Deactivates the APC combination mode: won't align and sync the session rings of multiple APCs so they can be moved independently.

EnsureKeyMessagesForPlugins (Windows only)

Line to add to Options.txt file: -_EnsureKeyMessagesForPlugins

This option solves a problem with certain VST plug-ins (such as NI's Reaktor), where keyboard data does not reach the plug-in.