Ready to advance your productions?:
Video Resources
- Creating Symbolic Links in FL Studio – Read my step-by-step guide to creating symbolic links in FL Studio to keep VSTs in sync across multiple computers with a service like Dropbox.
- FL Studio’s Docs on SymLinks – This is where I got the idea for Symbolic Links.
- How-To Geek’s Article on Symbolic Links – Here’s a detailed guide on symbolic links and how they work. This helped me understand them a bit more.
- Dropbox, Your Main Production Hub – Learn how I set up my Dropbox folder in-depth to keep my sounds in sync across multiple computers.
- Serum (VST) – I don’t know why I held off on buying Serum.. This is an amazing plugin! – Too bad I didn’t buy it sooner!
This tutorial is an important one in our FL Studio Beginner’s Series !
We discuss Installing VSTs in FL Studio 12.
Over my years I’ve tried to find a solution to keep my VSTs in sync across multiple computers, as sometimes I work off a laptop in addition to my main computer.
And to do that, we have to use something called Symbolic Links.
I know this series is for beginners, but I feel this is important to share with you so you can see my workflow.
What We Cover:
- A comparison of VSTs vs. One-Hit with synchronization, also VST3 and the Commons Folder.
- How to Import VSTs into FL Studio 12’s Plugin Database
- Preventing FL Studio from Overwriting your Plugin Organization
- Tricking FL Studio by Using Symbolic Links to use Dropbox for your VSTs
- Batch Hiding the .PNG and .NFO Files from the FL Studio Browser
P.S. – If you don’t own Serum yet.. I highly recommend this plugin!
How to Add Plugins in FL Studio 12
Here’s a step-by-step guide to adding plugins in FL Studio 12:
1. Hit F10 (Opens Settings) + Manage Plugins
First, hit F10 to open up your settings.
Go to the File tab, then select Manage Plugins:
Select Folder + Start Scan
If you have a specific folder where you keep your VSTs, then you can select a folder to include by clicking the folder with a +
If you’re someone who just to installs the VST to whatever location (probably in C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins ?), then simply click Start Scan:
Close Window -> Go to Plugin in Browser
You can now close the FL Studio Plugin Manager and head to the Browser (where you select sounds on the left hand sidebar.)
You can now access your VSTs through the Installed section in the Browser.
For more info on organizing your VSTs, you can view my article:
Symbolic Links in FL Studio + Dropbox
As mentioned, I’m wanting to have everything in sync.
I don’t want to manage multiple folders on multiple computers.
The way I’ve set this up has minimized the amount of back and forth I have to do. (Now I can focus on writing up these articles or producing beats! 😉 )
Don’t forget, I have written up a step-by-step article on working with Symbolic Links:
For more details on this tutorial, just watch the video above!
For the whole series, you can join:
FL Studio Beginner’s Series.
