If anyone can help?
I would like to delete rather than ‘‘HIDE’’, un-used 3rd party plugins. These are mostly free plugins I now realize I’ll not likely ever use, and I would like to remove the clutter. I’ve looked around You Tube and I’m not confident of the procedures proposed. How to do is not clearly indicated in C_13 manual unless I’m looking in the wrong place.
I now see in the suggestions window (to the right) to go into the system folder and delete it… How then would I chose the correct VST plugin folder? There are several… I do not want to risk screwing things up - I’m not IT savvy.
Thanks in advance.
Daniel
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You won’t find anything in the Cubase manual on how to remove VST plugins since those are not specific to Cubase. There are tons of hosts that can load VST plugins.
Are you on Mac or Windows?
First thing I would look for is a proper uninstall. On Windows you can do this from “Apps & Features”.
If they don’t show there, you can go through your Programs and Programs86 folders an look for a folder in there with either the manufacturer’s name or plug-in name.
Some plugins do not have an install procedure and only require you to copy a .dll file to a common folder on your computer. This was common with VST 2.x plugins from smaller companies or one man shops. If that’s the case, you can safely just delete the .dll file. Look in your Plugin Manager in Cubase to see what folders those might reside in.
MacOS might have slightly different procedures.
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Hi mlib
I did as per your suggestions. I did a direct uninstall in windows apps and features. I deleted all the folders that corresponded with known 3rd party software in Programs and Programs 86 - I verified in google search each company to make sure before deleting. I’ve opened the plugin manager and that’s where I’ve stopped…
Seems all the plugins I’ve deleted are still showing in the manager - Now what to do?
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Would a Rescan help? There is such a button in the VST Plugin Manager
Hi JM
I just tried that… no change in the index of the plugin manager
I’ve encountered the same problem at startup where Cubase lets me know that some plugins are either not licensed or will not load. It would be nice if the devs would include a very easy link to help the user get rid of those plugins instead of having a search through the system for them.
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I’ve had a similar experience. It’s quite maddening really. It seems the feature should be present to help out.
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Cleaning registry might help, ie. CCleaner, jv16 Powertools…
Also deleting the xml file for plugins and restart to rebuilt the database could help
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I agree - Looks like deleting unwanted plugins, in a portion of Cubase operation that has not been addressed… Think I’m stuck in the mud until someone can explain what to do - I’m not knowledgeable enough to figure it out.
There is a dropdown window at the far top corner that says: ‘‘Remove all unavailable plug-ins from all collections’’ This is a dangerous option in my case. I have no idea what would happen if I clicked it - but I’m tempted to do so nevertheless. That got me into trouble in the past. A pothole for the innocent. 
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For VST3 plugins, there is only one folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
You may have not deleted in this folder so they show up still. There is vst2 which is all over the place and dll files, and vst3 in the one folder and they are .vst3 files.
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I have yet to see VST 3 plugins that did not come with an installer which is why I purposefully only focused on VST 2.x plugins in my post above. Not saying there aren’t VST3 plugins that are being distributed without an installer, just that I have not encountered any.
You need to understand what “collections” mean in this context. Then you would understand there is no danger at all and that this operation has nothing to do with uninstalling or removing plugins from your computer.
It is not within the scope of Cubase (or any single DAW or VST host) to uninstall plugins on a system.
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A lot of plugins will create a program folder, but that isn’t where the actual plugin is. If you used the defaults for 32-bit plugins they will be in either
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VSTPlugins
or
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins
Look for the plugins there. They will be *.dll files
You should be able to find the exact location for each plugin in the Info pane in the Plugin Manager right above where the ‘Hide’ check-box is, in case they used another location than the two I posted above.
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@mlib - Just to satisfy my curiosity… ‘‘Collections’’ would mean what in this instance? And how would I (should) I be able to discern the ‘‘Context’’. I lack (for the moment) in this fundamental common understanding. Sorry I don’t know how else to phrase the question. 
First thing I do when there’s a feature or function I’m unsure of is reference the manual. I found this:
If I feel I need more in-depth info and/or practical examples, I simply google some keywords I learned from the previous step. YouTube videos often serve as a good source of information and has the benefits of visually showing things in action.
If I’m still unsatisfied, I come to these forums and ask.
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@SF_Green - Your suggestions worked. I followed the paths as indicated in the Plugin Manager. Must say I was rather nervous deleting the files in Windows. When I restarted C_13 the plugins were no longer visible in the Plug-in Manager.
A question for you - Could I have also deleted the file path by clicking on the garbage can that was visible at the top right hand corner of the Plug-in Information window, when the pathway was highlighted?
I can’t send a screen shot to show what I mean, because the garbage can is no longer visible.
Thanks - much appreciated.
Daniel
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No, that just deletes whichever menu item you have highlighted in the right-hand pane. If you had created any custom menus which contained any of the plugins you deleted, you would use it to remove their entries from your custom menu.
Multiple programs will want access to your plugins so I don’t know of any of them that let you do that from within the program. The reason the default folder is in the Steinberg folder is because Steinberg invented the VST protocol, so even if you don’t have any Steinberg products installed some plugins will create that Steinberg\VSTPlugins folder to put their plugins into.
Glad you got it sorted. Cheers.
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