How to load plugins faster in Ableton Live 12

Adding an EQ, a Utility or your usual synth to a track should take a second. In Live it often means opening the browser, finding the right label, scrolling and dragging, and doing that many times in a session. Live 12 already has several faster routes, and most people use only one or two of them. This page goes through Live's own options first, then shows where a radial menu like Radia fits.

Why loading a device takes so many steps

The browser is built to hold everything: Live's devices, your plugins, samples, presets and User Library. That makes it good for finding things you don't use often. For the five or ten devices you load every day it gets slow. You open the browser, pick a label, scroll or search, then drag the device onto a track or double-click it. Do that for every EQ and compressor in a session and it adds up.

The fixes below cut steps out of that loop. None of them needs anything extra installed.

Live's built-in fast route: search, arrows, Enter

This is the one to learn first. Select the track you want the device on, then:

Press Cmd+F (Mac) or Ctrl+F (Windows). Live puts the cursor in the browser's search field and switches to the All label, so the search covers everything in the browser.
Type part of the name, for example "eq eight" or the name of a plugin.
Use the arrow keys to move to the right result.
Press Enter. Live loads the selected item onto the selected track. Double-clicking does the same.

No dragging, and your hands stay on the keyboard. If the browser is hidden, Cmd+Option+B (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+B (Windows) shows it.

Keep favourites close: Collections, labels and Places

Collections are Live's favourites. Select an item in the browser and press a number key from 1 to 7 to give it a colour and put it in that Collection. 0 clears the assignment. You could keep EQs and dynamics in one Collection and your go-to synths in another, then open that Collection from the sidebar instead of scrolling through Audio Effects.

Saved searches. In Live 12, after a search you can click the Add Label button to the right of Clear to save the results as a custom label in the sidebar. A search for your favourite plugin maker, or for "reverb", becomes a one-click list.

Places lets you add your own folders through Add Folder in the sidebar, which is handy for a folder of your own presets and racks.

Load whole chains at once: racks and default tracks

If you always load the same three devices together, load them once. Group them into an Audio Effect Rack and save it as a preset in your User Library. Next time it's one item to find, not three.

If every new track starts the same way, make it the default. Set up an audio or MIDI track with the devices you want, right-click its title bar and choose Save as Default Audio Track or Save as Default MIDI Track. New tracks of that type then arrive with those devices already on them. To undo it, find the default track in the Defaults folder of your User Library and delete it.

If the browser itself is slow

Sometimes the problem isn't the number of steps but the browser lagging. A few things are worth checking:

Large Places folders. Live scans the folders you add to Places, and the bigger the folder, the longer that takes. Add the folders you need, not entire drives.
Group by Creator. On Ableton's forum, a few Live 12 users with large plugin collections found the plugin list much quicker with this grouping turned off.
Live's database. Ableton's help centre explains how to reset it, after which Live re-indexes the browser.
One slow plugin. An outdated plugin can be the cause of slow scanning or startup. Update your plugins first. If that doesn't help, take plugins out in batches to find the culprit.

Radia loads devices through Live's own browser, so it won't fix scanning or indexing lag. What it changes is how many steps it takes to get a device onto a track.

Where Radia fits

Even with search and Collections, you still go to the browser every time. Radia brings your devices to the cursor instead. Double-tap Shift in Live and a wheel of your devices, plugins and racks opens under the cursor. Point towards one and click, or press its number, and it's on the selected track. Folders on the wheel hold the rest, so a device two levels deep is Shift Shift, then two number keys.

Start typing while the wheel is open and it becomes a search over everything installed: Live's devices, your VST3, VST and AU plugins, and the racks and Max for Live devices in your User Library. Each result says what it is, so you load the version you meant.

Two more things save steps the browser can't:

Typed shortcuts load a device already set up. hp200 gives you EQ Eight with a high-pass at 200 Hz, gain-3 a Utility at -3 dB, dly1/8 a Delay synced to 1/8.
Hotkeys give a favourite its own key, so pressing it in Live puts that device on the track with no wheel and no search. Live's Key Map Mode can't assign a key to loading a device. More on that in keyboard shortcuts to load plugins in Ableton.

You can change how the wheel looks, and if you'd rather not use Shift you can open it with another modifier key or a double right-click.

Building the wheel from what you already load

You don't have to set the wheel up by hand. One click and Radia reads what you load most in Live, puts your top five across the top of the wheel and sorts the rest into folders below, with Live's own devices filling any gaps. Right-click any slice to swap it, and if you keep loading something that isn't on the wheel, Radia offers to add it.

Radia works with Live 12 on Mac and Windows. The free download is the full app with 30 opens of the wheel, so you can try it in your own sets. After that it's £6.50, once. See how it works or pricing, and if you're coming from another tool, read Live Enhancement Suite alternatives for Ableton 12.

Questions

What is the fastest way to add an effect in Ableton without dragging?

Select the track, press Cmd+F (Mac) or Ctrl+F (Windows), type the device name, pick it with the arrow keys and press Enter. Live loads the selected browser item onto the selected track. Double-clicking it works too.

How do I make favourites in Ableton Live 12?

Use Collections. Select an item in the browser and press a number from 1 to 7 to add it to that Collection, or 0 to clear it. The Collections then sit in the browser's sidebar. You can also save a search as a custom label with the Add Label button.

Can I make every new track load with my usual effects?

Yes. Set up a track with the devices you want, right-click its title bar and choose Save as Default Audio Track or Save as Default MIDI Track. New tracks of that type start with those devices.

Will Radia fix a slow Ableton browser?

No. Radia loads devices through Live's own browser, so scanning or indexing lag stays the same. What it does is cut the steps to load a device: double-tap Shift, click, and it's on your track. For browser lag, check large Places folders and outdated plugins, or reset Live's database as Ableton's help centre describes.