Finale Installation Details

Finale components are installed to various locations on your hard drive depending on their function and required accessibility. Because there may be multiple user accounts on the same computer, Finale installs all customizable files (i.e., files that each user may want to edit individually) to a common folder. When Finale is launched, files are copied from this common location to a user-specific location for the account currently logged in.

The file paths listed below are for the current version of Finale. You can access these files by navigating to the file paths below manually or by using the Finder's Go > Go to Folder option. The information in the [brackets] will need to be replaced with information specific to your computer. Files denoted with an *(asterisk) can be customized and can be migrated between versions of Finale. See Optional: To migrate settings and support files from one version of Finale to another.

Default file locations for macOS 10.12 Sierra/10.13 High Sierra/10.14 Mojave

Type	Description	File path
Finale	The Finale application	/Applications/Finale [version].app
Music files	Exercises, Tutorials, Worksheets, and Repertoire	/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Music Files/[various]
Document settings	Default documents, Document Styles, Templates	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Music Files/[various] /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Music Files/[various]
	Ensembles*	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/ensembles.txt /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/ensembles.txt
	Finale libraries*	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Libraries/[various] /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Libraries/[various]
	Pagesizes.txt* This is a listing of default page sizes and margins that can be customized.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/pagesizes.txt /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/pagesizes.txt
Program settings	MIDI Setup* and Audio Setup* These settings are controlled in their respective dialog boxes and are recorded in the Finale preferences file.	~/Library/Preferences/com.makemusic.finale26.fprf
	Finale preferences* These settings are controlled in their respective dialog boxes and are recorded in the Finale preferences file. It is not recommended to copy the preferences file directly from one version of Finale to another.	~/Library/Preferences/com.makemusic.finale26.fprf
	SoundFonts SmartMusic SoftSynth General MIDI SoundFont is the default for MIDI playback.	/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Audio Support/synthgms.sf2
	Finale and third-party plug-ins* Before copying plug-ins not included with Finale from one version of Finale to another (such as the full TGTools, JW plug-ins, Patterson plug-ins, and Dolet MusicXML plug-in), it is strongly recommended to check with the plug-in manufacturer for an updated plug-in specifically designed for the version of Finale you are installing. Plug-ins that have not been updated may not function correctly in newer versions of Finale. The folder structure here determines how plug-ins appear in the Plug-ins menu.	/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Plug-ins/[various]
	MacSymbolFonts.txt* Finale uses this file on the Mac to determine which fonts, such as music and symbolA Symbol font, with regards to Finale, is a font that is not re-encoded when a document is opened cross-platform. Maestro is a symbol font. It has exactly one encoding (character #247 always equals the same symbol regardless of platform). Some characters in non-Symbol Fonts (such as Times) are encoded differently on Windows than on Mac (for example, character #247 on Mac may be represented by #233 on Windows). Finale detects files that were last saved across platform and must re-encode all non-symbol fonts. MacSymbolFonts.txt is a list of all Symbol Fonts. Finale refers to MacSymbolFonts.txt while re-encoding to ensure no font listed in MacSymbolFonts.txt is re-encoded. fonts, should not be converted when sharing files between a Mac and a Windows machine.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/MacSymbolFonts.txt /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/MacSymbolFonts.txt
	Simple Entry shortcut sets* and Speedy Entry key maps* Keyboard shortcuts and MIDI keys can be customized when using Simple and Speedy Entry using their respective dialog boxes. External macro/keyboard shortcut settings must be adjusted for the new version of Finale using the external tool that controls them.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/keymaps.txt /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/keymaps.txt
	FinaleScript* The folder structure and order of .xml files here determines how scripts appear in the FinaleScript plug-in.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/FinaleScript/[various] /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/FinaleScript/[various]
	Font Annotation* Font annotation allows you to fine-tune the height and width of each font character, allowing Finale to better handle the selection area for font characters and collision avoidance in Engraver slurs.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Font Annotation/[various].FAN /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Font Annotation/[various].FAN
	Audio Units Plug-ins* If you have specified one or more non-default locations for Finale to find virtual instrument plug-ins, you must do so again for a new version of Finale.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Audio Units Support/[various] /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Audio Units Support/[various]
Garritan sound library support files	Sound maps* An internal file that contains the list of sound samples available for a particular sound library and matches those samples with an instrument from Finale's internal instrument database.	/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Data/SoftSynth.soundmap /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Data/GIFF.soundmap
	Sound map priority* A list determining which sound library is used first when playing back in Finale.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Configuration Files/Soundmaps.settings
	Percussion MIDI maps* A list that matches each percussion instrument in a sound library with a particular MIDI note number.	~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/MIDI Device Annotation/[various] /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/MIDI Device Annotation/[various]
Help files	MakeMusic Privacy Policy	/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Data/privpol.txt
Help files	Finale Quick Reference GuideThe Quick Reference Guide is a helpful resource to learn how to accomplish basic tasks and reference keyboard shortcuts within Finale. You can access this guide from the Help menu.	/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version]/Help Files/Finale Quick Reference Guide for Macintosh.pdf

Tip: To easily access support files located in ~/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale [version], go to Documents > Finale Files and open the Finale [version] shortcut.

Installing multiple versions of Finale

Because major versions of Finale are installed to different directories on your computer, you can have multiple versions installed concurrently on the same computer. Note that the most recently installed version of Finale on your computer—not necessarily the latest version—will automatically be associated with Finale file types.