Script to find and remove FabFilter plugins on Mac OS-X. Requires Terminal usage.

fabfilter-remover.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

if [[ ! -L lib || ! -L bootstrap ]]; then
  [[ -z $(which curl) ]] && {
    printf "Curl is required for this operation. Please install it with\n"
    printf "brew install curl\n"
    exit 1
  }
  curl -fsSL "http://bit.ly/bashmatic-bootstrap" | /usr/bin/env bash
fi

[[ -f lib/Loader.bash ]] && source lib/Loader.bash

export find_command=
export fabfilter_backup_location="/tmp/fabfilter"
export dry_run=0
export prefix=""

usage() {
  printf "\nUSAGE:\n"
  printf "    $0 [ uninstall | delete | remove ] [ -n | --dry-run ] \n"
  printf "    $0 [ show | list ] [ -n | --dry-run ]\n"
  printf "    $0 [ backup ] [ -n | --dry-run ]\n\n"

  printf "\nDESCRIPTION\n"
  printf "    This script removes all files related to the FabFilter Plugins\n"
  printf "    on a Mac, based on the FAQ instructions here:\n"
  printf "    https://www.fabfilter.com/support/faq/#how-do-i-completely-uninstall-plug-ins-from-my-system\n\n"

  printf "\nCOMMANDS:\n"
  printf "    show | list                    — print all folders and files related to FabFilter\n"
  printf "    uninstall | delete | remove    — delete all of the matching files\n"
  printf "    backup                         — copy all related files to a temp folder\n\n"

  printf "\nFLAGS:\n"
  printf "    -n | --dry-run                 — instead of running the commands, print them\n"

  echo
  exit 0
}

while :; do
case $1 in 
  -n|--dry-run)
    shift
    export dry_run=1
    ;;
  uninstall|delete|remove)
    shift
    export prefix="sudo "
    echo "Uninstalling FabFilter Files..."
    export find_command=' -exec rm -rvf {} \; -print '
    ;;
  backup) 
    shift
    echo "Backing Up FabFilter Files to ${fabfilter_backup_location}..."
    mkdir -p ${fabfilter_backup_location}
    export find_command=" -exec cp -rvp {} ${fabfilter_backup_location} \\; -print"
    ;;
  show|list)
    shift
    echo "Showing FabFilter files to be deleted..."
    export find_command=' -print '
    ;;
  -h|--help)
    shift
    ;;
  *)
    break
    ;;
esac
done

declare -a FF_Dirs=(
  "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components"
  "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST"
  "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3"
  "/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins"
  "/Library/Application Support/Digidesign/Plug-Ins"
)

declare -a FF_Prefs=(
  "/Users/${USER}/Library/Audio/Presets"
  "/Users/${USER}/Library/Application Support"
)

set +e

(( ${dry_run} )) && export prefix="echo ${prefix}"

for dir in "${FF_Dirs[@]}" "${FF_Prefs[@]}"; do
  if [[ -d "${dir}" && -n $(find "${dir}" -name "FabFilter*" -depth 1 -type d) ]]; then
    command="find \"${dir}\" -name 'FabFilter*' -depth 1 -type d ${find_command}"
    eval "${prefix} ${command}" 2>/dev/null
  fi
done

dir="/Users/${USER}/Library/Preferences"
command="find \"${dir}\" -name 'com.fabfilter.*' -depth 1 -type f ${find_command}"
eval "${prefix} ${command}" 2>/dev/null

To run this script, download it, then open Terminal and run:

cd ~/Downloads
chmod 755 fabfilter-remover.sh

# this will show existing FabFilter files
./fabfilter-remover.sh show

# this will back them up to /tmp/fabfilter
./fabfilter-remover.sh backup

# finally, this will remove them all:
./fabfilter-remover.sh remove

Thanks for this man. Out of interest, why does it need to access my contacts?

Does it? No idea.

Does this script also reset the product trials? 🙊

Amazing, thanks!

Shit. Clogs the terminal with unnecessary scripts at startup. Don't download if you don't want to suffer with the removal of unnecessary scripts.

Shit. Clogs the terminal with unnecessary scripts at startup. Don't download if you don't want to suffer with the removal of unnecessary scripts.

You know, if you don't like to see what the script is doing and would rather trust that it doesn't steal your private keys, then be my guest use another script that provides zero output.

This particular shell script relies on the Bashmatic framework that provides a large number of useful helpers this script uses.

Don't want to keep the framework afterward?

rm - rf ~/.bashmatic

And please stop complaining or telling people not to use it just because YOU have a problem with the output.