Hi guys, anybody knows how to prevent Kontakt libraries from un-adding themselves ?

I find myself having to add them again from time to time because they disappear from the library list.
I'm on latest Kontakt 8 and MacOs Sequoia but it's been happeing since version 8

 

Are they on an external drive? If so, taking the drive out and putting it back in again can result in it having a different drive letter. All your libraries disappear! This has caught me out a few times.

 

Yes they're on an external drive... damn did you find any solution to that ?

 

I haven't found a solution for the libraries to uninstall themselves. However, on my Mac Studio M1 Max running on Tahoe 26.2, I have found that if you're in Logic and you delete the plugin from the track then hit the undo and bring it back, most times Kontakt 8 will come back with the library and settings intact.

 

In Windows when you format a drive you can assign it a permanent letter.
Mac uses volume names which you can change in disk utility.

 

You can use the AOMEI partition assistant (free version available) to rename and save letter on your disk

 

Apparently you can force MacOS to assign a fixed number to a drive. I tried and i'll report if it works

 

What are you using to add libraries?

 

Are they "showing" in Kontakt but saying "missing" or whatnot?

I have a lot of Kontakt libraries and they are spread across a few ssd's (external), and I'm on macOS etc... When I boot up a session or open Kontakt when one of those drives is not attached, they still show, but as missing or whatnot in the sidebar.

When I plug the drive(s) in, either upon relaunching the daw or kontakt, perhaps a reboot, they all show up no problem.

I've only used KLU2 for adding myself, I don't believe it should make a difference if you use that or AddLibrary or whatnot.

 

I'm using Add Library for macOS v4

 

Mine say missing and only show up when i close Kontakt and add them again

 

That's what I'm using... and I'm thinking it may be the problem.

 

Do you know any alternative ?

 

there’s nothing in Add Library v4 that would automatically disappear libraries. Kontakt itself handles the library list, and any issues come from
Permissions, Preferences, saved State files, and caching. Repeated disappearance should not be a problem caused by Add Library.
It's not impossible of course, but it is way less likely than the version of Kontakt you are using that is to blame.

I would personally use Find Any File to remove Kontakt completely. Either reinstall the release you have, or try a different version.

If you wanted to go even further, I made a script that is basically the exact opposite of "Add Library". The script doesn’t touch the actual content on an external drive; it only wipes the system/user-side pointers, caches, and state files that Kontakt relies on to see those libraries. On launch, Kontakt only knows what’s registered in its plist/state files. If those files are wiped, it “forgets” everything, even libraries that still physically exist on an external drive. It’s basically a system-side reset, whereas “Add Library” batch functions rebuild or repopulate those pointers so Kontakt sees everything. It nukes the system state completely, the other repopulates it efficiently. You control exactly what Kontakt sees without touching any actual library data if it is on an external disk.

If is for when you have installed one Kontakt update on top of another, or have all sorts of various install remnants of old libraries and other junk. It doesn't wipe Kontakt itself, but I could add it.

 

Last edited: Mar 17, 2026 at 10:47 PM

Huh??

 

All I know is that I didn't have this problem with Kontakt 7 whether I kept updating without uninstalling or not. And it's not that the libraries are disappearing as much as Kontakt not seeing it as an activated library after using it for a while.

 

You could have this exact same issue with Kontakt 7.5 from one releaser, and then 7.5 from another releaser might not have the same "bug". Then 7.6 from the releaser whose 7.5 had it, might be also perfectly fine.

Neither of you have even mentioned what versions you have installed, or what Team's releases you have installed. Nevermind all the ones you have just installed over one another without installing them cleanly.

If you would like to continue chasing your tail about Add Library, you are welcome to do so. Everyone else using it would have the exact same issue, and they don't seem to. If you want to try finding others who have noticed that and reported it here, use the Search button then.

You would notice anything incorrectly added by Add Library the next time you opened Kontakt, or being generous here, after a reboot and then loading Kontakt again. Once it has been added, Add Library has no reason to cause your Kontakt to stop seeing anything. And if it did, it would have done the exact same thing using Kontakt v7 with it.

 

Last edited: Mar 18, 2026 at 2:19 AM

hmm, as clone mentioned, which release of Kontakt are you using? (HCiSO (my personal recommendation as hasn't failed me, nor have their other releases across different software etc) or other?)..

I'm m chipped/(still) Sonoma latest macOS, and carefully decide what I install on my system, and tend to buy what I rely on.. Obviously, even as a Kontakt "owner", I prefer HCiSO releases for obvious reasons we are talking about here.

I've never tried to affix an assigned drive number in macOS, as I haven't had a need, nor knew that was a thing the way the os and the software I use work.

I've been using Kontakt since v1, and granted, I took a few years off, and jumped from v5 to v7 and whatnot...and while it has gotten a little more finicky indeed with machinations and dependencies than the more "golden era" I consider back 10 or 12 years ago when Kontakt was really coming into it's own as a sampler and an instrument, (and in terms of 'ease' of adding protected libraries etc on the scene with less going on) ... KLU2 hasn't been a problem for me outside of user error etc. And those I respect vouch for AddLibrary in a similar fashion.

Granted, I'm still at v7 latest, as have had some trepidation combined with lack of need to go to v8, (as there were some issues or misunderstandings at first release of that), and I know that FredBloggs hasn't updated KLU2 in a long while, and cool, I'm sure the gentleman has other stuff to do with their life,... but again, most people I've known for years or those that are fastidious enough to not just scattershot installs (and no accusations from me to you on that!) ... have been just fine.

v8 does handle things differently than v7 in some regards, so I respect that, and am aware and taking notes.. but I haven't seen anything inherent in KLU2 or AddLibrary that would make things disappear if one followed the map and comments and understanding of proper installation of things and certainly not "mix and matching" different TEAM's releases etc...

I know I'm tl/dr'ing here, and all respect, if I was in your position with this problem, I would probably completely properly uninstall Kontakt and start anew, and simply add the libraries and see if the problem persisted, as there could be something else going on that is outside of the scope that we don't know, and bulk adding/removing etc seems to work fine for most.