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Blender's add-ons, extensions and version folders

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Blender stores your preferences, extensions and add-ons in a folder named after its version number, inside Application Support. Here is the path, what is in it, and how to carry your setup to a new release.

The location

Blender keeps your add-ons, extensions and settings in one folder per Blender version:

~/Library/Application Support/Blender/[version]/

[version] is the release number, such as 4.2 or 5.2. Blender's manual gives /Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/Blender/<version>/ as the macOS user directory, which is the same place. Everything you install lives under it:

~/Library/Application Support/Blender/[version]/extensions/
~/Library/Application Support/Blender/[version]/scripts/addons/

The first holds extensions (the system introduced in Blender 4.2), the second holds older-style add-ons. Blender is not installed on the Mac used for this guide, so these paths come from the Blender manual's Directory Layout page and Blender's source code. To see which versions you have:

ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/Blender

What each folder is for

Blender documents this layout in its manual, so it is not guesswork. Inside a version folder:

Folder or file	What it holds
config/userpref.blend	Your preferences
config/startup.blend	The file Blender opens at launch
config/bookmarks.txt, recent-files.txt	File Browser bookmarks and the recent files list
extensions/	Extension repositories, one folder each
scripts/addons/	Legacy add-ons, a .py file or a folder
scripts/presets/	Saved presets, such as render and cloth settings
scripts/startup/	Scripts that run when Blender starts

Inside extensions/, Blender's source names the default repositories blender_org (extensions installed from extensions.blender.org) and user_default (the default local repository, which is where Install from Disk is meant to put a downloaded .zip). A repository you add yourself gets its own folder next to them.

Extensions and add-ons are two systems

Since 4.2, the preferences have a Get Extensions section and an Add-ons section, both in Edit > Preferences. Blender's manual describes three ways to install an extension: from the website by dragging the install link into Blender, from the Get Extensions list by searching and clicking Install, or from disk. For a downloaded file, use the drop-down menu at the top right of the section and choose Install from Disk, or drag the .zip into Blender. The manual says an extension installed this way goes to a local repository and gets no automatic updates.

Do not unzip an extension and copy it by hand. An extension is a .zip with a blender_manifest.toml inside, and Install from Disk reads that.

A legacy add-on is different. The manual says to click Install from Disk in the Add-ons section and select the add-on's .py file, or its .zip. It is not switched on afterwards, so tick its checkbox. Blender's manual describes legacy add-ons as living in scripts/addons, so look there if you want to see or remove the file. A folder-based add-on with loose files can also be placed in a folder of your choice that you add under Preferences > File Paths > Script Directories. The manual says that folder must contain a subfolder named exactly addons, and Blender needs a restart to see it.

What is in the app itself

The add-ons that come with Blender are inside the app, not your Library:

/Applications/Blender.app/Contents/Resources/[version]/

Bundled ones sit under scripts/addons_core. Leave that folder alone: it belongs to the app, and replacing Blender.app with a new version replaces it. The manual says scripts and extensions are loaded from both the user and the system folders, so nothing of yours needs to go inside the app.

Why add-ons vanish after an upgrade

Each version has its own folder, so a new Blender starts with none of the old extensions. The manual says that on the first launch of a new version, the splash screen shows a few initial settings instead of its usual contents, including Import Preferences From Previous Version. It copies preferences and startup files and, per the manual, installed add-ons and extensions too. If you skipped it, your old setup is still in the old version's folder.

The manual warns that some add-ons and extensions will not work in a new release, and importing them can cause errors at startup. If that happens, the manual's first suggestion is to load factory settings. Take a copy of the version folder first.

Back up, move or relocate it

Copy the version folder with Blender closed to back up your setup. On a new Mac, install Blender and run it once so the folder exists, quit, then copy your folders in, or use the Import Preferences option in the splash. To keep everything on a drive you carry, the manual describes a portable setup: create a folder named portable inside Blender.app/Contents/Resources, and Blender stores its preferences, startup file, extensions and presets there instead. Because that folder is inside the app, it goes with the app: updating by replacing Blender.app with a new download discards it, so copy it out first. The BLENDER_USER_RESOURCES environment variable can instead point Blender at a different user directory. An environment variable you set in Terminal reaches only programs started from that Terminal, so it applies when you launch Blender's binary from there (/Applications/Blender.app/Contents/MacOS/Blender), not when you open Blender from the Dock.

Removing an extension from Preferences is permanent, per the manual. To turn one off for a while, use Disable instead.

Why a normal search misses them

~/Library is hidden in Finder. Spotlight and Finder searches leave out the folder, so a search for the add-on's name finds only the download you left in Downloads.

Finding the files again

Typing userpref.blend into Everywhere shows one result per Blender version on the Mac, a quick way to learn which version folders exist. Typing an add-on's name finds its files inside extensions or scripts/addons, and blender_manifest.toml lists every installed extension at once. Application Support is part of the normal scan, and Downloads is indexed once Everywhere has Full Disk Access. It matches names only, not the code inside an add-on.

Common questions

Where are Blender add-ons stored on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/Blender/[version]/. Extensions go in its extensions folder and legacy add-ons in scripts/addons.

Where do Blender extensions install on a Mac?

In the extensions folder of the version folder. Blender's source names the repository folders blender_org for online installs and user_default for Install from Disk.

Why did my Blender add-ons disappear after updating?

Each Blender version has its own folder. Use Import Preferences From Previous Version in the first-launch splash screen, or copy the old version's folders across.

Where is the Blender preferences file on a Mac?

At ~/Library/Application Support/Blender/[version]/config/userpref.blend, next to startup.blend.