Where apps hide your files
Native Access puts Kontakt libraries in a Content folder that defaults to /Users/Shared, not inside the Kontakt app and not in your home folder. You can see where yours went, move them to an external drive, and repair the link if Kontakt loses them.
/Users/SharedAccording to Native Instruments' support article on install locations, that is the default Content location on macOS: where Native Access puts Kontakt libraries, Reaktor instruments and expansions. Each library gets its own folder there. It is the shared Users folder, outside your home folder, so look under Macintosh HD > Users > Shared in Finder, or:
open /Users/SharedNative Instruments is not installed on the Mac used for this guide, so these paths come from the vendor's documentation.
Your copy may be somewhere else. The setting can be changed, and many people moved it to an external drive. To see yours, open Native Access, click Preferences in the lower left, then File Management. In the older Native Access Legacy it is the User icon at the upper right, then Preferences and File Locations.
| Setting | Default on macOS | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Download | ~/Downloads | Installers, which Native Access deletes after a product installs |
| Application | /Applications/Native Instruments | Standalone software |
| Content | /Users/Shared | Kontakt libraries, Reaktor instruments and expansions |
NI says plainly not to use the same folder for Downloads and Content, since that can cause failed installations. It also recommends keeping the Application location at its default. For a custom Content location, NI suggests a dedicated folder such as NI Libraries on a drive reserved for sample content.
A change to these settings only affects future installs. Libraries you already have stay where they are until you move them.
Inside Content you will see one folder per library, named after the product. Inside are the instruments and the sample data, which is the bulk of the size. Treat the folder as one unit. Do not rename it, and do not move files out of it, because Kontakt and Native Access track it as a whole.
Kontakt itself, its plug-in files and its settings are stored apart from the content. Plug-ins go in the usual audio plug-in folders (covered in a separate guide), so removing a library never removes Kontakt.
NI's own steps for Kontakt 7 and 8 are:
Repeat for each library. In Kontakt 6 and earlier, Kontakt itself shows "Library content not found. Click Locate to set the content." on the Libraries tab; click Locate, then Browse for folder, and select the library's folder.
Also set the Content location in Preferences to the new drive, so future installs go there as well. Move rather than copy, so you do not end up with two copies of tens of gigabytes.
Libraries on an external SSD work, but Native Access needs permission to reach the drive. NI's support article on macOS permissions asks you to give Full Disk Access to its apps and to NTKDaemon, the background service Native Access uses for installs, in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access. Community threads also report failed installs on exFAT drives, so an APFS or Mac OS Extended drive is the safer choice.
To share one drive between two Macs, NI's article says to set Content on the second Mac to the same drive, then choose Locate from each library's three-dots menu in Native Access.
Third-party libraries that use a serial number are added through Add Serial in Native Access. If the button says Add Product, download the library from its maker first, then choose the folder you downloaded. Libraries without a serial need the full Kontakt, and are loaded from the Files browser or added to the Library browser in Kontakt 7 or 8.
Sample libraries are often tens of gigabytes. Measure each folder:
du -sh /Users/Shared/*Recent versions of Native Access can uninstall a library; where yours offers it, use that rather than Finder so its record is cleared as well. If you only want it off the internal drive, use the move-and-repair steps above.
Copy the library folders to the new Mac or to the drive you will use, set Content in Native Access to that place, then use Locate on each library. Sign in to Native Access with your account on the new Mac so your products show up.
A Finder search can find a library folder by its name, but the files inside use Kontakt's own formats (.nki instruments, .nkx and .ncw sample data) with names that mean little to you. Kontakt's plug-ins and NI's helper files sit under /Library, which Spotlight and Finder searches leave out.
Typing a library's name into Everywhere finds its folder in /Users/Shared, which it indexes from the start, and a name such as Kontakt lists every related folder across the Mac. Once Everywhere has Full Disk Access, that includes a copy on an external drive, even while the drive is unplugged. Press ⌘↵ to reveal one in Finder. It matches file names only, so it cannot say which samples a library uses.
By default to the Content location, which Native Instruments gives as /Users/Shared. You can check or change it under Preferences > File Management in Native Access.
Move the library folder in Finder, then in Native Access open Library > Installed > Kontakt, click Repair and use the Locate window to point at the new folder. Set the Content location first so future installs go there too.
No. NI says changing install locations affects only future installations, so existing libraries must be moved yourself and then relocated in Native Access.
The folder was moved, renamed or sits on a drive that is not connected. Reconnect it, or use Repair and Locate in Native Access, or Locate on the Libraries tab in Kontakt 6 and earlier.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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