Where are my custom layouts, assets, plugins, shortcuts, etc., stored in the Cinema 4D preferences?

Ronald McGlynn
Ronald McGlynn
  • Updated

This article is a quick reference for where Cinema 4D stores your custom layouts, plugins, shortcuts, scripts, presets, and Asset Browser content on disk. Click any topic below to expand the paths for Windows and macOS.

Quickest way to find your preferences folder Open Cinema 4D, go to Edit > Preferences, and click Open Preferences Folder in the lower-left corner of the Preferences window. Cinema 4D opens the correct folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS) for the version you're currently running.

Throughout this article, replace 20**_******** with the version-specific folder name on your machine (for example, Maxon Cinema 4D 2026_12345678). The trailing string is a per-install identifier that Cinema 4D generates automatically.

The Asset Browser "Preferences" database

The userrepository folder is the on-disk home of the Preferences database you see in the Asset Browser's Databases panel. Anything you save to that database (custom assets, presets, materials, objects, capsules, render settings, and more) lives inside userrepository.

+userrepository folder paths

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\userrepository

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/userrepository

Note: if you've created a User Database for your custom assets, those assets live in the User Database folder you chose, not in userrepository.

Layouts, shortcuts, and color schemes

+Custom layouts

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\library\layout

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/library/layout

+Custom shortcuts (R25 and newer)

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\prefs\shortcuts

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/prefs/shortcuts

+Color scheme (dark.col)

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\prefs

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/prefs

+Cinema 4D preference settings (Cinema 4D.prf)

Stores your changes to anything in the Edit > Preferences window.

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\prefs

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/prefs

Plugins and scripts

+Plugins folder

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\plugins

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/plugins

+Custom plugin paths (plugins.json)

plugins.json stores any additional plugin search paths you've configured in Edit > Preferences > Plugins.

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\plugins.json

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/plugins.json

+Custom scripts

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********\library\scripts

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_********/library/scripts

Downloaded Maxon Asset Browser content (_assetcache)

The _assetcache folder is separate from your preferences folder. It stores assets you've downloaded from the Maxon-supplied Asset Browser libraries (Capsules, Maxon Assets, etc.). It lives one level above the per-version preferences folders, in the parent Maxon folder, so the same cache is shared across every version of Cinema 4D installed on your machine.

+_assetcache folder paths

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\_assetcache

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/_assetcache

Migrating downloaded assets to another machine: copy the entire _assetcache folder and place it at the parent Maxon folder on the destination machine:

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon

Legacy paths (R24 and older)

In Cinema 4D R25, the preset and shortcut systems were redesigned. Presets moved into the Asset Browser (so they now live in userrepository) and shortcuts were moved out of shortcuttables.res into the new prefs/shortcuts folder. The paths below only apply to R24 and earlier.

+Custom presets in R24 and older (user.lib4d)

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D R**_********\library\browser

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D R**_********/library/browser

+Custom shortcuts in R24 and older (shortcuttables.res)

Windows: Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D R**_********\prefs

macOS: Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D R**_********/prefs

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TL;DR

  • The fastest way to your preferences folder is Edit > Preferences > Open Preferences Folder inside Cinema 4D.
  • The base preferences path is Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_******** on Windows and Users/*USERNAME*/Library/Preferences/Maxon/Maxon Cinema 4D 20**_******** on macOS.
  • userrepository is the on-disk Preferences database from the Asset Browser. Don't edit it manually.
  • Layouts live in library/layout, plugins in plugins, shortcuts (R25+) in prefs/shortcuts, scripts in library/scripts, color schemes and the main preferences file in prefs.
  • Downloaded Maxon Asset Browser content lives in _assetcache, one level above the per-version folder, in the parent Maxon directory.
  • R24 and older used user.lib4d for presets and shortcuttables.res for shortcuts. Both moved in R25.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please submit a support ticket, and our team will be happy to help.

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