Plugins

For information on audio plugins, see VST and VSTi.

Overview

A plugin is a small piece of software that adds extra functionality to MuseScore Studio. A plugin needs to be enabled first, and then executed by using the Plugins menu. Some plugins come pre-installed, and are disabled by default. There are also plugins created and shared by other musicians, anyone can download and use them.

Managing plugins

Enabling and disabling plugins

1. Go to Home -> Plugins (or Plugins -> Manage plugins...).

2. Select a plugin and click Enable or Disable.

Installing a new plugin

1. Search for available plugins at, for example:

   • musescore.org/plugins (musescore.org -> Download -> Plugins)

   • GitHub topic 'musescore-plugin'

   • GitHub topic 'musescore-plugins'

2. Make sure it is compatible with your version of MuseScore (3.x or 4.x).

3. Download the file:

   • For .qml files hosted on musescore.org, sometimes web browsers open it as plain text and refuses to download it as file. In that case, right-click on the link and select Save link as...

   • For github.com unpackaged code, download the project as a zip file by clicking Code -> Download ZIP.

     
   • For github.com packaged releases, click on an appropriate item under Assets.

     
4. If the download is a .zip file, extract it using archive extraction software.

5. Move the files to MuseScore's plugins folder, configurable in Preferences -> Folders. The default directories are:

   • Windows: C:\Users\[Your User Name]\Documents\MuseScore4\Plugins\

   • macOS: ~/Documents/MuseScore4/Plugins/

   • Linux: ~/Documents/MuseScore4/Plugins/

     

     

Updating an existing plugin

Updating works the same way as installing – just remember to remove the files from the previous version to avoid duplicate plugins.

Running a plugin

1. Open a score (or go back to the Score tab).

2. Select Plugins in the menu and find and select the plugin name in the menu.

   

To assign a keyboard shortcut to a plugin:

1. Go to Home -> Plugins (or Plugins -> Manage plugins...).

2. Select a plugin.

3. Choose Edit shortcut.

4. Define a keyboard shortcut for the action that appears in the Preferences window.

Pre-installed plugins

See the code for these plugins on Github.

• Add Courtesy Accidentals

• Color Notes

• Lilypond Lyrics

• Mirror Intervals

• Modal Temperaments

• Modal Tuning

• New Retrograde

• Note Names

• Remove Courtesy Accidentals

• Tuning

Create a plugin

Visit the Developers' Handbook Plugins for 3.x chapter for fundamentals, and the Plugins for 4.x chapter for info on the new parameters and porting a MuseScore 3 plugin to MuseScore Studio 4.