Ableton Forum

Just got Ableton, trying to set up an audio effects rack. I try to drag "Audio Effects Rack" and drop it onto the track but it won't let me. Any help would be appreciated!

I would guess you have the audio or midi editor open. Double click on track (click on the track name, not inside the clip) to get into the effects.

Any help?

I would guess you are trying to drag it into a midi track without an instrument.

No instrument - no audio routing - no audio effects.

No, I am dragging it into an audio track.

It won't let me drop a generic audio effects rack, not even something like "EQ Three", or "Beat Repeat".

If you have recorded something and are watching the waveform, you can't drag any effects into the channel. Double click the channel name until an empty effects line appear, then you can drag effects onto the channel. I'm refering to the line below session and arrange view.

It should be explained in the manual.

I know, it says to just drop an audio effects rack into the channel. That's what I'm doing. It won't allow me to do it. I'm getting the circle with the line through it like a no-smoking sign. It will allow me to drop specific audio effects like if I were to go to EQ THREE's subset folder then get "Boost High Hats" but it won't allow me to drop an effects rack.

Hi, did you ever resolve this issue? I am having exactly the same issue and its bugging the hell out of me. Thanks in advance.

Same problem.. This has never happened to me before. I cant drag and drop anything. HELP!!

ok, to solve this problem i uninstalled ableton and reinstalled it. one point might be that you are using the light version and it won't allow this option, not sure of that though. i do know that i bought the EDM Bundle and when i went to install it i did not follow the instructions properly. i just loaded the program went on line and tried to enter the serial number off the live CD case. Bad idea. you must first enter the Live light number found on the (upgrade & Unlock Card) inside the (APC20 Box), then upgrade to the full version on your user account and register the serial number on the Live CD case. i still wasn't getting the full version. i think its because i didn't do it right the first time. i called Ableton Tech support and they said it look good on their end. so as a last resort i uninstalled and reinstalled and vwala it worked even other issues i was having went away. i hope this saves you a call to tech support if not call em. DJ-Dynamiclee

I had this problem too but I figured out what it is.

You have to reselect the Audio-Effects rack on the side then drag it back in, I don't know why it does this but sometimes Ableton will deselect it and you're just trying to drag nothing into your instrument which is why it won't let you.

thank you chris-p, was having the same frustrating issue and your solution worked for me!

Good day! I'm happy that I finally got my ableton live 11 lite but the problem is I can't use some of my audio effects in my ableton it only has folder but not the actual effect so I can't use it. Can anyone help about this matter?? I'm really bothered cause I can't figure it out. Thank you

GaricaD wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 25, 2021 4:11 pm

Good day! I'm happy that I finally got my ableton live 11 lite but the problem is I can't use some of my audio effects in my ableton it only has folder but not the actual effect so I can't use it. Can anyone help about this matter?? I'm really bothered cause I can't figure it out. Thank you

Does this apply for Ableton Live's built-in effects, 3rd party plugins, or both?

If it's just some plugins, I would recommend doing a hard-rescan of your plugin library. There's a "rescan" button in the options menu (opened with ctrl + , - as in, hold control and hit your comma button - or I assume cmd + , on Mac) and in the Plug-Ins tab, there is a "Rescan" button. Hold down ctrl (or cmd on Mac) while you click it. This could take a while depending on how many plug-ins you have. If this doesn't work, back up whatever patches or content you have for these plugins and re-install those (update if there are newer versions). Then try the rescan method I just explained again.

If it's only happening for the 1st-party built-in modules, or if the above doesn't work, I'd suggest re-installing Ableton Live. I don't know if doing so removes your presets and user library, or your projects, so back all of that stuff up before you uninstall. Maybe check if there's a newer version than what you downloaded, if that's applicable.

Hope this helps. I've never used Live 11, or any version of Live Lite, only Live 9 Intro and Live 10 Suite, so if there's something Live 11-specific about this issue, I won't be able to help much.

By the way, I have the same issue that started this thread, in Live 10 Suite. I've considered and tried what's been mentioned here with no luck. Actually, the only way I can drop effects onto tracks is by selecting the track I want it on, and double-clicking the list entry for the module I want. This is sometimes also true for instruments. Seems I can't even drag them into the arrangement view section of the track I want either, but only on the track section on the right.

But another issue has come out of my workaround: Depending on how many times I've attempted to drag-and-drop, when I add the instrument/effect I want, it'll recursively add the next x number of effects or instruments in the list I was in, x seemingly being equal to the number of my drag-and-drop attempts. For example, if I attempt to drag EQ Eight in, fail once, and resort to double-clicking, it'll also add an instance of EQ Three after EQ Eight. If the same scenario plays out, except I attempt to drop EQ Eight in 4 times, when I give up and double-click EQ Eight, somehow 1 copy each of EQ Three, Glue Compressor, Pedal, and Redux show up to the party uninvited.

Pretty weird, huh? It's quite annoying and I can see it getting dangerous for my hearing if the wrong thing happens at the wrong time.

OP's username is based.