Where Are SketchUp Extensions Stored Mac?

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Are you a Mac user who loves using SketchUp? If so, you may have come across the need to install extensions to enhance your SketchUp experience.

But have you ever wondered where these extensions are stored on your Mac? In this article, we will explore the location of SketchUp extensions on a Mac and how you can access them.

Locating SketchUp Extensions on Mac

If you have installed SketchUp and some extensions on your Mac, you might be curious about where these extensions are actually stored. By default, SketchUp extensions are stored in a specific folder within your user library.

To access this folder, follow these steps:

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Click on the “Go” menu in the top menu bar.
  3. Hold down the “Option” key to reveal the hidden Library folder.
  4. Select “Library” from the drop-down menu.
  5. Navigate to the “Application Support” folder and locate the “SketchUp” folder.

Once you have located the SketchUp folder, you will find another folder named “SketchUp20xx“. The “20xx” represents the version of SketchUp installed on your Mac. Open this folder to access all your installed extensions.

Browsing Through SketchUp Extensions

Upon opening the SketchUp20xx folder, you will find several subfolders representing different categories of extensions. These categories may include materials, plugins, renderers, or tools.

To browse through these extensions:

  1. Open the respective subfolder to find the specific extensions within them.
  2. To install new extensions, simply drag and drop the extension file into the relevant category subfolder.
  3. To uninstall extensions, delete the respective extension files from their corresponding subfolders.

It’s worth noting that some extensions may come with an installer, which will automatically handle the installation process for you. In such cases, you may need to follow specific instructions provided by the extension developer.

Customizing SketchUp Extension Locations

If you prefer to organize your SketchUp extensions in a different location on your Mac, it is possible to change the default installation directory. However, this process requires a bit of technical knowledge and should be approached with caution.

To change the default installation directory for SketchUp extensions:

  1. Quit SketchUp and any other related applications.
  2. Navigate to the current SketchUp application folder.
  3. Right-click on “SketchUp.app” and select “Show Package Contents”.
  4. Navigate to “Contents/Resources/Content/Resources/en-US”.
  5. Create a new folder with your desired name in this location. This will be your new extensions directory.
  6. Open “extensions.json” file using a text editor.
  7. Edit the value for “extensions_path” to reflect your newly created folder path.
    8. {
    ..
    "extensions_path": "/path/to/your/new/extensions/folder",
    .
}

After making these changes, you can launch SketchUp, and any new extensions you install will be stored in your custom directory.

In Conclusion

Knowing where your SketchUp extensions are stored on your Mac can be helpful when organizing, installing, or uninstalling them. By default, SketchUp extensions are located within the SketchUp folder in your user library. However, if desired, you can customize the location of these extensions by modifying the “extensions.json” file within the SketchUp application package.

Now that you know where to find your SketchUp extensions on a Mac, you can easily manage and enhance your SketchUp experience by exploring and installing various extensions available for this powerful modeling software.