Finale Installation Details

Noteman says: Finale must be installed on the hard drive that has been assigned the drive letter C:. Installing Finale on a different drive or partition can lead to unstable operation and is not supported.

Finale components are installed to various locations on your hard drive depending on their function and required accessibility. Because there may be multiple user accounts on the same computer, Finale installs all customizable files (i.e., files that each user may want to edit individually) to a common folder. When Finale is launched, files are copied from this common location to a user-specific location for the account currently logged in.

The file paths listed below are for the current version of Finale. You can access these files by navigating to the file paths below manually or by using the Window's Run command. The information in the [brackets] will need to be replaced with information specific to your computer. Files denoted with an *(asterisk) can be customized and can be migrated between versions of Finale. See Optional: To migrate settings and support files from one version of Finale to another.

Default file locations for Windows 7 SP1/8/8.1/10

Type Description File path
Finale The Finale application C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Finale.exe
Music files Exercises, Tutorials, Worksheets, and Repertoire C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Music Files\[various]
Document settings Default documents, Document Styles*, Templates* C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Music Files\[various]

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Music Files\[various]
Ensembles* C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\ensembles.txt

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\ensembles.txt
Finale libraries* C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Libraries\[various]
Pagesizes.txt*
This is a listing of default page sizes and margins that can be customized.
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\pagesizes.txt

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\pagesizes.txt
Program settings MIDI Setup* and Audio Setup*
These settings are controlled in their respective dialog boxes and are recorded in the Finale preferences files.
C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\FINALE.INI

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\FINMIDI.INI
Finale preferences* and toolbar customizations*
These settings are controlled in their respective dialog boxes and are recorded in the Finale preferences files or your computer's registry. It is not recommended to copy the preferences files directly from one version of Finale to another.
C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\FINALE.INI

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\FINMIDI.INI
SoundFonts
SmartMusic SoftSynth General MIDI SoundFont is the default for MIDI playback.
C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Audio Support\synthgms.sf2
Finale and third-party plug-ins*
Before copying plug-ins not included with Finale from one version of Finale to another (such as the full TGTools, JW plug-ins, Patterson plug-ins, and Dolet MusicXML plug-in), it is strongly recommended to check with the plug-in manufacturer for an updated plug-in specifically designed for the version of Finale you are installing. Plug-ins that have not been updated may not function correctly in newer versions of Finale. The folder structure here determines how plug-ins appear in the Plug-ins menu.
C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Plug-ins\[various]
MacSymbolFonts.txt*
Finale uses this file on the Mac to determine which fonts, such as music and ClosedsymbolA Symbol font, with regards to Finale, is a font that is not re-encoded when a document is opened cross-platform. Maestro is a symbol font. It has exactly one encoding (character #247 always equals the same symbol regardless of platform). Some characters in non-Symbol Fonts (such as Times) are encoded differently on Windows than on Mac (for example, character #247 on Mac may be represented by #233 on Windows). Finale detects files that were last saved across platform and must re-encode all non-symbol fonts. MacSymbolFonts.txt is a list of all Symbol Fonts. Finale refers to MacSymbolFonts.txt while re-encoding to ensure no font listed in MacSymbolFonts.txt is re-encoded. fonts, should not be converted when sharing files between a Mac and a Windows machine.
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\MacSymbolFonts.txt

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\MacSymbolFonts.txt
Simple Entry shortcut sets* and Speedy Entry key maps*
Keyboard shortcuts and MIDI keys can be customized when using Simple and Speedy Entry using their respective dialog boxes. Additionally, if you have made any direct edits to FINALE.INI to accommodate international keyboards for Speedy Entry, these edits must be made to FINALE.INI in the new version of Finale. External macro/keyboard shortcut settings must be adjusted for the new version of Finale using the external tool that controls them.
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\keymaps.txt

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\keymaps.txt
FinaleScript*
The folder structure and order of .xml files here determines how scripts appear in the FinaleScript plug-in.
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\FinaleScript\[various]

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\FinaleScript\[various]
Font Annotation*
Font annotation allows you to fine-tune the height and width of each font character, allowing Finale to better handle the selection area for font characters and collision avoidance in Engraver slurs.
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Font Annotation\[various].FAN

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Font Annotation\[various].FAN
VST Plug-ins*
If you have specified one or more non-default locations for Finale to find virtual instrument plug-ins, you must do so again for a new version of Finale.
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\VST Support\[various]
Garritan sound library support files Sound maps*
An internal file that contains the list of sound samples available for a particular sound library and matches those samples with an instrument from Finale's internal instrument database.
C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Data\SoftSynth.soundmap

C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Data\GIFF.soundmap
Sound map priority*
A list determining which sound library is used first when playing back in Finale.
C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\Configuration Files\Soundmaps.settings
Percussion MIDI maps*
A list that matches each percussion instrument in a sound library with a particular MIDI note number.
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\MIDI Device Annotation\[various]

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale [version]\MIDI Device Annotation\[various]
Help files The Read Me is a document containing important information about running Finale, interface changes, new features, and fixes. C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Finale Read Me.rtf
ClosedFinale Quick Reference GuideThe Quick Reference Guide is a helpful resource to learn how to accomplish basic tasks and reference keyboard shortcuts within Finale. You can access this guide from the Help menu. C:\Program Files\MakeMusic\Finale\[version]\Help Files\Finale Quick Reference Guide for Windows.pdf

Tip: To easily access support files located in C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic, enter %appdata%\MakeMusic when using Window's Run command to navigate directly to the MakeMusic folder.

Installing multiple versions of Finale

Because major versions of Finale are installed to different directories on your computer, you can have multiple versions installed concurrently on the same computer. Note that the most recently installed version of Finale on your computer—not necessarily the latest version—will automatically be associated with Finale file types.

See also:

Finale preferences files

Finale file extensions and icons