21.x FL Studio

FL Studio Comparison Chart

• WINDOWS:  8.1, 10, 11 or later
• macOS: 10.13.6 (High Sierra) or later
• 4GB free disk space
• 4GB of  RAM or higher recommended
• The more powerful your CPU, the more instruments and FX you can run.
• For in-app purchases, Internet Explorer 11 or higher
• Intel or Apple Silicon supported.

FL Studio 21.2

• FL Cloud – Integrated content and services under Sounds Tab in the Browser. Including Samples, Loops & Mastering and more to come.
  • Sounds – Drag and drop content straight from the Cloud into FL Studio.
  • Mastering – An AI-powered, fast and easy way to master your tracks. Compliant to the specifications of all major digital streaming platforms. Find it under File > Export > Master …
  • Distribution – Get your music into Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Tidal, TikTok, YouTube, and more.
  • Browser search – Extend your local browser search via direct shortcut to FL Cloud Sounds from the panel shown at the bottom of the Browser when you search for local files.
  • Show downloaded content – Use the context menu to select ‘Show in FL Studio Browser’ menu for downloaded samples inside the Sounds Tab.
• FL Studio:
  • Fruity Edition – Now supports up to 8 Audio Clips.
  • Themes – Now include customizable waveform display, audio frequency-to-color customization. Use responsibly!
  • Projects – ‘Copy used samples to the project folder’ is now stored with Projects instead of a Global option
  • Tools Menu – Added direct-access menu items for FL Cloud functionality.
  • More plugins menu – Middle-click the ‘Add instrument track’ [+] button in the Playlist or middle-click the + Channel button and the Effect slot arrow button.
  • Audio Export – Renamed ‘Background rendering’ in the render window to ‘Minimize when rendering’.
  • Saving Projects – Samples that weren’t found when a project is loaded are now remembered after saving.
  • MIDI scripting – Added a ‘value’ parameter for channels.soloChannel. Scripts can now solo track groups in the Playlist.
  • Audio settings – Buffer length slider control now shows buffer in ms.
  • File Settings – Added a button to the File Settings to re-download all optional features
  • General Settings:
    • Automation Clips – Added an General Settings option to ‘Create automation clips at the playback position’
    • Mouse wheel – New Vertical / Horizontal scrolling speed controls.
    • Warnings – That can be hidden are now categorized in General settings
    • Monophonic painting in piano roll – Reverses the Paint brush default painting mode with the (Shift) held mode.
• Playlist:
  • Stem Separation – From the Audio Clip Menu, choose ‘Extract stems from sample’ to split audio into component tracks (Drums, Bass, Instruments and Vocals).
  • Automation Clips – Are now added at the position of the playback cursor.
  • Open Channel Rack – Use (Alt + Double-Click) (was Shift) on a Pattern Clip to show the Channel Rack and Instrument. Without Alt, the Piano roll will open.
• Piano roll:
  • Tools menu – Open the Piano roll Tools menu when clicking on the ‘magnifying glass’ icon for downloaded scripts.
  • Scale highlighting – Now saved per project.
  • Piano roll scripting – Added clone() method to note, deleteMarker(i) method to score, deleteNote(i) method to score and getTimelineSelection() function.
• Browser:
  • Sounds Tab – Integrated Cloud-based samples, loops and more.
  • FL Cloud Content – Right-Click downloaded content in the Browser to show its pack in the Sounds panel.
  • Projects – Project items in the browser now have a ‘Project’ tag.
• Plugins:
  • Kepler (Producer Edition) – Authentic Juno-6 emulation included free and retrospectively in FL Studio Producer Edition and up.
  • FL Studio Mobile – Updated to v4.3.19.
  • Slicex – Markers are now added at the playback position.
  • Layer Channel – The volume of new Layer Channels is now set to 100%.
  • Vintage Phaser – Added a new ‘Engine’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Inv FB’ controls under the Advanced section (click the gear icon).
  • ZGE Visualizer – The ‘ImageMashup’ effect can now support up to 20 image sources. The preview window can now stay open even if the plugin editor is closed.

See Full Release Notes

FL Studio 21.1

• FL Studio:
  • Colored waveforms – General settings option to color code frequency content in audio waveforms. This applies to the Browser, Playlist, Sampler Channel etc.
  • MIDI Control – New ‘External sync‘ mode & improved MIDI master clock stability. This allows FL Studio to ‘slave’ to an external MIDI Clock so that it plays in time to an external MIDI clock source.
  • Automated updates – Option to automatically download FL Studio updates and apply them at the next restart.
• Piano roll
  • Snap to Scale – Piano roll option to snap notes to the selected scale on placement or movement. See the note icon on the toolbar.
  • Menu > Tools > Script – Scripts are Python based that allows custom manipulation of Piano roll data. There are several pre-made scripts or you can write your own. Scripting also includes automatic user interface creation. See the Piano roll scripting forum to share and discuss Scripts.
• New & Updated Plugins
  • Hyper Chorus – Extreme chorus FX plugin, included with Producer Edition and up.
  • Edison Declipper – New and improved AI-based declipping tool. Can restore recordings that have been clipped due to level issues.
  • SliceX – Now resizable by dragging the lower-right corner.

Full Change log

FL Studio 21

• FL Studio & User Interface
  • Themes – Change the mood of your favorite DAW. Look under General Settings > Miscellaneous > Theme.
  • Project Folders – Option under the ‘Projects > General Settings‘ that opens a ‘New project’ window, optionally shown, when a new project is created or saved. This allows all project data to be saved in a unique per-project folder with sub-folders for Recorded, Rendered and Sliced audio.
  • File Settings – Added an option to auto save every minute (Afrojack request).
  • General Settings:
    • Language support – Spanish, French & German, in addition to English and Chinese.
    • Put undone recordings in the recycle bin‘ – On by default. Otherwise they will be deleted on undo.
    • Invert pencil buttons – Swaps the behavior of a pen‘s secondary button with the primary button.
    • Alternate Undo – Now on by default when installing on a new computer.
  • Export – Rendered files are automatically selected in the System file Browser when opening the destination folder.
  • File (menu) – There is a new ‘More’ sub-menu showing up to 50 recent items.
  • File Support – Apple .m4a Audio format now load.
  • Metronome – Separate options for the Preview and Metronome Mixer track in Audio Settings.
  • New from template – Menu updates when templates are added and removed.
  • Plugin Manager – Some non-compliant plugin search paths are no longer allowed.
  • Settings window – The window has been redesigned to allow multi-language text which may require more space. Also allows adjust the height of the settings window so it fits on screens with a low vertical resolution.
  • Startup – If the startup project crashes the default project will be used at next startup (when load last project is set) to prevent crash-loops. The Splash Screen is hidden when an audio device shows an error so the message can be read.
  • Support – Crash logs now show the Windows version.
  • Text entry – Typing a long and short space character is now done with (Alt+Ctrl+Space) and (Alt+Shift+Space).
  • Touch Controller – Visualize note activity on the touch controller coming from the selected Channel when note data is being played from the Piano roll.
  • Type in value – More information about current value is shown when selected.
  • Typing to Piano – The octave for the typing keyboard can now be changed with (Alt+Number-Pad 2-6).
  • CPU – Improved CPU usage associated with Mixer processing improvements.
  • View > Tests – Run tests asynchronously
  • Debug log – Show names of updated Browser folders in the debug log.
• Playlist:
  • Audio Clip Fade & Gain controls: – Audio Clip fade in, fade out and gain controls with optional Automatic Crossfades.
    • View – Hold (Alt) for temporary previews of fades and gain when Show fade previews / gain previews are deselected.
    • Menu – (Right-Click) the ‘Show fade editing controls‘ icon for quick access to fade options.
    • Snapping – Hold (Alt) to snap when fade handle snapping is off and so (Alt+Click) no longer resets fades.
    • Shortcut – Added (Shift+F) to toggle the ‘Show fade editing controls‘ icon.
  • Adding tracks – New [+] button on the Playlist Clip Focus area to add Instrument and Audio Tracks via Left and Right-Click options.
  • Paste Location – Clips added to new Audio Tracks are placed at the Playhead location or inside any time selection.
  • Drag & Drop – When dropping multiple samples, hold (Shift) to add them sequentially in the Playlist. Dropping samples on, or Cloning a track will select it.
  • Multi-selection – Support for multi-selection when using the Clip Menu > Chop options.
  • Warning dialog – Track-name pop-up when deleting multiple Playlist tracks to remind you what is about to go.
  • Play list & Piano roll – Deleting overlapping Clips and Notes selected using the Select > Overlapping notes option, will delete only the top layer/s leaving the lowest.
  • Playlist & Piano roll – Pasting of clips and notes now happens at the Play position (when possible).
  • Chopping – You can now chop Pattern and Automation Clips (from the Clip Menu > ‘Chop’ option).
  • Recorded Audio – Added ‘Adjust position of recorded audio’ option to the mixer input latency menu.
  • Playlist – Renamed ‘Punch in / out recording’ markers to ‘Start / Stop recording’.
• Automation Clips:
  • Editor – New button under the Automation Clip settings window to convert Automation to Event data.
  • Warning dialog – New ‘Don’t show this in the future’ to warnings about approximated automation merging.
  • Merging – Can be merged with an approximated curve where precise merging isn’t possible, including LFO mode.
  • Automation Clip Editor – Grid lines are thicker to aid visibility.
  • GUI – The ‘Add target links’ (+) button pulses when actively adding links (click to start process). Changed the Automation Clip channel’s envelope grid division to 4
• Channel Rack:
  • Channel Button (Right-Click) – New ‘Patcherize‘ option to convert the current instance into a Patcherized format.
  • Channel Rack – Now scrolls when moving a Channel outside of the visible vertical range.
  • Channel – Shows a floating hint when a Plugin replaces a Channel Sampler.
• New Plugins & Tools:
  • LuxeVerb (All Plugins Edition) – Advanced algorithmic reverb with a ‘luxurious’ and malleable sound that is capable of simulating realistic and experimental acoustic spaces of all sizes.
  • Vintage Phaser (Signature Bundle +) – Inspired by and modelled after the 1970’s Electro-Harmonics Small Stone Phase Shifter™.
  • Multiband Delay (Producer Edition +) – Splits incoming audio into 16 frequency bands and allows you to delay each band individually. Quite the sound-design tool!
  • VFX Sequencer (Fruity Edition +) – A pattern Arpeggiator and Step Sequencer designed to be used in Patcher to send note sequences to connected instrument plugins.
• Browser (improved):
  • Tags – Click on TAGS (at the bottom) to open more options.
  • Favoriting – Click the star on mouse-over of content.
  • Search – Boolean search queries (“Big Kick” vs Big Kick). Folder icon in search field to restrict found items to the current folder only. ‘Type to filter‘ menu option to decide if typing a letter filters or selects items. Selects the first folder when searching in views with multiple columns. Search results show folders with a matching name. Show the full path as the hint for filtered items.
  • Locate file – Right-Click option on a file to highlight it in the System file Browser.
  • Tags – You can (Right-Click) to remove tags.
  • Tabs – (Right-Click) Tabs to enable option to individually remembered Tab sizes.
  • Multi-selection – Multiple selection of items including: (Shift+Click) and (Alt/command+Ctrl+Click).
  • Content Formats – .fxp, .fxb and .vstpreset files are now tagged as plugin ‘presets’. .mid MIDI files are tagged as ‘score’.
  • Tabs – New (Right-Click) Tab options to move Browser Tabs Left/Right. ‘Clone this tab’ option.
  • Library Tab – Added online content for free and paid download. Content will be automatically available to plugins that can use it. Audio demos – Content library items can now have in-line audio demos.
  • Audio Preview – Starting Playback from the mouse-cursor position now possible via (Right+Click) OR (Shift+Click) and mouse-over for fine positioning. Browser Menu option ‘Full sample preview‘. Sample preview panel shows Sample Rate, Bit Depth and Stereo meta-data.
  • Option – ‘Show icons and text on tabs’.
  • Browser – Added a ‘Frozen’ option for tabs. When ‘Frozen’ the Browser stops saving the state (which folders are collapsed or not). The ‘Collapse structure’ button acts as ‘restore to frozen state’.
• Piano roll:
  • View – Automatically scrolls the Piano roll while transposing notes.
  • Mouse wheel precision – Increased precision when editing note voice properties with the mouse wheel.
  • Piano roll – The selected Channel is opened when (Double-Clicking) on an empty Pattern Clip.
• Updated Plugins
  • Vintage Chorus – Added context aware type-in value support.
  • Maximus – Grid lines and labels of the Compression Envelope are now more visible.
  • FLEX – Changes to presets can be undone with (Ctrl+Z). The default value for the Master Output volume control is now 100%.
  • Plugin Wrapper – Option to control if FL Studio can handle (Ctrl+Z) key presses to undo.
  • FL Studio Mobile – Updated to v4.1.4.
  • 3x Osc, DX 10 & Fruit Kick – Can now be used in Patcher.
  • Edison – Added multi selection to Envelopes.
  • Convolver – Impulse samples no longer have length limit.
  • Audio Editors (Scripting) – Convolver, Edison & Slicex; Python replaces PaxCompiler. Existing scripts have been converted to Python. Scripting now works on macOS in addition to Windows.
  • Editors (synced playback) – Relocate the Play head to any position in the Playlist, Piano roll and Event editor.
  • Formula Controller (and other formula locations) – Added new operators and functions to formulas:
    • New operators: fmod – 2 Operands (Floating & Modulo), 2 Operants (shl & shr), Bit operators (shift left & shift right).
    • New functions: Fold(x) – Wave folding operation (x = input signal Threshold and gain are always 1.0). Warp(x, y) (Warps signal “x” around to warp point “y”). Map(x, y, z) (Maps the value x into range [y,z]. Equivalent to x * (z – y) + y).
  • Gross Beat – New “Juggling Science” preset.
  • Soundfont Player – Added a ‘Program mode‘ option to determine how patches are triggered.
  • Visualizer – Added new post-process effects from Dubswitcher.
  • Visualizer (ZGE):
    • UI – Supports separators between parameters in effects. Added a toolbar button as a shortcut to show transparency. You can now select what buffer to show in the preview window.
    • Zip – Added custom effects to zipped projects.
    • Touch controllers – Supports the touch controller window in the ‘Add window’ list.
    • New Effects – Audio Generator (Windows only), Dubswitcher Field Generator, Dubswitcher Dropshadow, Dubswitcher Fast HSV, Dubswitcher Fast Static, Dubswitcher Soft Glitch, Dubswitcher AlphaKey, Dubswitcher Color Shaper, Dubswitcher Inverter, Dubswitcher Jitter Glitch, Dubswitcher Linear Blur, Dubswitcher Smudge, Dubswitcher Solidify, Dubswitcher Starburst, Dubswitcher Whitehole.
    • Presets – HUD Text can now locate fonts outside the font folder.
    • Surface tab – Added a Surface tab for easier customization of presets.
    • Images – Added export to APNG image format. .jpeg extension is now the default when saving bitmaps.
    • Updated Effect – Added blend parameter to “TextDraw” effect.
• MIDI scripting & MIDI:
  • Performance Mode – getPerformanceModeState function. Tests if the FL Studio Playlist is in ‘Performance mode’.
  • MIDI Controller ID – Identification of MIDI devices is now delayed until scripts have been downloaded a first time.
  • External links – Allow redirect links for the help link in a script (must be to IL forums).
• Mixer:
  • Select all tracks (Ctrl+A) – This applies to actions enable/disable track FX and level changes.
  • Bypass effects – Now works for all selected mixer tracks.
  • Render Option (Mixer menu) – ‘Render selected tracks to wave files‘.
  • Mixer – The window no longer automatically opens when a new audio or instrument track is created.
• Windows:
  • Installation – Users can no longer save files to the FL Studio install location. The FL Studio installer will no longer associate the program with .flp files in Beta builds to prevent accidental saving to Beta.

FL Studio 20.7.2

• FL Studio Control hints – Most FL Studio controls now show their value when the mouse is hovered over them.
• Channel Rack Groups – Users can now lock Channel Groups by deselecting the ‘Auto switch channel group’ option.
• MIDI file drag-and-drop import – Hold (Shift) to suppress the import dialog showing OR hold (Alt) to force show it when dropping MIDI files onto the Channel Rack.
• Preserve Clip Trim Edits – Hold Shift when using the ‘Clip Menu > Select source channel’ option to preserve Clip’s start and end positions.
• Improved MIDI controller support – There is now a MIDI Scripting forum with new controllers being supported every day.
• FLEX – Patch display and selector now available on the Wrapper. Loaded patches now scroll to a visible location when reopening projects.
• ZGE Visualizer – Drag and drop Sliced Audio to the Video Cue-point window to add Cue Points (click Cue Points to preview). ‘Remove unused’ button added to Image tab.

FL Studio 20.7

Dominate YouTube, Instagram and Facebook with the new Visualizer, enjoy more freedom with unlocked Piano roll note colors, and get set for unlimited controller support via MIDI Scripting. Plus lots more enhancements for your favorite DAW described below. All because we love your Lifetime Free Updates. Stay home and get creative with FL Studio.

Key Features

• Create music videos – The Visualizer allows users to select from a large menu of amazing YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook ready video templates, click-and-drag to move text & other layers directly while in video preview. Integrated pexels.com image and video content. Supports 16:9 (2, 4, 8K), 9:16 (vertical), 1:1 (square) and custom video aspect ratios. Further, VJs can trigger live video clips and control DMX devices including lights, lasers, smoke machines, strobes, and more.
• More MIDI Controllers – MIDI scripts allow you and hardware manufacturers to take deep control over FL Studio from any MIDI controller, or to remap any existing controller to suit your needs.
• Note envelopes – VFX Envelope allows you to continuously modify note properties of native plugins inc. Velocity, Pitch, and Pan, plus Mod X and Mod Y per note when plugins are hosted in Patcher.
• Improved color management – Customizable Piano roll note colors including an improved Color Selector throughout FL Studio.
• General MIDI files – You can now choose the FLEX General MIDI Library to open and play General MIDI files (GM).
• Audio time-warping – The Newtime audio editor has new Edit Menu options, Transient and Tempo to select the beat detection method for faster time warping of audio.
• Distortion – Destructor has new Mono and Wide modes added to the Chorus module.
• FL Studio Mobile – Updated to include Cloud Backup for easier file sharing with your mobile devices.
• Plugin Delay Compensation (PDC) – Now applies to Automation.
• FLEX – Previous and next preset selection is possible via supported MIDI controllers that can switch between presets.
• Advanced Fill Tool – Channels will automatically loop to fill the remaining space when the selected sequence length is shorter than the current pattern.
• Default template – Changed to ‘Basic 808 with limiter’.
• Reduced start time – The fastest opening DAW just got a little faster, because we care!

TIP: If you are updating from FL Studio 11 or 12, check the video tutorial here. To review all the updates since the release of FL Studio 20, see the manual here – New Features in FL Studio 20