You can certainly run BiaB from an external drive, however, the bulk of the storage is in the RealDrums and RealTracks folders. You could just move those folders and their contents to an external drive, and use Options > Preferences > RealDrums to set the name of the custom drums folder to your external drive. Repeat with RealTracks.
That approach will mean that no other settings need to be changed.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Alternately, you can just move your entire c:\bb\ folder to your removable drive. Everything should continue to work without needing to make any other changes.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
It is safest to run the installers for the RealTracks and RealDrums and select the new drive during the install process than to move folders. And then steps to select thee folders in the preferences settings are shown in this video:
I is safest to run the installers for the RealTracks and RealDrums and select the new drive during the install process than to move folders. And then steps to select thee folders in the preferences settings are shown in this video:
Then do you wind up with two sets of RealDrums and RealTracks? I don't believe that this method 'moves' the files, but just installs a duplicate set.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Once you confirm that everything is installed to the new location then you can remove the RealTracks from the original drive. Especially for Windows, we generally do not recommend moving folders.
I recently moved the entire contents of C:\bb\ to E:\bb\
Everything worked perfectly. I didn't need to make any changes. Even the new RealTracks and RealDrums locations were automatically picked up on the E: drive, so the team must have done some good programming work to have automated the recognition of the new locations.
The only thing I needed to do was to change the bbw64.exe shortcut location on the desktop to point to the new location.
So that is one way that I found that worked. But there are other options as you have indicated.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Sometimes moving programs in Windows can get a bit messy. In the event that you follow all the steps outlined above and are still having issues with the Band-in-a-Box program, we'd recommend running the Band-in-a-Box setup installer to reinstall the main program. This will fix most any issues encountered after moving the program.
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With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
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2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
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