Where DaVinci Resolve keeps LUTs, and why yours won't show up

You copied a .cube file in, and the menu still doesn't list it. Nothing is broken. Resolve reads one folder, and only re-reads it when you ask.

Don't have LUTs for your camera yet? PursuitLuts makes them for RED, Canon, Sony and Nikon, with the camera's colour conversion built in.

Let Resolve show you the folder

Open Project Settings, go to Color Management, and click Open LUT Folder. Your file browser opens the exact folder that version of Resolve reads. This beats typing a path, because it's right even if Resolve was installed somewhere unusual.

The folder, on each system

• Mac: /Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/LUT
• Windows: C:\ProgramData\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\LUT
• Linux: /opt/resolve/LUT

On Mac that's the Library folder at the top of your drive, not the one inside your home folder. On Windows, ProgramData is hidden by default. Paste the path into the address bar and it opens anyway.

Then tell Resolve to look again

Back in Color Management, click Update Lists. Resolve reads the folder when it starts, so anything you add later stays invisible until you click that. You can also right-click inside the LUTs panel on the Color page and choose Refresh.

Six reasons a LUT still doesn't appear

• You haven't clicked Update Lists. This is the common one.
• It's still in a zip file. Unzip it first, then copy the folder in. Double-clicking a zip on Windows shows you the contents without unpacking them.
• The file isn't a LUT. Resolve reads .cube, .ilut, .olut, .dat, .cms and .mga files. A .look or a preset file for another app won't show.
• It's buried too deep. One or two folders inside the LUT folder is fine. A long chain of folders is asking for trouble.
• You don't have permission to write there. On Mac and Windows this folder is shared by everyone on the computer. If the copy silently fails, copy again and approve the prompt, or drag the folder in using the window that Open LUT Folder opened.
• Resolve is showing you an old copy. Replaced a file with a new version under the same name, and the picture didn't change? Resolve keeps a processed copy of each LUT. Right-click the folder in the LUT browser and choose Refresh, then apply it again. If it still looks the same, quit Resolve and reopen it.

Name your folder well

The folder name becomes a menu you'll pick from every day, so keep it short and obvious. Resolve also cuts long file names off in the middle of the menu, so the useful part of a name belongs at the front.

Every PursuitLuts pack is built that way. One PursuitLuts folder, then Web, TV or Cinema for where the video will be watched, then a folder per look. Each file starts with the look and the camera, so you can read it even when the menu cuts it short.

Does this change anything about the picture?

No. Where the file sits has nothing to do with how it looks. If your LUT shows up but the picture looks too harsh or still looks flat, that's a settings problem instead, and the install guide covers the three settings that cause it.

Does it work in the free version?

Yes. The folder, the button and the menu are the same in the free version of DaVinci Resolve and in Studio.

Updated 2026-09-15. All guides