A newer version of Max is available. Click here to access the latest version of this document.

Max Console

The Max Console displays status information, error messages, and warnings. You can get helpful advice about programming errors you make while you’re patching (putting an object into your patch that does not exist or misspelling the name of an object, for example) or while a patch is running (sending a message to a Max object that the object doesn’t understand or sending a message to an incorrect inlet) by looking at the Max Console.


Showing the Max Console

  • Choose Max Console from the Window menu. To close the Max Console, click on the window's close button.

The Max application keeps track of whether or not the Max Console is visible when you quit the program, and will hide or show the window when you relaunch Max based on its state when you last used Max.


About the Max Console:

The Max Console toolbar includes several buttons used for common tasks.

The Clear All button clears all messages currently displayed in the Max Console.

The Show Object button is used to locate the object associated with a message in the Max Console.

The Show Only Errors button is used to locate the object associated with a error in the Max Console.

Rows of the Max Console are color coded:

  • status information or things you put there with the print object are in gray / white
  • warnings are in yellow
  • error messages are red
  • internal errors (bugs in Max itself) are in blue

Finding the Object that generated an Error Message

  • If a row of the Max Console displays the name of an object, double-click on the row. The window containing the object that generated the error will be brought to the front, and a green tinge will appear over the object.


Opening the inspector an object that generated a message

  • If a row of the Max Console displays the name of an object, click on the row to select it. Click on the Inspector button in the Max Console toolbar to open the Inspector for the object.

Seeing the complete text of a message in the Max Console

  • Choose Clue Window from the Window menu to display the Clue window. Move the mouse over a row of the Max Console. The entire contents of the row is displayed in the clue window.

You can find a complete listing of Max, MSP, and Jitter error messages here.


Clearing the text in the Max Console

  • Click on the Clear All button in the Max Console toolbar.

See Also

Name Description
The Max Environment The Max Environment