All OBDLink® adapters are guaranteed to work with our free software applications: OBDLink® app (for Android and iOS) and OBDwiz (for Windows), as shown in the table below. For complete details, see Which OBDLink® adapter is right for me?
Some users have reported success in connecting an OBDLink adapter to the OBDwiz application using an emulator like Parallels Desktop to create a virtual Windows machine on their MacOS device.
Our support team can’t answer detailed questions about MacOS devices. However, we have helped users who have set up a MacOS device to run OBDwiz or other PC-based apps such as FORScan. This article describes some steps that may work for you.
| Android | iOS | Windows (Vista and newer) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OBDLink MX+ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| OBDLink EX | ✔ See Note 1 | ✔ | |
| OBDLink CX | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ See Note 2 |
| OBDLink LX | ✔ | ✔ | |
| OBDLink SX | ✔ See Note 1 | ✔ | |
| Notes: 1. A USB On-the-Go (OTG) cable is required to connect OBDLink EX and OBDLink SX to an Android device. (OTG cable is not included with purchase.) 2. A BLE adapter is required to connect OBDLink CX to a Windows device. (BLE adapter is not included with purchase.) | |||
Install drivers
If you see an error message about missing Virtual COM Port (VCP) drivers for your OBDLink adapter, try installing the latest drivers from: https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/
Follow the steps in the Installation Guides.
You will need to know whether your MacOS device has an x86 processor, x64 processor, or an ARM chip to choose the correct FTDI driver.
Connect to a USB type C port
If your MacOS device has USB 3.x type C ports, use a USB adapter or hub device to connect your wired OBDLink adapter.
Connect Bluetooth devices
If you are having Bluetooth issues connecting to your OBDLink adapter, refer to the Parallels guides below:
Our support team doesn’t use Parallels, so these guides may not have all required steps.
Troubleshooting tips
- Some OBDLink users have posted questions and solutions on the OBDLink support forum.
Check out OBDLink forum post 16176 and OBDLink forum post 17106. - If you are using a third-party application, such as FORScan, try searching their user forum for advice.
Some OBDLink users have found success following FORScan forum post 86990 (How to get FORScan up and running with an Apple M2 Max MacBook Pro running Windows 11 through Parallels).
Learn more
You can explore other OBDLink features and functionality using our support article knowledge base.
For descriptions of terms used in this article, see the Glossary of Acronyms and Terms.
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