● Reads and As-Built writes tested on a real Ford
Plugd sets up everything FORScan needs on an Apple Silicon Mac, finds your OBD adapter, and opens FORScan with one click. Free.
Apple Silicon · macOS 14 or later · USB OBD adapter · v0.3.1
FORScan is a Windows app. Plugd runs it with Wine, a free layer that runs Windows programs on macOS, and connects it to your adapter.
Installs Rosetta, downloads Wine, and gets the official FORScan installer from forscan.org. You read and accept FORScan's license.
Plugd spots your USB adapter and maps it to COM1, the port FORScan expects. Changed USB ports? It remaps.
The full Windows FORScan, with its Extended license, configuration, and As-Built editing.
Drag license keys, As-Built backups or profiles into Plugd. FORScan sees them on drive O:. Anything FORScan saves to O: lands in Documents/Plugd on your Mac.
Read the engine's error codes and the battery voltage in a few seconds, without opening FORScan.
Lists your As-Built backups by date, and warns you when there are none before you change a setting.
Shows when your FORScan Extended license runs out, and updates FORScan from forscan.org in one click.
RPM, speed, coolant, battery, fuel level and more, about once a second. Only the readings your car supports show up.
Adapter status, Open FORScan and engine codes from the menu bar. Can start at login and hide from the Dock.
FORScan.exe ──▶ Wine (COM1) ──▶ /dev/cu.usbserial ──▶ OBD adapter ──▶ car (HS-CAN / MS-CAN)
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Plugd: setup, port mapping, start and stopThe first table lists real tests. Tried it on your car? Open an issue on GitHub and it goes in.
| Car | Adapter | Reads | Writes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Ford Taurus, Middle East Mondeo EVOS, 2.0L EcoBoost |
ELM327 v1.5 (CH340), manual HS/MS switch | ✓ 22+ modules | ✓ features added, confirmed in the car | Oct 2026 |
| What | Which cars |
|---|---|
| FORScan (settings, all modules) | Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda |
| Engine codes and Dashboard | Any car with OBD-II (petrol cars from about 2001). Engine only, not ABS or body. |
| Adapter | Status |
|---|---|
| USB ELM327 with CH340 chip | ✓ Tested |
| USB with FTDI, CP210x or PL2303 chip (OBDLink EX, vLinker FS USB) | Should work, not tested yet |
| Wi-Fi ELM327 | Maybe, through FORScan's own network setting. Not tested. |
| Bluetooth ELM327 | No |
| J2534 tools (VCM II, VXDIAG) | No, they need Windows drivers |
Plugd isn't notarized by Apple yet. To open it the first time:
USB adapters that show up as a serial port: ELM327 clones with CH340, FTDI, CP210x or PL2303 chips, OBDLink EX, vLinker FS USB. Bluetooth adapters don't work, and Wi-Fi ones are untested. See Works with. FORScan may warn that a cheap ELM327 is "not recommended"; ours still read and wrote fine.
That's normal for adapters with a manual switch. Flip it and click OK in FORScan. Adapters like the OBDLink EX switch on their own.
Reading codes works with the free Standard license. Changing settings needs the Extended license (a free 2-month trial at forscan.org). The key is tied to the computer's hardware ID, so get a key for the hardware ID FORScan shows on your Mac. Drop the key into Plugd's Files box, then in FORScan open About → Load key and pick it from drive O:.
Writing settings can break a module if it goes wrong. Save a backup of each module's As-Built data first, keep a battery charger on, and don't change values you don't understand. Plugd passes FORScan's commands through and doesn't change them, but you use it at your own risk.
No. Plugd downloads the official installer from forscan.org on your Mac. FORScan's installer crashes inside Wine today, so Plugd unpacks that same installer and copies its files unchanged.
Wine needs Rosetta to run FORScan. Apple has said Rosetta stays fully available through macOS 27 and is limited after that. If a future macOS breaks it, the GitHub page will say so.