I just completed an Apple generated update to Safari (V16.3) and Big Sur (11.7.3). One of the after effects was a Problem Report for GarageBand (which I almost never use, but I might allow a grandson to try sometime.) The report tells me that it's damaged & can't be opened, and that I should delete it, then download it again. I don't know how to delete it. Kindly advise!
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.7
One thing to consider, when uninstalling GarageBand are the huge Instrument Library and and the Loop Library, also large Demo Song projects. On my Mac, where I am frequently using GarageBand, the Instrument Library contains 100GB of Sounds, and the Loop Library additional 50GB of Apple Loops. Uninstalling GarageBand will not remove these large Libraries, because they are shared with other music creation applications, like Logic Pro and GarageBand. You have to keep these large files, if you are using Logic or MainStage, otherwise you should remove them as well.
To remove MusicCreation files, the easiest way would be the Storage dialogue: See used and available storage space on your Mac – Apple Support (UK)
> About This Mac.Now look for the category "Music Creation" and check, how much content is been used by GarageBand, MainStage, and Logic. You can delete this Content right from this dialog.
But you should be aware, that you cannot necessarily get the content back, if you are still having loops and instruments from GarageBand '11 or GarageBand '09 or even older. The current version of GarageBand will only reinstall loops and sound from GarageBand 10; most of the beautiful virtual instrument loops and sounds from the older versions are missing. If you want to be able to reinstall the much more versatile loops and instruments from the earlier GarageBand versions, you have to make a copy somewhere to archive them, before you uninstall them.
One thing to consider, when uninstalling GarageBand are the huge Instrument Library and and the Loop Library, also large Demo Song projects. On my Mac, where I am frequently using GarageBand, the Instrument Library contains 100GB of Sounds, and the Loop Library additional 50GB of Apple Loops. Uninstalling GarageBand will not remove these large Libraries, because they are shared with other music creation applications, like Logic Pro and GarageBand. You have to keep these large files, if you are using Logic or MainStage, otherwise you should remove them as well.
To remove MusicCreation files, the easiest way would be the Storage dialogue: See used and available storage space on your Mac – Apple Support (UK)
> About This Mac.Now look for the category "Music Creation" and check, how much content is been used by GarageBand, MainStage, and Logic. You can delete this Content right from this dialog.
But you should be aware, that you cannot necessarily get the content back, if you are still having loops and instruments from GarageBand '11 or GarageBand '09 or even older. The current version of GarageBand will only reinstall loops and sound from GarageBand 10; most of the beautiful virtual instrument loops and sounds from the older versions are missing. If you want to be able to reinstall the much more versatile loops and instruments from the earlier GarageBand versions, you have to make a copy somewhere to archive them, before you uninstall them.
Thank you for this detailed response. I followed your instructions, and found that the Music Creation files only amount to 2.4GB, so as you can see - I haven't used it enough to accumulate much in the way of new sounds. I've experimented only a few times with mini projects, using more spoken word. IF I simply delete the app by dragging it in the trash, will these files in the library remain? I would hate to loose what little I have.
The way to delete most apps on Mac is to drag it from the applications folder in finder to the trash.
First open finder
click on Applications
find Garageband
Drag the app to the trash
then empty the trash
Hope this helps.
If you simply drag the app to the Trash, the installed sounds will remain installed, at least, they did for me.
How to delete GarageBand?
