Do you want to learn GarageBand? Click HERE to get started (it's free)
Can You Download an Older Version of GarageBand?
FeaturesMac

Can You Download an Older Version of GarageBand?

Can You Download an Older Version of GarageBand?

Having trouble downloading GarageBand onto your Mac?

You’re not alone.

It seems to be a big issue for some Mac users at the moment…

2024 Update

Three years after first investigating the issues surrounding users being unable to download and install older versions of GarageBand on their Macs, I recently took another look at the topic to see if the situation has improved…

If you’re currently having trouble downloading GarageBand to your Mac, this new video is for you.

In it I go over some quick fixes that might just get you up and running right away and cover some more in depth solutions that those with older Macs specifically may find useful…

Watch below.

Check out OpenCore Legacy Patcher here: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

You’ll find the original article and video from 2021 below.

Update to Big Sur

The latest version of GarageBand, version 10.4 and above is only available to users who are running MacOS Big Sur. So if you haven’t updated to Big Sur, doing so will allow you to download GarageBand from the Mac app store. 

Simple, right?

Well, no. Hardware and software compatibility issues and macOS updates unfortunately go hand in hand nowadays so holding off from updating to Apple’s shiny new operating system until all the wrinkles have been ironed out is perfectly understandable.

Having said that most big issues with Big Sur have been sorted, so you shouldn’t really run into many issues though a quick google search will be able to tell you if a particular piece of hardware or software that you rely on is compatible. 

Another issue you may run into regarding Big Sur is the age of your Mac. Machines older than six or seven years old are unable to install Apple’s latest operating system and as such, are unable to install the latest version of GarageBand. Owning an older machine can actually stop you from accessing any version of GarageBand, but more on that later. 

If you have a machine older than the models displayed on screen now then unfortunately you won’t have access to big sur or GarageBand version 10.4. 

If you do plan to update to Big Sur, as always make sure you make a Time Machine backup first. That way if you DO have compatibility issues or just hate it or something, you can revert back to your current setup.

Purchased Tab

If you don’t have GarageBand installed, and can’t access the latest version via the Mac App Store, but you HAVE downloaded and installed at some point with the iCloud account you’re signed into your Mac with then it should be a simple fix.

  • Open the Mac App store
  • Click on your face – it’s in the bottom left of the window for me, it may be somewhere else for you if you’re running a version of macOS older than Mojave.
  • Scroll through this list of previously purchased apps until you find GarageBand.
  • Click to download it and the last available version that is compatible with your machine will be installed on your Mac. 

No, this won’t be the newer 10.4 version, it’ll probably be 10.3.5 which despite looking different from the current version, works in exactly the same way, you’re not missing out on any big features by using this older version or anything. 

What About Older Macs?

If you’ve bought an older, Big Sur incompatible Mac second hand and don’t have any purchase history linked to your iCloud account then you’re probably wondering how you can download an older version of GarageBand that works with your Machine, right? There must be a page or link on apple’s website that will let new Apple users with older Macs download the newest version that your machine can handle.

Right?

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

It’s bizarre. I honestly thought that I must just be missing something really obvious, so I reached out to Apple support on Twitter, figuring that they would surely be able to point me in the direction…. 

After mentioning the solutions I’ve already mentioned in this video, they invited me to DM them for more info. Which i did.

 After ‘meeting them in DM’ the Apple support person went on to say that “it does not appear that there is is a way to get an older version of GarageBand without owning the software previously”. They went on to say that I could schedule a call with a GarageBand specialist to discuss further. Which I did. The person on the phone was very nice and was genuinely trying to be helpful, but in the end answered the question ‘Can You Download an Older Version of GarageBand? by saying that there is currently no way to get an older version of GarageBand without owning the software previously. 

2023 UPDATE

Andrew left a comment on this post a while back with a solution that seems to work. Here’s his comment in full:

I’m running OS 10.12.6. I don’t have Garageband associated with my appleID, so the App Store wouldn’t allow me to download it. I thought I was screwed. But I actually figured out a way. My wife has a new Mac Pro. I had her create a 2nd user profile for me and signed in with my Apple ID. Since it’s a newer machine, it had GarageBand already installed. I simply deleted it, then downloaded it again using my Apple ID. That’s it! I logged back into the old machine and went to the App Store. GarageBand is now associated with my Apple ID. When I clicked “Install”, it gave me the message indicating it will download an older compatible version. Today, June 20, 2022, I was able to install an old version of GarageBand on a machine running Sierra 10.12.6, with an Apple ID that didn’t previously have any version of GarageBand associated with it. And it actually works!

If you try this method and it works, please take a second to thank Andrew in the comments below!

Patrick
I've been a musician for longer than I care to remember and though I don't make a living in a recording studio, I have spent the last decade getting to know everything worth knowing about Apple's GarageBand on Mac and iOS!
Related
Show Comments (43)

43 Comments

  1. I have demos about 10 years old – when I opened them is a error saying sound not found. Also, when I tried to to share a song, all the channels play well but when I tried to share the track one (synth) didn’t play

    Reply

  4. Followed your steps as I have had on my mac in the past.
    The version it downloads is old (6.0.5) and will not install as it is 32bit.
    My Mac is a 2013 model running Catalina 10.15.7
    Any ideas?

    Reply

    1. I’m having this exact issue. Downloaded Garageband 6.05 which is not compatible with Catalina, but will not let me get an update to 6.05

      Reply

  5. Hello,I have a first gen iPad.I got difficulty restore the deleted Garageband app. The app in iTunes is version 2.x.x. and cant be installed.I had once on a telephone Apple support in japan,afterall she told me very kindly that i cant get back the app because its too old. I think that i have no way but using a newer version on another iPad. BTW I wonder if i get an ipad with older version of it, i can transfer the app to my ipad. How do you think?

    Reply

  8. I tried this as, I am running a mid 2012 Mac Pro. Unfortunately, I am not able to upgrade my GarageBand, nor am I able to download the oldest version as it isn’t operational with my operating system any longer.

    Reply

  9. My MacBook Pro came with the older version of Garage Band but when I follow your instructions I can’t find it in my computer. ????? this is painful.. any further suggestions?

    Reply

  10. Garage Band comes up with a dialogue saying it was incompletely installed, with a tiny button labeled “Click to resume download.”

    When I do that, I get the dialogue: “GarageBand was not able to complete the download. Please refer to the Help section of the Apple Store. Click the ‘?’ button to new more information.”

    When I click the “?” button, I get the macOS User Guide page: “The selected content is currently unavailable.”

    So, I guess I’m stuck.

    Reply

  11. It seems very strange that (for people like myself who bought an older MAC that cannot be updated to the latest OS) for APPLE to then force us to look for pirate/shonky versions of Garageband. How difficult would it be for them to allow older versions for older computers?

    Reply

  13. Saavatpahan appöen idiootit syyttää itseään jos näitä vanhempia garageband versioita jaellaan torrentteina ja crackeinä!

    Reply

  14. **SOLUTION FOR THOSE WHO DON’T HAVE AN OLDER VERSION ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR APPLE ID:

    I’m running OS 10.12.6. I don’t have Garageband associated with my appleID, so the App Store wouldn’t allow me to download it. I thought I was screwed. But I actually figured out a way. My wife has a new Mac Pro. I had her create a 2nd user profile for me and signed in with my Apple ID. Since it’s a newer machine, it had GarageBand already installed. I simply deleted it, then downloaded it again using my Apple ID. That’s it! I logged back into the old machine and went to the App Store. GarageBand is now associated with my Apple ID. When I clicked “Install”, it gave me the message indicating it will download an older compatible version. Today, June 20, 2022, I was able to install an old version of GarageBand on a machine running Sierra 10.12.6, with an Apple ID that didn’t previously have any version of GarageBand associated with it. And it actually works!

    Reply

    3. I’ve been browsing the internet for hours today with all the experts, including Apple, saying that it is not possible to get a version of garage band that is compatible with macOS High Sierra for my 2011 MacBook Air. I followed your instructions and bingo! Apple support should publish your instruction and pay you because it keeps users like me with their brand. Thank you Andrew.

      Reply

    4. I tried this and when I clicked on GarageBand in the app store it opened the app information page. When I tried to download it here, it didn’t work. When i went back out to the app store and the list of apps I just clicked on the cloud from the main app page and it did work here. Just in case someone was going about this the wrong way…

      Reply

  17. Andrew, I like your idea. I never owned a Mac so I could buy a refurb M1 Mac Mini and delete and download GarageBand so that I will have GB associated with my account. Per what you’ve said, I think I’ll then see GB in my account and be able download an older version to a 2013 iMac with Catalina which I own. Then I will return the M1 Mac Mini, keeping the old iMac. Based on your (on anyone else reading this) experience, does that sound like it would work and I’d be able to use GB on the old iMac? What does your caveat “it was still a cloud download“ mean? I’m not sure what you’re trying to convey there.
    Thanks

    Reply

  18. dang it, we only have older macs but the one i record on has the latest version, the one my hubby mixes and masters it on is older and has can only run older version, i just went to load the song into the old mac for mixing and oh dear, it wont load the file as it is recorded on a newer version of garageband. rethink required. all his presets for plugins etc are on the old mac. Both macs struggle with the files but was tryng to avoid paying for a new mac :{ didnt even think of that when i did an update a while back.

    Reply

  19. I did not read through the comments to see if someone offered this solution but the workaround on an older Mac is to sign into another Apple ID where the program was previously downloaded, download the older version, then log out. I logged into my Apple ID account on my old Mac laptop, downloaded Garage Band, then logged back out and logged my kid back in. Worked like a charm.

    Reply

  22. Worked for me even with my own apple account (I downloaded it on a previous mac though). I went to accounts then to previous purchases. If you haven’t downloaded it find a friend who already has and use their login details then got to purchased, click on garageband then it will give you the option to download an older version. Boom!!

    Reply

  23. While it won’t have every version, there are Mac software database websites like MacintoshRepository.org & Archive.org that keep earlier iterations.

    A certain amount of compatibility checking is essential, but it saves me a LOT of headache when sourcing & installing software on my MacBook Air (2011 model) running OSX 10.10.5

    I’ve just finished installing iLife ’09 no problems from a legitimate (Apple origin) DMG that was archived on MR. There’s other versions available if you want a different dot point value, but the most recent seems to be ’11 from Archive.org

    Between both sites you should have access to most things you want or need.

    Hope this helps y’all!! 🙂

    Reply

  24. Thank you so much for this simple fix to my problem. Sadly I can’t access all of the projects I had created in garage band before I lost access but I now have the ability to make more music without having to go out and buy a new Macbook, which is the solution I was considering before I came across your site.

    Reply

  25. I think that Apple prevents its hardware to be resold as second hand material. We should explain that to the authorities, they will be interested to learn that Apple is prevented circular economy and second hand economy to be fully functional….

    Reply

  26. I don’t see it is working for me in 2023.I have gone installing Monterey macOS instead of High Sierra on 2011 Mac book pro. Then I downloaded GarageBand for M. Unfortunately the G B doesn’t run- it opens but the a warning pops up saying that graphics is not compatible with this Mac book. I didn’t see any old versions on the GB page in App Store,. MB it’s just me.
    Ole

    Reply

  27. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

    My 2012 Macbook Pro crashed and I lost some files, including Logic. I got it free through a friend’s deal and couldn’t face forking out the £200 to buy it again. I used GarageBand on my iPad a fair bit so tried to download it from the App Store by searching for it, but Apple said my computer was out of date.

    Then I try your method – so subtly different – and finally the website says I can download the latest compatible version!

    I swear Apple just make it as hard as possible so you have to buy new tech. HONESTLY THANK YOU!!!

    Reply

  28. 2023 Update: I can confirm this works. I think Apple forcing users to buy new products to achieve such things is an absloute joke!

    Reply

  29. It’s hassles like this that make me miss just buying a CD-ROM of the ‘program’ and installing it on the computer. You owned the program, you used your computer, you always had a backup, you didn’t need Internet access, and you could create wonderful things… without paying rent to a Cloud account just to own what you created on your own computer. Amazing.

    Reply

  33. Yes, it works.
    Old Macbook Pro using MacOS Big Sur (Unable to install GarageBand latest version)
    On newer MacBook Pro running MacOS Monterey: Delete GarageBand app
    On Old MacBook Pro: Login to App Store using same Apple ID as newer MacBook Pro
    Search for GarageBand. It will download GarageBand version compatible to macOS Big Sur

    Thanks

    Reply

  36. Thanks for the help. Wanted to share what I did, which was even easier than I thought it could be. I have an Intel Mac that cannot be upgraded past BigSur. My GarageBand couldn’t open, for some weird privacy/security type of error.

    My past purchase in the App Store only showed the “upgrade” option, no matter what. It would show me a dialog that asked if I wanted to download the old version and not let me get past that.

    Instead of trying a secondary iCloud account, I simply deleted garage band and then my purchase entry in the AppStore had the re-download icon instead of update!

    Reply

  37. What the heck is going on with Apple to make things that complicated for their users? Steve Jobs will rotate in is grave when he watches what has Apple become in the last decade… His idea of creating “easy-to-use” computer devices and systems, apps etc has meanwhile become a drag and complicated shit.
    Apps like Garageband are free to use anyway. Why does Apple make it complicated for users to download older versions right for their operating systems? Would be so easy. But Apple decides to force people to buy “the latest shit” to make more and more business. Instead of providing “real” service that is sustainable. Shame on you Apple!

    Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.