How to uninstall GarageBand on Mac

GarageBand songs are .band project packages that hold every file a project uses (Apple's GarageBand guide), and they stay wherever you saved them when the app is removed. Before you start, open the songs you want to keep and copy or export them to a place you back up, including any kept in GarageBand's iCloud Drive folder. GarageBand differs from most App Store apps in two ways: its sound library sits in system folders it shares with Logic Pro, MainStage and Final Cut Pro, and it can hold about a gigabyte of downloaded sounds in a temporary cache. These steps cover the Mac App Store version; GarageBand is free there, so you can download it again from your purchases.

Quit GarageBand and remove the app

1. Save and close open projects, then quit GarageBand.
2. Search Activity Monitor for GarageBand and check that it has exited.
3. Move GarageBand from the Applications folder to the Trash.
4. Leave the sound library alone for now. Whether it can go depends on the other Apple audio apps on this Mac, covered below.

Where GarageBand keeps its data

In Finder, press Shift + Command + G and open each location that exists.

On the test Mac, GarageBand's first launch also created ~/Music/Audio Music Apps. Folders in your Music folder are yours to review; they are not part of the app.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il GarageBand
mdfind "kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier == 'com.apple.garageband10'"
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Containers/com.apple.garageband10" "$(getconf DARWIN_USER_CACHE_DIR)com.apple.garageband10"
ls -d "/Library/Application Support/GarageBand" "/Library/Application Support/Logic" "/Library/Audio/Apple Loops"
pkgutil --pkgs | grep -c MAContent10

• No output from pgrep means GarageBand is not running.
• No output from mdfind means Spotlight finds no remaining copy of the app. A path in the output is a copy still on disk.
• For the two ls -d lines, each printed path still exists and "No such file or directory" means it is gone. The container and the cache should be gone. The three sound folders are expected to remain until you decide about them.
• pkgutil prints how many Apple sound content receipts are still registered. They are install records, not the sounds themselves. A number above 0 is normal while the sound library is installed, and 0 means none are registered.

Remove the sound library only when no Apple audio app is left

The sound folders serve GarageBand, Logic Pro, MainStage and Final Cut Pro together. First check that none of the other three is installed:

mdfind "kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier == 'com.apple.logic10' || kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier == 'com.apple.mainstage3' || kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier == 'com.apple.FinalCut'"

Any path in the output is an installed copy that still uses the library, even if it was renamed or sits outside Applications, so keep the folders. No output means Spotlight finds none of them. Only then open each of the three folders in Finder and move it to the Trash. They belong to the system, so Finder asks for an administrator password. If you keep them for Logic Pro, How to Clean Up Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro Storage covers moving the Logic sound library instead of deleting it.

What Mole lists

• ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.garageband10, ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.apple.garageband10, the containers and Application Scripts folders of the Quick Look and thumbnail extensions inside GarageBand, and the app's temporary cache folder are selected by default.
• ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.STMExtension.GarageBand and ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.apple.STMExtension.GarageBand are listed but not selected.
• /Library/Application Support/GarageBand is listed but not selected. Moving it needs administrator approval, and Mole moves it only when it finds no copy of Logic Pro, MainStage or Final Cut Pro, including renamed copies and copies outside Applications.
• /Library/Application Support/Logic and /Library/Audio/Apple Loops are not listed when you uninstall GarageBand. Once none of the four apps is installed, Mole's Clean tab offers the three folders as Apple Sound Library under Uninstalled App Leftovers. It keeps Final Cut Pro's sound effects under Apple Loops even then, because Software Update offers them again after removal. The com.apple.pkg.MAContent10_* receipts are cleared only after all four apps and all three folders are gone.
• ~/Library/Mobile Documents/F3LWYJ7GM7~com~apple~garageband10 and anything in your Music folder are not listed.

What this test covered

GarageBand 10.4.14 from the Mac App Store was tested twice with a development build of Mole. On September 22, 2026, the first launch asked for the microphone, which was declined, and then for Touch ID to install the sound library. After that, /Library/Application Support/GarageBand held 774 MB. Mole listed the folder for review and it was deliberately left unticked. The app, its container, its Application Scripts folder and the three extension folders went to the Trash. /Library/Audio/Apple Loops and /Library/Application Support/Logic were not listed, and neither Logic Pro nor MainStage was installed. A few hours later the GarageBand sound folder was no longer on disk and no Mole operation was recorded for it; what removed it was not established.

On September 26, 2026, GarageBand was installed and removed again with every listed row ticked. Mole's Status page showed GarageBand as one row with four processes using 82 MB. Ten items went to the Trash, including the 1.09 GB app and the 1.06 GB temporary cache, and none of them was on disk afterwards; that run had no sound library row. No login item or launch agent appeared in either run. No song was recorded or saved, and iCloud was not tested.