Hi everyone, I am trying to open several Garageband files that my friend has sent me. We are both on MacBook Pros, both running Catalina, both running the latest version of Garageband. When he sends me a file (via email or WeTransfer), it arrives zipped up. I unzip it, double-click the file to open. Garageband comes up and gives me a "save" popup menu. I click "save" and then another popup comes up saying "the file couldn't be opened". This has happened every time he has sent me a file back, and I have not been able to open any of his files. When I create a new Garageband file and email it over, he can open/edit it with no problems. Has anyone come across this problem before? It is so strange. Many thanks in advance, guys!

Hi Zhivago - A few things come to mind.. - It sounds like you're using the proper procedure to exchange files, but sometimes transfer sites have trouble exchanging Logic/GB projects, since they're really folders disguised as files—usually zipping the project is the solution, but it sounds like you're already doing that. Maybe try using an alternate transfer site, like DropBox..? - To isolate whether the problem is with the files themselves, or if something is happening to them in transit, can you try exchanging them directly, maybe via flash drive (in person if your friend is local, or by snail-mailing a flash drive as a test) - The problem could be on your friend's side—maybe the GB files are not getting saved/re-saved correctly, or not being zipped correctly? Does the problem happen on files he created on his computer, or only on files you sent him, or both? If not both, that could help pinpoint where the problem is originating - Try opening the files under another (test) user, in case it's some kind of user or permissions issue - If your GB files include audio, try exchanging a file without audio (Instrument tracks only), just as a test - Try running GB (on either/both ends) with built-in audio instead of a third-party interface Those last three come from Apple's guidance on GB files that won't open (see the URL below). Of course, Catalina is the wild card here—even though it's been out for a while, there still may be lingering issues.. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205927

Hi Joe, many thanks for your help, I'll try your suggestions and report back :-) all the best, zhivago/John

Hi everyone, I wanted to post an update to this, just in case someone in the future has the same problem. I almost went insane trying to figure this out, and in the end, the only work-around I could find was to do the following: 1. Open your file in Garageband 2. In the top menu bar, select "Share" > "Mail..." 3. In the popup that appears, make sure to select the "project" option in the "Share As" bit 4. Hit "Share" 5. Mail then opens up a new email window with your file on there. It is usually super-huge to email, and even if I manage to email it through, it doesn't open in the other end, so I then do the following: 6. Drag the GB file from the email window to your desktop 7. Copy that file to something like Dropbox, and share the direct link. The file now opens up on the other end. Complete pain in the backside, but at least it works, I guess :-)

Hi Zhivago - I'm glad you got it working, though it does seem like there should be a more direct way to do it.. I would think that if you can grab the attached zipped GB Project file from Mail and send it via DropBox, then you should be able to do it without the extra step of going through Mail—you should be able to just go directly to the GB folder where the Projects are stored ( ~/Music/GarageBand ), zip the Project ( right-click, choose "Compress [Project Name]" ), upload that to DropBox, and share from there (as you're doing). The key is to make sure the file is zipped—DropBox is known to have issues with Logic/GB Project files (which are really packages—folders disguised as files) if they're not zipped. Btw, any GB Project file that has audio recorded in it will usually be too big to attach to an email, but a GB Project that has no audio (only MIDI/Instrument tracks) should be small enough to be able to be sent as an attachment.

I am having the same issues as described in the original post, but am using Dropbox. The files save fine using Dropbox installed on the MacBooks as a native folder. However, when I try to download, save, and open the project using a MacBook that does not have Dropbox installed (ie, I use the web version, download, save .zip, open .band) then it doesn't work. Is there any way to work around this other than having to install Dropbox on every machine? Their free accounts have a limit of 3 free synced machines, and I already have my personal Dropbox synched on this compute.r

Hi - I can't comment on using the DropBox application, I only ever send or receive files with DropBox in the web browser (where it sometimes prefers Chrome to Safari). Usually if I drag a zipped project (always zip an audio or video project) into DropBox in the browser and then Share it to someone's email address, it creates a link for the person I'm sending it to, and they're able to retrieve it successfully -- at least most of the time, though sometimes they report the occasional issue on the receiving end. AFAIK the person on the receiving end shouldn't even have to have a DropBox account to fetch the Shared file (at least that's the way it was in the past, I don't know if that's still the case). But maybe if the file was sent via the DropBox application it does have to be sync'd with a DropBox application installed on the computer on the receiving end..??? I did find these pages in DropBox Help, FWIW.. https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/sharing-error https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/shared-link-stopped-working

Sorry, my post wasn't clear. I am not having trouble sharing the file, I am having trouble OPENING it. The shared file is a name.band file which, when downloaded from Dropbox (web) shows up as name.zip. I unzip it, double-click the file to open. Garageband comes up and gives me a "save" popup menu. I click "save" and then another popup comes up saying "the file couldn't be opened". I am the one sharing the file and receiving it, on two different MacBooks. The MacBook where the file was created saves to Dropbox natively (Dropbox is installed and behaves as a native folder). The MacBook where I want to open the file is the one having the above-described problem.

Ah I see.. It sounds like the file is being corrupted, either when it's zipped, or when that zipped file is transferred via DropBox (more likely). To rule out the first try zipping the Project, moving it over to the other computer by hand (if possible), and unzipping it there -- if the problem still occurs them it's not related to DropBox, but if the direct transfer works then it would seem like DropBox is the issue. If that turns out to be the case, maybe try transferring it another way (Google Drive, YouSendIt, if possible) to see if it's specifically a DropBox issue..

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. The reason for Dropbox is that my grade 7 students are creating podcasts using Garageband on 4 MacBooks with mics. In order to allow sharing of devices I set them up to save to Dropbox (We are a M$ district but OneDrive was having file naming issues so I switched to a free Dropbox account). This way it doesn't matter which MacBook they take, they'll be able to open and continue working. The problem is that I wanted to export and upload their finished podcasts using my own MacBook rather than take up a student one. I guess I'll just have to use a student one after school instead. Le sigh. Thank you for responding so promptly though!