GarageBand for Windows PC, Laptop (7, 8.1 and 10) – Free Download

The Real hidden truth behind GarageBand for Windows!

The sad truth is that there’s no official version of Garageband for Windows to download and no replacement application even comes close to the original in terms of features and sounds! Apple has made this application exclusive for iOS and OS X platforms. You can try all night and all day long in order to find an official version but there’s none. Nada! But still, there are some ways using which you can easily use this application on your windows based PC.

Minimum System Requirements for GarageBand On Windows systems

You need to have at least these specifications in order to run Garageband on any Windows-based system.

• At least an Intel Core i5 processor or a more powerful processor.
• At least 2 GB of free disk space.
• At least 4 GB of RAM or higher.
• At least Windows 7 or higher version of the Windows operating system.

How to Download GarageBand for PC with iPadian (FREE)

1. Download iPadian on your Windows-based system using the link here.
2. Once the downloaded file is ready, run it and install it in order to run the iPadian Emulator.
3. Once the app is installed, open the “iPadian emulator” and now open “App Store”.
4. Now head for the search bar and search for “GarageBand” there and click enter.
5. Look for the GarageBand option, click on it and now start the download process.
6. Once the app has been downloaded you can now use Garageband for Windows using the iPadian emulator.

Alternatives to GarageBand for Windows

There are a lot of other products that you can try instead of downloading Garageband on a Windows PC. They can get the job done though you might miss some features of GarageBand. A lot of pop music stars have used GarageBand in the past to record their hit songs and many still continue to do so. But since it’s only easily available for Mac and iOS devices we will suggest you some alternatives so as to use on your Windows PC.

1. FL Studio
   FL Studio is one of the most popular DAWs for Windows-based systems and rightfully so. It provides users with a ton of features and though it’s not as easy to use as Garageband still a lot of great quality stuff can be easily created using this app.
   The Fl Studio app could have been the inspiration behind the LMMS application. The interface of LMMS feels like a ripoff of FL Studio. Amongst all the Windows-based music creation applications FL Studio has one of the most simplified interfaces. But FL Studio is not fully free and you need to shell out 89 Euros in order to use the full-fledged version! As per our opinion, FL Studio comes closest as Garageband for windows alternative.
2. LMMS
   LMMS is a popular open-source music production software which comes with a vast number of inbuilt instruments and samples/loops etc. LMMS is run by a volunteer team of developers who are committed to providing an open source and free music production software. It can be easily used for creating new music and the added bonus is that it’s free of cost. It’s not as easy to use or good-looking as Garageband but is free and comes with lots of audio samples etc. The preloaded effects are also decent and this software can be operated easily by someone who is using it for the first time!
3. Mixcraft 7
   GarageBand is coveted for its huge library of loops and sound effects. It’s very easy for users to make songs which sound really great just by looping various sound effects and instruments. Mixcraft comes with similar features and all that’s required is simple clicks on songs and just dragging the loop files which you wish to use. After that Mixcraft will take care of the rest.
   Mixcraft is easy for beginners and pros alike. It also features some advanced effects as well as plugins which can be used by expert musicians in order to build the music of their choice. There are options which range from really distorted heavy metal sounds to super clear rap beats. Loops are the focal points of this software. If you want an app which allows you to work easily with live instruments then this is not the best app for you. In such a case you would be better off with something like Audacity or LinuxSampler.
4. Reaper
   Reaper is a cheaper alternative for FL Studio. It has a simple UI which can be highly customized and there’s no need for a powerful system in order to run it. It does have quite a lot of features and at just 60 dollars it’s much cheaper than FL Studio. It also comes with good inbuilt recording functionality.
   There are three hundred free plugins available for this software out of the box. These are more than enough to create some really high-quality music. If you like chopping sounds in order to create new funky beats then Reaper can be a great music software for you!
5. Music Maker Jam
   Music Maker Jam is the closest thing to a real GarageBand experience on Windows PC. It can be downloaded from the Windows App Store and also from the iOS App Store and Android Play store. It’s quite unique as it also has loops sorted according to genres of music.
   But this software is not free without its issues. It’s very light compared to the other software mentioned above. A lot of the loops on this software are paid and honestly, that makes for quite a bad user experience.

Has Garageband stopped working on your system? Here are some solutions to fix GarageBand on your device.

Has GarageBand suddenly stopped working on your iOS device or iPad? If the answer is yes then you need not worry as we will state all the possible reasons below as to why it might have happened.

First Reason: You updated to the latest iOS version!

If you recently updated your iPad, iPhone or iPod to iOS 11 or a newer version then this might be the top reason why GarageBand stopped working on your device.
A lot of users have faced the same issue in recent times. And if you are one of the unfortunate casualties of this issue then turn off iCloud for GarageBand on your iOS device.

You can do so by following these steps:

• Head to Settings -> Apple ID option and now tap on iCloud.
• Now search for the option ” Apps Using iCloud ” and there would be a toggle beneath it, use it to turn GarageBand off.

WARNING: If you disable iCloud for GarageBand it will stop your access to the GarageBand songs which you have stored in your iCloud account. The songs are still there but you can’t access them.
Now every song that you make would be saved locally on your storage instead of syncing to the iCloud.

Right now there’s no permanent fix available from Apple to solve this. We can only wait and watch whether Apple resolves this fully with future iOS updates or not!
Apple has recently acknowledged this issue and is working on solutions for the same!

Second Reason: Unknown/Random

Apart from the reasons mentioned above, there can be a lot more issues which might have caused your GarageBand to stop running. You can check all of the reasons mentioned below until you find the one which fixes your issues and gets your GarageBand app up and running.

Apart from the aforementioned one, there might be other possible reasons for the GarageBand not working. You can consider deploying the same in the order we have enumerated below until you got your issue fixed and GarageBand up and running.

So here are all the reasons, listed in chronological order!

Number 1: Your GarageBand is not up to date.

First of all, check whether you have the latest version of GarageBand installed on your system or not. If you don’t know how to check this, just go to the “Updates” section by going to the “App Store” on your device. If the GarageBand app is present there then just update it as soon as possible.

Number 2: Software/Device Compatibility.

If you use any external audio interface or other audio applications along with GarageBand make sure that those are compatible with the version of GarageBand you are using. Software/Device compatibility plays a major role in how Inter-App audio apps or External audio unit extensions work with the system.

Update your third-party device or software by official means or contacting the manufacturer’s support.

Number 3: External Audio Interface issues

In case your External Audio Interface is not compatible with GarageBand then it can be a major issue and lead to failure in running the GarageBand application.

To ensure everything’s ok just unplug the audio interface for some time which you were using and then play back your project using internal speakers. This can help you ascertain the root cause of your problems.

If somehow everything works then there’s only one step left to make your GarageBand work by either updating the External interface or getting it serviced. You can also contact the device manufacturer to get more support on the same!

Number 4: Delete the Audio Unit Extension

Sometimes if you use Audio Unit Extensions or other apps then they might be interfering with your Garageband application. You might want to delete them or disable them in order to get a certain idea about what might be interfering with your GarageBand app.

To do so go to the home screen and press and hold the extension icon until it starts shaking. After that, you will see a cross symbol on the upper left corner of the icon. By tapping it you can easily delete that. Now once that extension is removed you can try to open your Project for playback again in GarageBand.

Now if everything runs fine and the project plays back without any issues then you have done the right thing. But if still, it doesn’t work then the issue was not an audio extension gone awry. In such a case further investigation is needed.

Number 5: Create a new song for Troubleshooting

If everything that you tried didn’t result in fixing your problem. Then try to create and playback a brand new track in order to find out the root cause of your problem. This would let you know whether your GarageBand app installation is faulty or whether your project had an error in the first place.

To do so firstly, Open up your GarageBand now click the downward triangle () in the control Bar > > My Songs. After that hit the plus icon (). Now click on the “Create a new Song” option. Add the required audio files or Apple’s loops into your song. Now try to play it back, if it runs fine without any issues. Then your previous project was the one which was faulty in the first place.

You can also try to create more new tracks in order to ascertain whether your GarageBand is working perfectly or not!

Number 6: Reset your GarageBand installation.

Quite often than not most of your problems could be because of a setting or two gone awry. You can easily fix these issues by just doing a reset of the GarageBand options. By doing a reset to the default GarageBand settings you can make sure custom picks are all gone but it might make your GarageBand installation functional.
To do so, just note down your previous preferences by heading over to GarageBand > > Settings. By doing a reset to default settings you won’t be losing your presets, patches or files etc.

Now to do a reset go to Settings > > Tap “GarageBand”. Now just hit the “Reset GarageBand” option over there and you are good to go!

Number 7: Delete your installation of GarageBand and reinstall!

This is the last resort that you should opt for only when everything else fails and your GarageBand installation refuses to work properly irrespective of the number of fixes applied.
In order to delete your GarageBand installation and to reinstall go to your home screen and long press and hold the GarageBand icon until it starts shaking. After that, a cross icon will appear on the top left, tap it to uninstall the application. After this is done go to the App Store and click on Updates > > Purchased. Find the “GarageBand” app there and hit on the “Cloud button ” in order to download it.
Once the GarageBand has been downloaded just open it up via the icon on your home screen.

And that’s a wrap-up, folks! We hope that this guide helped you in using your GarageBand app fully on Windows or even if you are just an iOS user of GarageBand. May the music always be on your side!

GarageBand app for Windows is a professional music creation application which has been used by lots of well-known music stars. GarageBand for Windows PCs runs almost as well as iOS devices. The app is so easy to use and intuitive and hence it’s in so much demand. According to Apple’s track record, you can expect that this app won’t be coming to the Android or Windows Platforms any time soon! But you can always use all of the alternatives mentioned by us above. The easiest of them being the iPadian emulator for GarageBand on Windows PCs.

You may like to check iRoot for PC.