Ive been using Garageband for 6 months and never had issue until a week ago. I'm on current Mac OS and current Garageband. Help! When I go to save my music various audio tracks or files will, when I go to save as, give a "the file "modern guitar01.wav" couldn't be opened. side note it does save some and always saves drum files which are build in GarageBand. Next when I do to open the file various tracks within song will now open and error message is "the file "123.wav" couldn't be found". side note: I use Focusright for my audio interface. I have fooled around with the novice troubleshooting such as restart and saving in various locations. so frustrating. thanks in advance!

Hi - If it's only some audio files in the project that go missing, they may be corrupted, or the Project file itself may be corrupted. It sounds like it only happens with some recordings, which naturally makes it harder to pinpoint. I guess keep troubleshooting as you have been -- try to determine if it happens in multiple GB Projects (including new Projects) or only in one particular Project (which could indicate potential corruption of that Project). Note: The actual audio files (the .wavs) are stored inside the GarageBand Project file, which is really a package (a folder disguised as a file) -- if you right-click on it, choose Show Package Contents, and open Media, you should be able to see if the supposedly missing files are actually in there or if they are in fact missing. (Btw, the green or yellow Drum sequences you create in GB don't involve audio files, just MIDI data which is part of the Project file itself). Apple would probably advise you to reinstall GarageBand, which I guess couldn't hurt. Of course an issue like this could also be part of a hard disk issue -- make sure your hard disk is not too full, the startup disk should always be at least 20% empty to avoid slowdowns and potential file corruption..

I have noticed more files every time I record are having this issue. I recorded something today and 3 of the 5 files had issue. One file that was fine was the GarageBand drums which are internal. It might be the audio interface? (Focusright Scarlett 2i2). So every project is having this issue.

I don't see why the interface should cause something like this, but you never know -- I guess you could try running GarageBand with the internal audio i/o as a test, but that may not provide you with the needed inputs for recording.. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to re-install GarageBand, and definitely check to see that the internal HD (and any other HD you record to) have sufficient free space (minimum 20%). You could try making manual backups of the Project file (which remember contains the audio files) as you go (something I used to do on an older computer than turned out to have RAM issues). But if none of that helps, then a session with Apple tech support might be in order.. Btw, did you check Package Contents to see if the audio files really are missing..?

Hello again kind sir! I tried to check the package contents but the right click didn't have that option so not sure how to....let me know how I can do this? I checked the memory and there is only about 10% of space being used. So if I reinstall would it erase all my music files? How would I go about this? Also a side note last night I realized that I actually needed an OS update (I though it was updated but not) I updated and it worked fine and saved files for about an hour then it went back to having the issue. So odd. I do have another idea of something I can do with the interface for troubleshoot.

Hi - I'm not sure why a right-click (or Control-click) on a .band GB Project file wouldn't offer the Show Package Contents option, unless there's some change to that in the latest OS (I'm still on Mojave). I can't tell you why that might not be working on your system, but I do think checking for the files in the Package would be key to determining what may be going on.. If the HD is mostly empty, then disk space is clearly not the issue. If you reinstall GarageBand in theory it shouldn't erase any of your GB files, but if you do, just to be safe I'd zip them and back them up elsewhere first (you do maintain a relatively up-to-date BU, yes?). Most people who use music software -- even Apple's own music software -- are very slow to update their OS, since in the past even minor updates can sometimes unexpectedly wreak havoc with DAWs. It does sound like it might be worth checking in with Apple to see if they have any reports of this behavior, or any specific suggestions for troubleshooting. A quick search turned up occasional mentions of missing GB audio files, but nothing recent and nothing that really seemed to fit your scenario..

Thanks for the help. I think the issue is fixed. The audio interface has a button "Inst" that if pressed is supposed to create a better sound for certain instruments. I think the issue is that whenever that button is pressed... anything recorded does so in a way that won't save.

Hmm.. An "Inst" button on an audio interface usually just switches the impedance and gain of an input to make it more suitable for plugging an electric guitar or bass in directly -- I can't think of any reason why it would affect the ability to save the resulting audio recording. But if the problem has cleared up, I'm glad to hear it..

It cleared up for a while and then came back. So strange. Do you know how in GB I can look into each track in a music production to see what is in there. You mentioned a right click before however there was no such option as you mentioned. Any idea? I figure this way I can look into the good files and bad and hopefully uncover the difference.

Hi - In the Finder a right-click (or Control-click) on a GarageBand Project file should offer the Show Package Contents menu option. By default GarageBand Project files are located on the internal HD in your User ƒ > Music ƒ > GarageBand ƒ. It works for me in Mojave OS (and AFAIK in Catalina), but if you're on a much newer OS (Big Sur?) maybe there's been a change? Checking for audio files GB says are missing that way is the last troubleshooting step I can think of, though it still may not provide an explanation as to why it happens intermittently -- if you still can't get in to see the package contents (audio files) of your GarageBand Project files with Show Package Contents then maybe a call to Apple would be in order..