GarageBand 10.4.8 will not open after recent Sonoma 14.0 installation.

I have the same problem - just installed Sonoma 14.2.1 and now GarageBand won't even open! I followed the instructions and went to the App Store and clicked on Updates, but GarageBand doesn't even appear there! So now I'm stuck!

Same issue, but slightly different circumstances. Running Sanoma 14.3.1 and decided to download GarageBand for the first time.

Installation went fine, but GB hangs during launch while "Updating information about Audio Unit plug-ins..." No matter how long I wait, GB will not progress any further.

Tried the suggested boot in safe mode, but same thing. Ran Disk Utility, no issues. Trashed GB and downloaded again. Same thing.

What's going on?

Greetings Keithfromchippenham,

We'd like to provide you with a few steps that can assist with you getting GarageBand working or that can further isolate the issue:

1. Start up your Mac in safe mode. Completing this step can help you identify whether issues you’re experiencing are caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up. Your screen may flash and load slower. Do not be alarmed, this is expected behavior: Use safe mode on your Mac

2. Verify if the issue occurs in a new user account. This will allow you to determine if the behavior is specific to your account or if it is a system wide issue: Add a user or group on Mac

Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities. Let us know if this helps.

Best wishes.

Hey keithfromchippenham,

You've done great work to help isolate the issue. Checking in a second user helped to verify that the issue was system wide and not user specific and checking in safe mode ensured that no third-party software was causing the behavior to occur. One more item you can try is to repair the hard drive in your Mac just in case there are any errors present that need to be corrected. If you're not sure how to Repair a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac, check out this page for details, as it goes over them step by step.

If, once you complete the disk repair, Garage Band still will not launch when attempted, Contact Apple Support for further direct assistance on this.

Take care.

Go to the main store and download it again.

I have exactly the same, and a call booked with support tomorrow.

However, if I press "control" right after launch it allows me to open the app and "launch without Audio Units"

Can create tracks and record but clearly not ideal and UI is not present.

Cheers

I had a problem with the same symptoms and it turned out to be very simple. The file that I had last had open was on my iCloud Drive, about 3gb in size, and was no longer downloaded to my HDD due to optimised storage. Coincidentally, the driver for my usb ethernet adapter had ceased working with the Sonoma update, so my MacBook was only using a quite weak wifi connection. Turned out that GarageBand was hanging waiting for the file to download. I manually downloaded the iCloud file before opening GarageBand and this worked.

Hello keithfromchippenham,

If you're finding the issue persists after reinstalling GarageBand, use this link to reach us directly for further assistance: Get Support

Take care.