GarageBand for iOS saves songs within the app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. If you delete the GarageBand app, you'll also delete your songs. In case you ever have to delete and reinstall the app, make sure to back up your songs first. You can back up your songs by uploading them to iCloud, exporting them to iCloud Drive, or copying them to another Apple device using AirDrop.
You can also back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. A backup of your iOS device includes the songs saved within the GarageBand app. Make sure to back up your device so you can access your songs in case you lose, replace, or damage it.
Upload songs to iCloud
When you upload your songs to iCloud, you can access them and keep them up to date on all your iOS devices. You can upload all your songs at once to iCloud.
- Make sure to turn on iCloud for GarageBand.
- On an iPhone or iPod touch, tap in the Control Bar, then tap My Songs.
On an iPad, tap My Songs in the Control Bar. - Tap Select.
- Tap the songs you want to upload.
- In the Control Bar, tap .
- Tap Upload Songs to iCloud. After your songs upload to iCloud, you'll see them in the My Songs browser with an iCloud icon.
Saving Your Project In order to save your GarageBand project when you’re ready, simply navigate to the File menu at the top of your screen and select Save As. In this save window, you can give your project a title at the top. On the left-hand side, click on Desktop in order to save your project to the computer’s Desktop.
How to backup your projects in GarageBand iPad and GarageBand iPhone. Five ways to backup your GarageBand projects including iCloud Drive, iTunes File Sharin. I'd like to backup entire Garageband projects, not just exported audio files. Trying to do this via iCloud or email isn't an option, given the files sizes and poor connection speeds. I thought using an external WIFI disk would be the best option but after doing a little research it looks like this isn't as straight forward as I'd hoped.
- Follow this process to find all of your Garageband Project files. 1) On your home screen, go into the tool-bar at the top. 2) Click on “Go.” 3) Click on “Home.” 4) Click on “Music.” 5) This should bring up all of your Garageband files, including “Audio Music Apps,” “Garageband,” and “iTunes.”.
- Locate the project in the Finder. By default, projects are saved in the GarageBand subfolder in the Music folder on your computer. Drag the project to the Trash. If you later decide you want to keep the project, you can drag it out of the Trash if you haven’t emptied the Trash. After you empty the Trash, the project cannot be recovered.
If you delete and reinstall the app or if you get a new device, songs uploaded to iCloud automatically appear in the My Songs browser. To access the songs on a new device, make sure to sign in with your Apple ID.
Export songs to iCloud Drive
Using iCloud Drive, you can access your songs from another iOS device, a Mac, or a PC. You can export one song at a time to iCloud Drive.
- Make sure to set up iCloud Drive on your devices.
- On an iPhone or iPod touch, tap in the Control Bar, then tap My Songs.
On an iPad, tap My Songs in the Control Bar. - Tap Select.
- Tap the song you want to back up.
- Tap .
- In the Share dialog, tap iCloud Drive.
- Tap Project.
- Browse to the location where you want to save the song.
After reinstalling GarageBand or getting a new device, you can import a song from iCloud Drive to GarageBand on your device.
- On an iPhone or iPod touch, tap in the Control Bar, then tap My Songs.
On an iPad, tap My Songs in the Control Bar. - Tap , then tap Import from iCloud Drive.
- In the iCloud Drive dialog, locate and tap the song you want to import.
The GarageBand songs you keep in iCloud use your iCloud storage. When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5 GB of free storage. If you use all your iCloud storage, you can buy more. Or you can use AirDrop to back up your songs to another device.
Back up songs using AirDrop
How To Backup Garageband Projects Mac
To back up your songs to another Apple device, you can use AirDrop. AirDrop makes a copy of the song on another Apple device.
How To Share Garageband Files
- Make sure to turn on AirDrop on your Mac and your iOS device.
- On an iPhone or iPod touch, tap in the Control Bar, then tap My Songs.
On an iPad, tap My Songs in the Control Bar. - Tap Select.
- Tap the song you want to back up.
- Tap .
- Tap the name of the AirDrop user or Apple device you want to send the file to.
- Tap Project. AirDrop copies the song to the following locations:
- On a Mac, the song is saved to the Downloads folder.
- On an iOS device, the song opens in GarageBand. If GarageBand isn’t installed on that device, you can choose to get the app or save the song to iCloud Drive.
Learn More
- Use iCloud with GarageBand on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
- Use iCloud Drive.
- Use AirDrop with iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.