Guides / DAW conversion

How to convert GarageBand to Pro Tools

Updated October 2026

GarageBand saves projects as .band packages — a folder macOS shows as one file. Pro Tools can’t open one, and GarageBand has no Pro Tools export. Doseedo converts the project itself: upload the zipped .band, download a native Pro Tools .ptx session with the arrangement rebuilt.

Why there's no built-in way

Apple gives a GarageBand project exactly one way into another app: Logic Pro opens a .band directly. Every other DAW is on the outside. GarageBand’s own exports are audio — the mix, or one track at a time if you solo each — with no MIDI file and no project format Pro Tools reads, so the usual advice (bounce every track, rebuild by hand) turns a project back into a pile of audio files. A native conversion keeps it editable: MIDI stays MIDI, regions stay where they were. If you also have Logic Pro, it opens the .band itself, and a Logic project converts to Pro Tools too (Logic to Pro Tools).

How the conversion works

Doseedo reads the GarageBand project natively — the package itself, no export step in GarageBand — and rebuilds it as a native Pro Tools .ptx session. A .band is a macOS package, so it travels zipped: right-click it in Finder, choose Compress, and upload the zip; the audio travels inside it. A project last saved by GarageBand 6 (’11) or earlier is an older format — open it in current GarageBand (or Logic Pro) on a Mac, save it, and zip that. Converting to Pro Tools, the download is the whole session folder — a "<name> Pro Tools" folder holding the .ptx and its Audio Files/ — zipped, so it opens with the audio in place.

What carries over — and what doesn't

GarageBand → Pro Tools carries the arrangement, honestly scoped. What arrives editable: tracks with their names, levels and mutes; MIDI regions with every note exactly where it was played; audio regions with their files traveling in the project; tempo and time signature.

GarageBand’s own instrument sounds don’t come with it — they live inside GarageBand, so each software-instrument track arrives with its notes and the name of the patch it used, and you choose the sound in Pro Tools. A looped region is placed once rather than looped, and Apple Loops that were never copied into the project arrive as offline clips. Automation and plugin chains aren’t promised on this pair yet. Nothing is silently dropped — every conversion comes with a report of what changed.

Do I need GarageBand or Pro Tools installed?

Not to convert — the conversion runs on the zipped project itself, on a Mac or a PC. You need Pro Tools to open the result.

Watch the walkthrough

Same job, any name

Whether you'd say GarageBand to Pro Tools converter, convert .band to .ptx (band to ptx), GarageBand file to Pro Tools file, open a GarageBand project in Pro Tools, import a GarageBand project into Pro Tools, export GarageBand to Pro Tools, or move, transfer or migrate a project from GarageBand to Pro Tools — it is the conversion this guide walks through, and the GarageBand to Pro Tools converter does it free, online, with nothing to install. Also searched as: convert garageband to pro tools · band to ptx · band to ptx converter · convert band file to ptx · garageband project to pro tools session · garageband file to pro tools file · open band in pro tools · import garageband project into pro tools.

Related guides

• GarageBand to Pro Tools converter (the tool)
• What is a .band file
• Open a .band without GarageBand
• Every way to move a project between DAWs

FAQ

Can you convert a GarageBand project to Pro Tools?

Yes. Upload a zipped .band to Doseedo and download a native Pro Tools .ptx session. What arrives editable: tracks with their names, levels and mutes; MIDI regions with every note exactly where it was played; audio regions with their files traveling in the project; tempo and time signature.

Does GarageBand export to Pro Tools?

No. GarageBand exports audio only — the mix, or one track at a time — and Pro Tools can’t open a .band. Logic Pro is the only other DAW that opens a GarageBand project. A native converter rebuilds the project for Pro Tools — that’s what Doseedo does.

Do plugins carry over from GarageBand to Pro Tools?

GarageBand’s own instrument sounds don’t come with it — they live inside GarageBand, so each software-instrument track arrives with its notes and the name of the patch it used, and you choose the sound in Pro Tools. Nothing is faked: whatever doesn’t cross the GarageBand–Pro Tools boundary is named in the conversion report.

Do I need GarageBand or a Mac to convert a .band?

Not to convert: the conversion works on the zipped project on any computer. The .band has to be zipped first (on a Mac, right-click → Compress), and you need Pro Tools to open the result.