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Is it okay to uninstall apps that came with my Mac like iMovie and GarageBand? I don't think I'll be using GarageBand so I'm planning to uninstall it.

Additionally, if there would be a time I may need it, is it possible to reinstall the app?

Thanks.

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iMovie and GarageBand are not necessary to the system and you may delete them at will. However, note that many other apps that come preinstalled on macOS are important to the system (even if it doesn't seem like it) and should not be deleted. As Steve Chambers commented below, though, macOS won't let you delete anything that falls into this category, assuming you aren't doing anything to get around that.

If your Mac was purchased after October 1, 2013, you can re-download the iLife and iWork apps (pictured below) for free at any time from the Mac App Store. Also, regardless of that, if you see them in the Purchased tab of the Mac App Store, that means you do have a “license” for them and can download them at any time.

Purchased tab of Mac App Store

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    Also note that if an app is considered necessary to the system you can't delete it. And if you try you will get an error message to that effect. For some reason Mac OS thinks "Chess.app" is necessary... sigh. Dec 30, 2016 at 13:45
  • @SteveChambers It does seem silly! As I understand it, it's not that any app necessarily relies on it, but rather that when you next update, the updater could get confused when it doesn't find the app there.
    – Tuesday
    Dec 30, 2016 at 14:06