The last good version of Apple’s iMovie was version 6, later called iMovie HD. At least that’s my opinion, and it’s shared by a few others. The later versions became more of a video manager (and not a good one), and a very rudimentary editor (and not a good one).
Realizing, but not admitting, how much people hated the new iMovie, there was a period when Apple would let you download the previous and now-abandoned iMovie HD, but it is no longer available from Apple, even on their Old Software List, so until I’m given a Take Down notice, I’m putting iMovie HD up for grabs here. Of course you’re trusting that I haven’t embedded some kind of nasty malware or anything, which I haven’t.
In the disk image is the “iMovie HD.app” application which you’ll drag to your /Applications folder and an “iMovie” folder which you’ll drag to your /Library/Application Support folder. Enjoy.
(I updated the iMovie HD app to include the modified version string discussed in the other post. Aug 2016)
:: Update – 4/20/20 – moved this link to a more permanent location ::
Robert Harder, PhD 
I agree. You are a lifesaver; I missed this when buying my new Snow Leopard system, and I’m so glad to have it back!
Thank you so much!!! I work on this version of iMovie on my laptop and with my new iMac I could not do any workβ¦.that is until I stumbled upon your magnificence here! Thanks!!
Thank you. Thank you. You’ve breathed a bit of life in my old G5.
Merci π
In case anyone is interested, it seems that direct references to it have been removed from Apple’s site, but that iMovie HD 6.0.3 can be still be downloaded from Apple here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL319
I posted too soon… The updater to 6.0.3 can be obtained, as can the (larger) combo update to 6.0.2, but users will need version 6.0 or 6.0.1 first.
My apologies for any confusion. π¦
Oh Beautiful….
Never really thought about this until I wanted to do something semi-serious with a few videos and then very quickly realised how much I missed the “editor” and hated the “toy”. Long may this page remain live.
Can you please help me. Someone have stolen my mac with iMovie HD and I don’t want to use the new one. How can I download it?
Thank you a lot for helping
OMGoodness!!!I have Looked EVERYWHERE for this and have now FINALLY been able to successfully download and install on my much older mac. I deleted it because I never used it in order to save space….now of course, I need it. THANK YOU THANKKKK YOUUU for keeping this up here for folks like me! you rock!
tnks!! you really save my day, I have to do an urgent job and my old mac its a problem, but finally a version that works π tnks men all the good vibes for you
i’im getting a trouble message saying there is missing components when i’m importing a 1080 resolution .mov from my video camera. Any help on this?
Thanks a lot – now I can import Clips from my (old school) DV Camcorder like I want them to get imported – and not like Apple want me to import it….
I missed iMovie 6 π
You just saved my life!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Thank you! I’m very happy to have again iMovie HD – really my fav Programm which I unintentionally had erased π¦
Can’t thank you enough! Hate iMovie and FinalCutExpress…
So now I can get creative again.. big smile for you!
Thank you! So excited to have found this! Incredibly easy install, thanks for the directions and for providing this in the first place.
This will help me with my films on focusfilms!
tnx!
useful for archiving old dv tape based projects
HUGE thank you!!
HUGE THANK YOU!!!
Great service to the community!
Thanx As I am trying to learn imovie 09, I realize having a copy of 06 is a must and I don’t have access to that disc for my old computer at this time. I can open old project and not loose all the titles and other work I did.
Thank you so very much… now if I can only figure out how to get back my photoshop cs3 which I lost when I upgraded my mac to 10.6.8
If you can help there that would be brilliant
thank you!!!! i’ve edited every movie i’ve ever made for my band, rabbit rabbit, on iMovie HD 6… on my husband/partner’s computer. can’t make any artistic sense of the newer ones. and now i have this one on my own computer… thank you!!!
IMovie HD is stille the best program for creative people, all the new once or not decent. One problem: after upgrading to Mavericks my Sony camera with tapes doesn’t work proper anymore, now it is impossible to send your montage back tot the camera, only the sound is recorded.
I tried the newest version of I movie (version 10) and I movie HD is still the best and most logic to use.
IMovie HD is stille the best program for creative people, all the new once or not decent. One problem: after upgrading to Mavericks my Sony camera with tapes doesn’t work proper anymore, now it is impossible to send your montage back tot the camera, only the sound is recorded.
I tried the newest version of I movie (version 10) and I movie HD is still the best and most logic to use.
iMovie is the best for basic apps. Used iMovie 3.0 for over 10 years til my firewire (Fryer-Wire) finally dies in my G4s.
I use Movie Maker (don’t like it much – who taught these guys how to program??).
I tried Premiere (way complicated, non-intuitive and non-user friendly – blech!)
I have Pinnacle Studio 15 (by Avid) and tried it on 4 PCs and it doesn’t work. Boom, Freeze, Crash. Avid of all people! π¦
You’re a prince. Thanks for posting this after an otherwise chump situation at Apple.
Sitting in the Apple Store…genius bar. Woopie. You’re the genius!!!! Thank you for this.
hello
is there any way to install this imovie 6 on osx 10.8.2????
PLEASE DISREGARD MY EARLIER QUESTION….
OMG YOU ARE A LIFESAVER – – – IT WORKED
I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR MAKING THIS AVAILABLE AND SO EASY…..
SO THANKFUL, ROBERT
Huge help, thanks! Had a friend that just bought and older computer and I only could find newer versions of iMovie. I know I had these old versions at one point but I wasn’t smart enough to keep them around. Thanks again.
I’ve waited years to get this version, thank you Robert Harder.
THANK YOU.. THAAAAAANK YOU…
thanks
Thanks to the internet and people who share! Thanks Rob!
R
Thank you SO MUCH for this. OMG. Thank you. I just tried to open old iMovie projects and almost had a heart attack when I realized iMovie 10 won’t read the file. You’re a life saver.
just wanted to confirm that this download does work on mavericks 10.9.1. thanks for the great download.
How do we address the “iMovieHD can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer”?
If you’re getting the Unidentified Developer message on this, or any other app you want to run, you need to right-click or control-click on the app and select Open from the popup menu. When you do that, the same message appears but with different options, and this time you can override and open the app anyway.
Many thanks !
If you know of other great older software that runs under Snow Leopard, especially audio editors or sound synthesizers, please let us know.
Thanks a lot Robert you just saved my day! i tried to use Imovie 9 or 11 and struggled but now thanks to you it’s much easier to make home movies
Dude, thank you so FREAKING much. People like you make the world a better place.
Hi Robert,
Thank you for your suggestion for getting IMovie HD 6. I have got it, have imported a Music video of myself, of which I want to get 6 or 7 clips from to use on my website. I’ve selected the seven clips and when I export, I am not getting a good quality video clip. The clip appears small and grainy. What do I do to get a high quality clip? If you can PLEEASEEE give me a step-by-step instruction to achieve this.
Thanks so much Robert.
Kind Regards,
Buddy
Thanks a million.
Thank you so much for providing this invaluable service. Last week, my computer crashed and burned with all my data and software. The Apple store did an ‘erase and reinstall’ and replaced my defunct Snow Leopard operating system with the latest called Maverick. ($250) I also lost valuable software that I discovered Maverick would no longer support…which meant purchasing new!…such as Final Cut Pro. But I was most upset by having lost my beloved iMovie HD (which 6 years ago I had Apple Support send me to replace the then current version of iMovie on my new computer.) I thought I had hit the motherlode when I discovered iMovie HD on your site…but it was not compatible with Maverick. Apple Support told me that after version 10.7, iMovie is no longer compatible. I had Maverick 10.9!… I was devastated! How was I going to work on my many videos? I spoke with an iApps specialist at Apple Support who walked me through an ‘erase and reinstall’ of my previous Snow Leopard operating system 10.6…and my computer accepted your downloaded iMovie. Whew! I want to THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Robert!
You sir are a genius!!!! Thank you so much. The other version just disappeared on me when I upgrade OS. Not sure how it happened but they want me to fork out now for a terrible version. Thank you again!!
Thank you so much for the download. I deleted this by mistake over a year ago , and could not find a movie maker that was this easy , and good to use. I had been uploading straight forward videos to you tube [ Immortaldio ] for all this time since losing this application. Thank you – thank you – Thank you. Brilliant. I hope many more find this , and you get the credit you deserve from all . Best wishes . Shaun.
As everyone else has done, I thank you for posting this. I’ve tried the new iMovie and Final Cut, but I always come back to the original iMovie for its simplicity and ease of use. Perfect for simple video projects. Thanks again.
Thank you so much Robert – this is helping me save so many old iMovie files! Question though: I am running 10.9.2 and want to recover some VERY old “.imovie2project” files. It seems as though these are the only ones I am unable to open through iMovie 6 (HD) that I downloaded here. Any suggestions on how I might recover these movies? (I am not looking to edit or do anything with the movies, just view them and possible export them to .mov format or something more compatible with OS X). Thanks in advance!
@Robin Michetti Hi, I have an iMac os X 10.8.5 running mountain lion, and I was able to download move 6.0.3 HD and it ran without any problems. Also, I have old gee three transitions that would no longer work on the download, but updated downloads are available from Slick GeeThree site and they also work on mountain lion and 10.8.5
Hi. I don’t know if you can help me with my problem but I thought I would give it a shot. I recently had to replace my iMac 2006 desktop computer as the hard drive died. I had backed up everything on external hard drive thank goodness. I now have a new iMac late 2009. I am running OS 10.8.5. I have always used and loved the iMovie 6 HD. I am afraid to use the new one as everyone says it is awfulβ¦ So I just had the computer set itself up from my external hard drive using Time machine. Here is my problem. I can load and edit videos just like before but when I close a project and then reopen it to continue to edit, the scrubber bar and play head are visible but within seconds they disappear. So I can no longer edit using my play head and scrubber bar. I tried re installing iMovie from your download but the same problem happens. Any idea what I am doing wrong? Thank you so much for your time and your help. Peace, Susi
Won’t work for me…says it can’t open because it is from an unidentified supplier?????????? help???? π
@Susi , I’m sorry, but that problem doesn’t sound familiar to me. So it’s only when you reopen a project that it’s messed up? That’s really odd. Sorry I don’t have any ideas. -Rob
@Kim , Unidentified Supplier doesn’t sound familiar to me. This happens when you open the DMG file? -Rob
Thanks! Still using it to this day!
Hi Robert,
whatt is minimum system config for this?
Is it 10.3.? 10.5?
I’m looking for a tool to use to capture a bunch of Video 8/Digital 8 tapesusing an old ibook….
Is there an on-line (or other) manual for this version of iMovie? I would like to start a project.
@Kim
the same happened to me! you have to go to your System Preferences, Security & Privacy and then you’ll see that you probably have an option where it says that you can let apps from anywhere π click that !! x
The “Unidentified Supplier” was a setting in my Security Preferences – I went and said open anyway – and presto! THANK YOU for this software – I have been looking ALL day. Works like a dream on my brand new macbook pro w/ retina.
The βUnidentified Supplierβ was a setting in my Security Preferences β I went and said open anyway β and presto!
@Kim
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! U ARE A LIFE SAVER!!!!! Here hugs for you lol! missed this one so much. I hated all of the new versions now I can go back to editing.
Thank you thank you THANK YOU! I really cannot thank you enough! I just got a new iMac because my old one died and the new iMovie 10 just…blows. ^^ I missed iMovie HD so so much!
Thank you for bringing life back to imovie!
Thank you so much for this. I have a first gen macbook that I upgraded from Tiger to Snow Leopard a year or two ago, losing iMovie 6 in the process. I hadn’t needed to use iMovie 9 until today when I tried to edit a few promotional clips for a concert tour I’m about to start. After wasting an hour trying and failing to make 9 do what I needed it to do, I checked the internet, found you site, downloaded version 6 and got it done in 20 minutes. A million thanks.
Hi, it’s so refreshing to see this link available after all these years. I’ve been searching frantically after upgrading to OS X Yosemite. Do you have any idea if I will be able to download imovie 06/Hd on that software?
Hi,
iMovie version 6 seems to be not compatible with OS X Yosemite.
Does anyone know how to tackle this problem?
Thanks
Mike
Bjorn, thank you very much for sharing that video. I was so bummed when I lost iMovie HD 6.0.3 after updating to Yosemite. There doesn’t seam to be any logic to Apple these days. They used to be the best company and now they are just like all the rest. So sad. Thanks again. Cheers, Stinki1
also a big thanks from austria, you saved my homevideoediting-ass π
Oh man, THANK YOU!! My version got corrupted. Blessing to have ability to download another copy of this app.
Once you’ve installed it, go to the file as shown in the video (in the MacOS folder) and make an alias of the “iMovie HD” file and put the alias in your Applications folder. This way you don’t have to keep going into it each time you want to use it.
Oh my god! Have you got any idea how happy you have made me!!! I’d totally given up on iMovie… this is awesome!
@Lee
I too use iMovie HD on my Macbook pro, and am looking forward to downloading same on my 27″ imac 10.6.8
Snow Leopard. Then I will have to install all my Gee 3 volumes. Certainly hope I don’t run into any snags…
Any pointers would be appreciated.
ronald_wolf@mac.com
You rule! Thank you!
OK, so I’m not sure if I can explain this well-enough, but here goes…
I unwittingly used iMovie HD (I believe v.5) and the accompanying iDVD apps I bought off eBay, just to have something to record and edit videos with. These programs, and their “integration” with each other (key element there) have spoiled me.
I’ve been tripping over newer versions of iMovie and iDVD, as well as other recording/editing/authoring programs for… what… 10 years now?
I just started piecing together a G4 1.25GHz MDD, to run OS 10.3, in order to run the old versions of iMovie/iDVD.
Question… does anyone know if there is a “newer” version of iMovie HD (maybe v6, which I haven’t tired) that maintains the relatively simple-to-use editing features of HD (v5), but has an integrated version of iDVD, that will run under something later than OS 10.3, such that I don’t have to go find a “G4 Superdrive”, since iDVD won’t recognize any of my later generation Superdrives (G5 and Mac Pro versions).
I just like the simplicity of the “Create DVD” button click, and “poof”, type in a few names for chapter markers, and it’s done.
OK, so Iβm not sure if I can explain this well-enough, but here goesβ¦
I unwittingly used iMovie HD (I believe v.5) and the accompanying iDVD apps I bought off eBay, just to have something to record and edit videos with. These programs, and their βintegrationβ with each other (key element there) have spoiled me.
Iβve been tripping over newer versions of iMovie and iDVD, as well as other recording/editing/authoring programs forβ¦ whatβ¦ 10 years now?
I just started piecing together a G4 1.25GHz MDD, to run OS 10.3, in order to run the old versions of iMovie/iDVD.
Questionβ¦ does anyone know if there is a βnewerβ version of iMovie HD (maybe v6, which I havenβt tired) that maintains the relatively simple-to-use editing features of HD (v5), but has an integrated version of iDVD, that will run under something later than OS 10.3, such that I donβt have to go find a βG4 Superdriveβ, since iDVD wonβt recognize any of my later generation Superdrives (G5 and Mac Pro versions).
I just like the simplicity of the βCreate DVDβ button click, and βpoofβ, type in a few names for chapter markers, and itβs done.
@Chip Tredo
Hey, can’t seem to delete the 1st version of that long “question”. Reply to this one so I get e-mail notifications if someone does. π
In a word, thanks. I’m generally pro-Apple, although a little too long in the tooth to be a fanboy. What they did with iMovie after version 6 was simply inexplicable.
I think Im dreaming! Just this past week i tried to transfer some OLD vhs footage into my iMovie 11 and had a terrible time. I started researching and found that all iMovie versions past iMovie 06 are apparently inferior. From what I’ve read, only iMovie 06 allows the user to import the original footage at full resolution/quality. I am a complete perfectionist, and once I learned this, I knew I had to have iMovie 06 back. ANY loss of quality is simply unacceptable to me. All I can say is THANK YOU!!! I will somehow pay it forward. What a nice New Year’s gift:)
@Chip Tredo
Just a follow up… I completed putting together this old MDD 1.25 GHz running 10.3. Had to get an older “G4 compatible” Superdrive cause the original in the G4 was dead. I have iMovie 5 (“iMovie HD”) running, and iDVD seems to be acting as I would expect it to (can launch iDVD from within iMovie).
It’s all looking pretty good. Got a GB of RAM for the G4, a PCI eSATA card with an SSD drive to start up from, and a Lightscribe drive installed along with the Superdrive on the IDE buss.
Time to start editing me some videos…
Thanks to all in this thread. Merry New Year!!!
Chip Tredo
Thanks a lot for the old version of i Movie HD 6
This is so helpful..However, after the download, I wasn’t able to open iMovie because I was getting there message-
“You can’t use this version of the application “imovieHD” with the version of OS X. You have “iMovie HD” 6.0.3….”
So I watched Bjorn’s video and it worked….but after turning my computer off, it went away. Do I need to follow these steps each time I want to us the old iMovie? How can I get it to stay and be more easily accessible?
@greg Here’s a post addressing a fix for Yosemite. http://blog.iharder.net/2015/01/23/run-imovie-hd-and-maybe-other-older-applications-in-yosemite/
Do I need to uninstall iMovie 10 in order for iMovie HD 6 to work properly?
I don’t think that is necessary.
Thanks for much for posting this. Saved my life today!
Robert you are a legend!!!!
Thank you so much
I’ve been using iMovie 5 (HD) for… a decade or more, love it. I’ve bought newer Macs, and have been introduced to versions 8, 9 and 11, and I hate them. Alas… other computer needs have required upgrading the CPU, and the OS. I’ve actually gone and bought an older CPU (the fastest I can get that will still run iMovie v6, a 2.5 GHz G5 DP) simply so I can use iMovie 6. Yeah… I’m a little OCD like that. Anyhoo… 6 is it. Anything after becomes a confusing mess of a program.
Hm, doesn’t install on my yosemite machine.. The installer from the apple homepage says it’s an update that needs something else installed. honestly, I dont want to install the other DMG from your page as I can not be sure it’s malware or something.
Stefan, I think you’ll _only_ find updates, not fresh installers, on apple.com. That’s why I have this here, but you’re right: you can’t be sure I haven’t added malware to it. This app pre-dates when apple started signing code, I think. Rob
Hi
I’ve followed your instructions but when I try to open iMovie 6.0.3 it comes up with
“You canβt use this version of the application βiMovie HDβ with this version of OSΒ X.” You have “iMovie HD” 6.0.3
Now what do I do?!!!!
I tried throwing the version 10 in the trash and emptying it but no go.
HELP!!!
This is driving me nuts. (I still have version 8.0.6. )
yeeeeeessssssss thanks much much awesomeness
You are GREAT !!!!!
T H A N K Y O U ~ you are a star!!! π
Looking at all the response you got, you must have some idea now what utter hero you are by providing us iMovie HD 6!!! I have looked all over to get some audio control back to my video work when changing to iMovie 8. Still her e and now in 2015! What were they thinking at Cupertino by leaving iMovie 6 for iMovie 8?!! Hope them California boys learn from this much non-directed enthusiasm for one single application feature (but I’m affraid they will not….).
Life saver, just what I needed,
thanks
Thanks a lot π
yeah, i agree. for most of the editing jobs imovie 06 is just perfect. There is no quicker handling in any other tool. thank you very much.
You’re a gentleman and a scholar. From the bottom of my digital heart; Thank you.
you are a hero among men. I salute you.
Man, you’re a hero!
Thank you so much! You are a life saver. I truly dislike the new I-movies.
Thanks a million. I’m running an older Mac with 10.6.8, without this I’d be screwed.
OH MY GOD! HOW CAN I EVER THANK YOU!!!!!! You soooooooooo just saved me!
Thanks, Robert! Obviously you are doing a great service since this thread has been going strong for 5 years, and hopefully Apple continues to turn a blind eye! Bought a refurbished MacBook Pro and really needed this as it has little to no apps on it, and yes, I feel this was the best version of iMovie for user-friendliness and functionality, especially when teaching students basic video editing. Now, any ideas on how I can get iDVD again π
Yesterday I upgraded to Yosemite, and as forecast iMovie HD, which I have been using since version StoneAge — the best movie editing app ever — did not work. I had not understood all that stuff about opening Terminal, but having watched the video again — whoopee!! Many thanks for a lifesaver!
Thank you soooooo much. I hope it works on this piede of crap….
Any idea why I keep getting shut-down/quit notices with this
“Process: iMovie [2122]
Path: /Users/USER/Desktop/iMovie.app/Contents/MacOS/iMovie
Identifier: com.apple.iMovie8
Version: 8.0.6 (821)
Build Info: iMovieApp-8210000~16
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: ??? [1]
Responsible: iMovie [2122]
User ID: 501
@BjΓΆrn Thank you so much this actually works
You, sir, rock the hardest! I somehow lost my iMovie when my hard drive crashed last year and was at a complete loss how to get it back without upgrading to Yosemite, which I refuse to do. This version is so much better anyway. Sometimes Apple is a real carnival huckster, twirling its moustache and cackling maniacally as it watches us hapless marks try to deal with its arbitrary software decisions. Thank you so much!
Thank you!!!!
I started using iMovie 4 and continued through to iMovie HD 6 which I love very much. The reason is that I used to shoot actual film and cut and splice the film to edit movies. This is the way movies were originally made and the way iMovie HD is programed so it is a natural for me to use. The later versions of iMovie make no sense to me so I have resisted using these versions after iMovie HD. This is all well and good except I was continually faced with system upgrades which eventually were not compatible with iMovie HD 6. The lastest OS version compatible with iMovie HD6 is Snow Leopard Version 10.6. For later system versions you can use an external drive, to install Snow Leopard and install iMovie HD 6. I still had the installation disk for Snow Leopard and iLife 6 installation disk which has the iMovie HD 6 version. You can also down load iMovie HD 6 from this site. You will also need to install iDVD version 7.0.2 to burn DVDs. Later versions of iDVD are not compatible with iMovie HD. After all of these are installed on your external drive, you can then start up with your most recent operating system such as Yosemite (10.10.5), turn on your external drive to mount your external drive on your desktop, open system preferences, select Start Up Disk to see your external drive highlighted, select your external drive to restart, then your external drive will restart up with Snow Leopard. I have MacPro with 3 external drives plus time machine because I make and store a lot of movies. I use a 500 MB G-Raid external dedicated exclusively for Snow Leopard, iMovie HD and Ready-Set-Go 7.2 a desk top publishing system that have used for 20 years and is no longer compatible with OS later than Snow Leopard. You should be able to purchase an external hard drive for less than $500 depending on the size. This works better and faster than using an older computer which may not have an optical drive so that you will not be able to burn DVDs. Whenever I want to work on iMovie HD I startup my MacPro, startup my external drive with Snow Leopard and iMovie HD, then restart with my external drive to open iMovie HD. I work on the project and when it is finished, I transfer the project to either of the other external drives for storage. I use the external drive with Snow Leopard only for working and not for storing. If you install iLife 6 you will be prompted to upgrade which will upgrade to the latest versions compatible with Snow Leopard. If you use music from iTunes, you will need to transfer music from your iTunes library to your external drive with Snow Leopard. I have been using method with Snow Leopard, iMovie HD, iDVD and iTunes to use seamlessly. Hope this will work for you.
Thank you worked perfectly – love this version. When folks get the window that says it will not open because of the developer – just go in to Preferences – Privacy and change the preference for not allow non – Mac apps. Then set it back after it opens or not.
Thank you so much. You made my day!
Hello everyone I found another alternative that I personally think is the best bc the terminal does not need to be open. Here is the procedure:
1. Install iMovie HD if it’s not installed yet, there is a link provided on this website.
2. Open up “Applications” folder. Right click iMovie HD and click on “Show Package Contents” then open “Contents” folder. Then right click “Info.plist” and open with textedit.
3. Finally look for these two lines:
CFBundleVersion</key
6.0.3
I highly recommend using the find feature (This can be done by holding the command key and while still holding it press f) type:
CFBundleVersion6.0.3 switch that to
string>6.0.5
Exit and your done open up iMovie I’d whenever you want.
* Yours may say 6.0.4 but should still work.
Thank you everyone and lastly Rolando! I just followed those instructions and they worked for a new iMac using 10.11.1 (El Capitan).
Thank you for this. I am so glad you made this available, no other version has come close to this version.
Technical question here….I have iMovie 6 on an old computer I just pulled out. But for some reason (on expert settings) I can get a smooth playback on 320 X 240 (QVGA), but get a sticky playback on 640 X 480 (VGA). For this reason I was only able to make videos the size of a postage stamp back in the day. On a newer computer that died, I was able to export to the larger size with no problem, so I know the problem is with my older computer.
But the older computer is all I have. The terminal work-around has a lot of problems, so I was hoping to just use my old computer. But I can’t render a larger size file. Does anyone have any ideas? I have no idea why it gets so glitchy with the larger size file on this computer. Frustrated.
Sorry, Terri. Not sure what to do about that. There were some tips in the comments here about getting iMovie to run without the Terminal hack, but it amounts to the same thing. If iMovies is coughing on your system, it will do that anyway. =(
I have an old macbook with the El Capitan, and I installed the iMovie 6 through here, but it says I need to update for an older version so I downloaded the 6.0.3 through the apple site and now it says it can’t update because it doesn’t know the site, what can I do?
So, I could figure out the “doesn’t know the site” problem, and any ways it still says it’s not compatible π¦ what can I do?
I’m trying this again. The first time I gave it a go, I worked on a trial work project and it crashed. (I have a lot of plug-ins on it.) I would pay for iMovie 6 HD if they made it compatible with the newer operating systems. But I also want Streamclip updated, too! It’s so frustrating not being able to do what I used to do. And the later iMovies are not user friendly. I’ve tried. Timing transitions alone, are a big headache.
@Terri I feel your pain. I wish there was a modernized iMovie (this one, the good one). =(
Done what Rolando said and after changing the string to 6.0.5 I try to open up iMovie HD and get this message –
‘Your security preferences allow installation of only apps from the Mac App Store and identified developers’
I’m using 10.10.5 Any ideas on where I’ve gone wrong?
Dave
Done what Rolando said and after changing the string to 6.0.5 I try to open up iMovie HD and get this message β
βYour security preferences allow installation of only apps from the Mac App Store and identified developersβ
Iβm using 10.10.5 Any ideas on where Iβve gone wrong?
Dave
Hi Robert,
Thank you so much for posting this. I downloaded the file, which the icon has a white circle with a line through it and when I open the icon I get this message:
You canβt use this version of the application βiMovie HDβ with this version of OSΒ X.
You have βiMovie HDβ 6.0.3.
Any idea what to do about that?
@Stewart
Check out this related post on this blog. There are some Yosemite and El Capitan notes there.
IMovie 11 is to Apple as what “New Coke” was to Coca-Cola.
The idiot management team at Apple (the idiots who pulled iMovie HD off) have left a bitter taste in the mouths of longtime Apple customers like me, because all the releases of iMovie since then, are TERRIBLE.
@Rolando
Thanks Robert and thanks to Rolando! Running iMovie HD 6.0.5 in El Capitan, no problem! Just ignore the bug after creating a New Project, restart the app and then open Existing Project.
This is a great thread! I too miss iMovieHD like crazy, and it hasn’t worked on my Mac for over a year… thanks to this thread I was able to reinstall and at least have my movies able to play. Unfortunately I still can’t create a new movie, so after some searching I came across a program called VideoPad (NCH Software). I promise I do not work for these guys, but this program reminds me ALOT of the old iMovie, and after a couple hours of learning curve I feel like I’m back in business. I’m still using the free download version and it really worlds great. Again – I’m no salesman but if you’re looking for a simple video editing program like the old iMovie 6, this is a great option.
@CR Gruver
Yes, I use Video Pad too, as well as iMovie X and FCP. I think video pad is OK, but, after about a month it disables some features wanting you to pay. Either way, I love that theres final a somewhat free video editor that’s cross-platform. (Mac and PC)
Final Cut Pro X is still my favorite.
Thanks for the iMovie HD download!
Hi. I can’t drag the file into my applications – it won’t let me?
Hey, thanks for this.
I still have 3 G4 processor macs with MacOS 10.4.11 (working better than my new 2012 Intel macs….) and I needed this for camcorder video downloads.
very precious.
I bought one of the last boxes of iLife 06 years ago and still have the disc and used it to load HD6 on my then new Snow Leopard Mac. Since then, I have abstained from updating my OS, for fear of losing my beloved HD6 and not being very confident that I could perform these workarounds described here. Would I be able to load HD6 on El Capitan from the iLife disc?
Just wanted to say a huge thanks! working as promiesed on a 10.9 box!
Now to get my slick plugins back!
Thanks again for this!
–Andrew
Huge thank you, Robert, for keeping a legacy application alive. (Still using a G4 under 10.4.11 as my main machine.)
Regards,
Peter
Unfortunately the download link no longer works :-l
@Marlboro Man Huh. Works for me as of 9 Apr 2016. -Rob
I have spent countless hours trying to “get back” to iMovie 6. I’ve always hated iMovie 7 and wondered why Apple made things more complicated. You are a gem! Thank you for doing this.
Thanks. I am new to using iMovie. I have 2 and 5 but figured I should just learn on the best version. Trying to figure out how to make VERY simple youtube vids with black screen and my lyrics in sync with the song?? No luck so far.
Anyway, I am 30 year vet on Macs but stopped with my 17″ HD PowerBook with 10.4.11 and it seems the The Big Apple Money Ship has left me on the shore regarding compatibility. What started out as a “people’s” computer biz turned into just another greedy, selfish one. Thanks for your help and others out there like Old Version, etc. Believe it or not there was a time one could access just about every software ever made at the Apple site. Ah yes, and gas was 75 cents a gallon too :-))
May 25, 2016 and this still works. Awesome, thank you so much. π
Does anyone have the plug-in or whatever they were called, they included fog, rain and stars and others. I think they were added after the original iMovie came out. I have them on a Power Mac but the motherboard went out and cost to much to fix.
Any one with copy could you post, they worked great, used at least 4 different times.
Thanks
Everything went fine until I tried to open the application. I got this message:
The version of iMovie HD installed on this Mac is not compatible with OSΒ XΒ ElΒ Capitan. Download the latest version from the Mac App Store.
Is HD 6 killed in OS X El Capitan? I sure miss that version, which I used regularly. Never use the new version(s).
Thank you so much! This is a game-changer for me because I have struggled and struggled to edit on the later versions of iMovie and absolutely hate them. Version 6 was brilliantly simple and intuitive – so of course they had to go and ruin it. Really glad to find your excellent support here to get back to the iMovie I loved – it will save me literally days! Kind regards, JK
Thanks a ton. I’ve been a Mac user – and enthusiast – for the past 8 years, so I’m happy to jump back to a simpler, more streamlined app.
Bummer it’s giving me a 404 Error Code π¦
Any advice?
@Steen
Thanks, Steen, I had a typo in the download url. Fixed!
Massive lifesaver! I’ve been using my old Mac for media purposes, since it has the trusty old CS4 suite on it. This lets me do even more, even though iMovie HD is a bit dated. Thanks for providing a link when Apple refuses to!
Fantastic! Many thanks! This seems to work on my 2006 white MacBook π
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really lifesaver
I also dislike the new versions of iMovie. just got this macbook maverick and could not find the iMovie 6, I did great editing with this good old app. I thank you ever so much, you saved my video life.
no white balance control killed it for me (
When I was in the music biz in Hollywood I always had an engineer to do the mixing, etc. Now I am trying to figure out how to put some of my songs on youtube with just a simple black screen and the lyric over the music.
Startpage got me here for an upgrade from 6.0.3 which I am trying to learn. Thanks so much for the archiving of the application. I am old school (started with a MacPlus made in Ireland π in the 80’s. Stopped at 10.4.11 on a 17″ HD PB.
On youtube I have been unable to discover how to work with text. Using the editing button and the music video title is very limiting, either right or left and short sentences.
I see all these videos of text on the screen and don’t know how to get there. Any suggestions?
Is this still available? The link above no longer works.
Is this still available? The link above no longer works.
Well there does seem to be something wrong with the site. I’ll see what I can find out.
In the meantime, here’s a working link:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/iharder.net/blog/iMovie-HD-6.0.5.dmg
this one doesnt work either!
Thanks for posting this. I’ve found the only way to digitize old HDV tapes (in HD) is to use an older Mac, firewire and iMovie HD. Luckily I had an old Tower lying around.
Thank you very much for making it available. My Mac came back to life with iMovie 6
hi mate, is there another version you may have of this? some of my vids work but most of the older ones don’t thanks a lot π
Thanks a lot! This is a perfect solution. All of the silly little chapters being created in Final Cut were making me crazy!